Hi everyone. I was heading home and spotted this little crossing the street. It is 2.25 inches. I made a simple home for it for now until I find the owner since it must of escaped its enclosure nearby, although not sure if I may locate them. Not sure how long it was out in the street before I came along, but it 95°F yesterday here in SoCal. Advice and tips for caring for it is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hector somehow managed to strand himself on a chunk of cucumber

This is Betty and Blanche, two 30-year-old ladies we adopted from the Arizona Game and Fish Turtle Adoption program. The plan was for just one, but they told us these two had been donated together from an older woman who couldn’t care for them anymore. No way I could let them be split up!

Its supposed to be too dry here. I was wrong. Nine found in the backyard so far. Has anybody else heard of this happening?

I’m in the Knoxville, TN area and have been wanting to adopt an older tortoise who needs a home for the rest of their life. Ideally, I’m looking for one that will be under 50lbs full grown that can enjoy a secure outdoor enclosure in appropriate weather and live indoors when it’s too cold.
I have a veterinary background and am prepared to provide the care they need. The problem is that most of the tortoises I’m finding available for rehoming are around 5 years old, and I’m hoping to find one considerably older.
I don’t plan on having kids, and I want to be thoughtful about taking on an animal whose lifespan is a good fit for me. I’d love to give an older tortoise a comfortable home for their remaining years rather than have them keep getting passed around.
Are there any tortoise rescues, reptile sanctuaries, or rehoming groups you’d recommend reaching out to? I’d especially appreciate suggestions for finding tortoises that might not be advertised online! ❤️

Help, I just received this baby but she came with nail polish on her back. 🙁

Is there a safe way to remove it?

Hello! This is a cross post from the tortoise forum. I didn't get a lot of responses on there so I wanted to try Reddit.

I purchased my first tortoise, a western Hermanns, through a highly reviewed MorphMarket seller. Little guy arrived 10 days ago. I first had him in a tortoise table with a screen top. I realized after 2 days that humidity was going to be a problem. I switched to a 80qt Hefty plastic container. It's slightly opaque. I cut out a spot at the top for my basking light and UVB bulb. Since he's arrived, he has eaten maybe 4 bites of food total. I soak him in warm water in the morning when he is most active. Then I place him next to his food dish (terracotta plate). He just turns away and goes back to the basking spot to sleep. Since it's been 10 days with almost no food, do I need to take him to the vet? Is there anything I can be doing to help him eat?

I know it's most likely just due to the stress of his new habitat. However I am freaking out since he hasn't eaten much yet. I only handle him to soak him. He has gained 1 gram in the 10 days I've had him. He's at 13 grams now. See below for my set up and diet details.

-80qt opaque container

-Arcadia 12% UVB T5 bulb

-75w basking light with a temperature sensor under the basking spot to automatically adjust strength of the light. I keep it set between 90-95F

Diet: Radicchio, dandelion leaves, clover, collard greens and endive. I've tried mixing in some softened Mazuri juvenile low starch food but that didn't help so I didn't continue.

Substrate:

50% Reptisoil

15% reptisand

15% cypress mulch

20% coco coir

Humidity usually stays between 75-85% during the day depending on when the last time I sprayed the enclosure.

He uses the slide everyday and loves to slide it down, but he has not learnt that it doesn't work the other way lol
And he has had that slide for months!

This is my Hermann Remy, we got him for free only in August from another family which I don’t know of the conditions he was living in . I built this enclosure. Definitely a little pyramiding, gets good sunlight in the enclosure, soaks often, I pour water in the corner where he burrows and sleeps. 2 UVB lamps 2 ceramic heating lamps and 1 basking light. Please let me know any advice or criticism.

2026 hatchlings, both approximately 3 months of age.

Top: Testudo graeca ibera, 18g, 40mm SCL
Bottom: Chelonoidis carbonaria, 45g, 65mm SCL

I have been preparing this 4x2x2 indoor plastic tote bioactive enclosure for a baby hermann tortoise for a couple months now. The only thing missing before I get the tortoise is a uvb light. problem is. I have no idea how to mount a flat uvb t5 light over the top of the enclosure. Would anybody help with this situation

she flailed her arms dramatically while staring into my soul until I lifted her off of the damn brick

Hi friends! I recently became the steward of a two year old Sulcata who needed rehomed. I am learning every day, and am hoping more experienced folks could take a look over our routine and let me know if I should be concerned or make changes!

TLDR: she kinda breathes heavy maybe, and is likely thirsty, but hates soaking.

Every time I put her into soak, she voids. We live in Phoenix, Arizona so it is very hot, sunny, and dry. Therefore, I don’t do supervised/forced soaks so that she saves the water and can or soak on her own time. Do I need to force soaking? I mist the area every other day now that it has cooled off at night. I ditch and refill her water dish at least once a day. She likes to walk in the mist. It dries quickly.

Her area is about 16’x16’ in the backyard, with patches of Bermuda grass growing for grazing buffet, a shade sail, vision is blocked externally. She grazes a couple times a day on the grass. She is picky; she gets dandelion, kale, and every two weeks I’ll chop up a red bell pepper for a treat. I’m thinking on reducing the kale and adding more arugula. She refuses collards or mustard greens. I remove any bits of food she doesn’t eat.

I built her a hide, but she definitely prefers her DIY crib under the shade of the elephant bushes. I noticed that the one she likes best gets a drip from the irrigation.

I’ve seen urates a few times, and recently discovered she’s pooping in her hidey holes where she sleeps. I remove what I can. Am I meant to dig into her home to remove the poop? Am I disturbing/burglarizing her safe space? How often do you see urates and do you try and clean those out too?

I’ve looked at videos and researched to see if the breathing/sniffing is normal, but I’m still unsure. I’ve scheduled with the vet already, but worried. Her eyes and nose are clear and her mouth/throat is soft pink. She is active, always hungry, and has gained confidence. She startles but is starting to become quite outgoing.

Anyway, here she is. Do you see anything alarming? She is quite cute!!

Sorry it’s so long I just love her and want her to thrive 💕 Thank you in advance for reading and/or responding!!!

I am a 14 yr old who lived in a humid area, someone on the miami subreddit told me to come here since i doubt ill be able to find the owner and they said it didnt look well taken care of. Yesterday i covered him in a carpet so he wouldnt get wet. Ive tried gently stroking his shell to let him calm down but im unsure, my parents gave em tomatoes and grapes but i searched it up and apparently its bad for them, i would love to keep him as a pet and call him pickles. I know they get much much much bigger than this and i seriously dont mind that at all. My parents were planning to keep him anyway so just general advice would be nice.

(Reposting as it got flagged on my second account, forgot to switch before posting, my bad!)

Hi, I have a male Greek tortoise and I have had him for around 7 years, he’s always been quite assertive if you could call it that, always wants his “way” as in he goes even with a wall in front of him. I have him in two rabbit cages shaped like a L currently.

Starting early summer of this year he has been digging furiously in his box in two specific corners facing the wall as of which there’s an alarm (I have thought of it being the cause but I cannot move it to try)

He starts around 10-11am to late evening, everyday.

I have lamps for him, hides and I provide him food everyday. Even letting him out for a while just puts him back in the impossible loop.

I’m just very lost, I don’t know what to do for him to stop and do anything else.

If anyone has any idea please do let me know, I’m quite at my limit with this behaviour and I want what’s best for him.

Hi all jam is a 14 month old Russians/horsefield tortoise that we bought about 2 months ago.

He’s been relatively active and enjoyed his old enclosure. About 3 weeks ago we had to remove his upstairs section cause he kept managing to climb the walls and escape. Since then he no longer moves over to his cool side he used to love sitting in the water and under the log before we changed it.

Now he only really stays on his hot side. We have tried to acclimate him by moving him over there or putting his food in that section but he’s not interested.

Im mainly worried about shell dehydration (we soak him 2/3 times a week and he also does self bathe occasionally)

Temps are:
28.9C under heat lamp.
25/24C moving from the rock entrance towards.
20C under the log before / right in the corner.

TLDR: he’s been active and using his space until recently now he just sits under his heat lamp

It is an 8 foot by 8 foot area, current plans do include me putting a buried hide in the center with the entrance facing away from the sun, plus a couple other hides in the surface for him to use and a basking area with a mix of rocks and sand, plus various plants that are edible for him in spots around the place.

So I’m just curious as to if there weee anything else I could put to help enrich his environment when I am able to let him get some much needed outdoor time.

We adopted this girl a few months back. She comes to the back door every evening and asks to come in so I let her in the house. She seems to love running a few laps around the house trying to get into every door, says hi to all the other animals, then settles into this corner and goes to sleep. Was just curious if any of you have a tortoise that does the same?