My Name Is Earl.

[jimbobalero]

Hi, I'm a newbie tortoise keeper and this Earl. He is a Horsefield's and is an '06 tortoise we think about a year (75mm and 98g). He is ace.

I'll probably have loads of questions to ask over the coming weeks.


http://upload2.postimage.org/594702/9657174a5449617711l.jpg (http://upload2.postimage.org/594702/photo_hosting.html)



http://upload2.postimage.org/594721/9657174a5449654657l.jpg (http://upload2.postimage.org/594721/photo_hosting.html)

He came from the local pet shop which has a really good reputation for reptiles and the guy is always really busy giving everyone advice. He even got the local specialist vet to write a care sheet he gives out.

Let me know what you think.

Is his size and weight ok?
Does he look the right shape?

Thanks

[sarah]

He is lovely. His shell is very well grown.

[jimbobalero]

Phew. Glad you think so we think he is brilliant we got him on saturday and so far we mostly sit and watch him. One of cats like watching him the other runs off if Earl gets to close. When he's bigger I think he will show the cats whose boss.

We call him "he" but to be fair we have no idea what sex he is. We think we should have called him tank as he barges over and past everything and anything.

:)

[rachel30b]

hi it is a lovely tort and welcome to the forum, you come to the right place for good advice

i dont keep horsefields myself, just hermans but there are alot of horsefields keepers on here

Can you give us an idea of your set up as from picture it looks like your little chap is in a vivarium which are very bad for tortoises for numerous reasons, not being get a proper even temp, humidity levels
in the housing section on here there is a thread at the top on why vivs are bad for torts

unfortunately alot of torts from reptile shops, pet shops, internet dealers are imported torts from other countries can be prone to worms and parasites so it would be worthwhile having a poo sample checked at the vets for this

it might be worth listing what advice the pet shop gave you

look forward to seeing you on here

[sarah]

Sorry forgot to mention the diet you have him on is a big no no im afraid. I keep a group of horsfields and in the wild they are only awake for 3 months of the year so are programmed to eat eat eat, so you have to be careful not to feed to much. Fruit is a no no their stomachs cannot handle it, they would not come across fruit in the wild. I cannot stress enough how you should feed weeds only please look in the weed section of the forum for pictures of edible weeds.

[geordie mark]

its a lovely look9ing tortoise i was considering buying one a while back ! good job i didnt i dont like hibernating them lol especially if there only awake for 3 month p/a

[shelley]

He looks really lovely. Looking at the food it needs to be changed, feed him the right diet, not too much and hibernate him and he will stay looking lovely!! :D

[sarah]

its a lovely look9ing tortoise i was considering buying one a while back ! good job i didnt i dont like hibernating them lol especially if there only awake for 3 month p/a

They are only awake that much in the wild so in the UK when they are awake for longer it is important not to over feed. I feel its very important to hibernate this species.

[dizzywend]

Hi and welcome to SW

Earl looks good, I hope you enjoy this site, it's fantastic for advice!

Wendy

[jimbobalero]

Thanks for your comments guys.

Just to respond to some of them.

I can see why you might think it is a vivarium but it isn't it's an indoor guinea pig cagey thing (like this one http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=1672&dept_id=145) we used to keep guinea pigs in one and there is no issue with humidty. I have already started making improvements to his house after seeing what you guys have done.

He doesn't and never will get fruit. In the picture you can see a couple of peices of red pepper, I know the importance of a good balanced diet and he needs some red/orange vegetation as they contain vitamins not found in "green" plant, but this will not amount to more than 10% of his diet. Its a learning curve at the minute to know how much to give him but he hisn't eating everything we put in for him so we are putting less in each time just so there is less mess and he can't over eat. We currently don't have enough weeds of identifiable variety to feed him only on weeds so he also has Kale and Carrot tops. We only buy organic produce so we know whatever he gets form the shopping is the best we can. I have already planted some seeds so hopefully he can have fresher food within a couple of weeks. In the meantime I need to work on my plant recognition skills and finding a good source of "weeds". There are loads of dandelions out front of our house but we live on a main road and personally feel there would be too much pollution for him in those plants.

I appreciate you are all passionate and experienced Tortoise keepers so hope that came across in the way it was inteded, it's not meant to sound defensive. :)

[Beverley]

Hi and welcome,
Earl is lovely just stick to garden weeds and he will be fine, just be careful of quantity, you want to give him the best life you can so if you listen to experienced keepers here they will give you good advice that has come from years of experience and from the evidence of lots of healthy torts. :)
Best wishes to you and Earl for a happy long life together :)

Beverley

[autumnique]

Awww hes a little sweetheart :D

[TortMad]

Congratulations :D

Earl looks great :D

There is always plenty of good advice on here, ask as many questions as you need to :D