I've heard they can live a long time but i don't know how long exactly. I don't know how many actually live over 100 years but it sounds like they will at least live as long as a human. It would pretty crazy to have the same pet for over 50 years. I'm just curious.

Hi all,

After 17-18 years I have re-homed my horsefield. I know logically speaking it was the right thing to do however, I still feel quite upset. If anyone wants to tell me any stories of their tortoises to cheer me up that would be much appreciated. Thanks everyone :)

Hey everyone — this is my Western Hermann's hatchling (~3 months old, born in July). I've had him for 3 days now and wanted to get some eyes on my setup and routine to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Setup: - Cement mixing tub (temporary while I build him something bigger) - Coco fiber / play sand mix substrate, kept damp underneath - Arcadia T5 UVB + 50W halogen basking lamp, both on timers, ~12 hrs a day - Basking spot 95–100°F, warm side mid-80s, cool side high 60s / low 70s - Humidity around 50–60% ambient, ~80% in his humid hide - Two temp/humidity sensors, one on each side, so I can check from my phone

Routine: - Warm soak every morning, then he goes and basks on his own - Fresh greens daily, roughly a shell-sized pile — collard greens, curly endive, dandelion greens, spring mix, and some Mazuri (his breeder also had him on squash, hibiscus, and mulberry leaves) - Plain calcium powder (no D3) dusted on a few times a week - He skipped food on day 1 but ate collard greens from my hand on day 2 and has eaten since. He's weirdly bold for a hatchling — doesn't hide from me, and he sleeps buried under his plant

Questions: 1. Does anything in the setup look off or missing for a hatchling? 2. Is the ambient humidity fine with the humid hide doing the work, or should the whole tub be higher while he's a baby? 3. Daily soaks — keep them daily long-term, or taper off as he settles in? 4. I'm planning a bigger build with deeper substrate — anything you'd design differently if you were starting over?

Thanks!

Hello I know this has been asked for many times but there is too many different opinions. For now I am using coco coir and peat moss mix (I know this isn’t ideal) but what can I do to make it first of all safe for my baby tortoise?

Hey everyone,

I ordered two bags of Arcadia Optimised52 freshly pressed tortoise food to try out for my russian tortoise. Unfortunately both of them have pass the best before date by 3 months when I got them. I got my money back but do you think its still safe to give? It still looks and smells fine.

That said, has anyone else tried this food?

Shot through an opaque Sterlite + high humidity, hence the slight haze.

This is my tortoise Henry. He is a 6 year old marginated tortoise. Henry has been kind of a problem tortoise since I got him last year. He suffers with chronic runny nose syndrome, and he went into brumation early this year. I've decided to wake him up and bring him inside instead this winter, as we are scheduled to have really bad storms and he wasn't truly asleep, he was awake most of the time, but would go in to sleep for about a week at a time. Anyways, I've left him to warm up gradually, and then gave him a bath and then I fed him some mazuri to get him eating again. He ate the Mazuri right away but my big issue and something that has always kind of been an issue is water. He won't drink any water. I've tried reptiboost, vitamin drops, I give him baths every now and then as well as a water bowl in his table. WHY WONT HE DRINK!?? any tips to get him to drink ? ( Pic is proof that I bring my tortoise to the vet like a normal person but considering I thought his RNS was constant URIs , I was forking over a fortune for antibiotics and antiinflammatories for him... So any advice or things I can try before bringing him back out to the vet which is a long drive away is super helpful)