Problems with life in a Viv, no hibernation and wrong diet!

[niamherrity]

Can I just add that when I first bought my tortoise I was told all the same things. I thought something was wrong and googled tortoise for some reason the link that xxxxxxxxxxxxx put up, was the link that I got, it frightened the life out of me I had benny out of the viv 2 days later and found SW too

These pictures are so sad but so vauable, it really upset me and i'm so glad they did, my tortoise was one of the lucky one's he was only in the viv 2 weeks with me

[pippin]

Originally Posted by Tamie Milne

Sadly people see the pet shop staff as 'experts' and do not question the advise given.

The damage has been done and it is now all about giving her a better quality of life. She will be shown how to dig down, wormed, nails trimmed, beak trimmed, correct diet and one hell of a lot of tlc !!

Tamie

ppl do get bad advice from petshops i no that i did, and was lucky enough to find sw that put me on the right track. but i just cant understand a year a more down the line that these ppl didnt notice that something really bad was going on with their pet tortoise. im at the very early stages of learning about tortoises and have a very long way to go probably years yet before i would dare give any body advice about tortoise keeping.but i surely would recognise something to that extent. im pleased shes now gone off to a loving home and the rest of her years will be happy ones. my opinion is its animal cruelty and whoever let this happen shouldnt of.its so easy to say bad advice was given but its also common sence

[Caroline McI]

Originally Posted by kaz9t9

that is absolutly shocking! makes me so angry that people take on these beautiful creatures and never bother to question advice they are given. i do not except ignorance as an excuse, and i find cases like this absolutly heartbreaking. good on you for taking this little fella on laraine

It's very sad to see but I'm not in a position to comment as I am quite
inexperienced compared to alot of people on here and am afraid I am
one of the ignorant ones (or was). I followed the advice of the "breeder"
for 5 yrs and whenever I did question anything, or tell him I'd found
something on the internet, I was told not to keep doing that as people can say
anything they want on a computer,and that it will probably be wrong anyway,
and that he was the only one I needed to speak to.

So I continued with this, and those of you who might remember, my Cookie
has terrible pyramiding. I was on the phone practically every other day or week
during the first 5yrs and he maintained I had to have a heat mat on 24 hrs a day,
and all the rest.........

[laine21]

Just like Caroline, this torts previous owner, did everything she was told to do, and thought she was doing right. It was only during the last year she realised she had not been doing it right. She has now done the best thing she could do in the circumstances, and that was to contact the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for help for her tortoise. This little tortoise will be going to one of the best homes and to one of the most experienced Horsfield carers. Her life is going to change so much, and after a period of quarantine she will be introduced to some other quiet females, so will have tortoise companions to spend the rest of her life with, however long that turns out to be.
The aim of this posting is to highlight the dangers of incorrect advice, and hopefully any visitors to this site will see that there is so much more to keeping tortoises than to simply feed pellets and supermarket salad and keep in a fish tank or vivarium.

As a result of reading about this poor tortoise it is hoped that people will seek to increase their own knowledge and awareness of the needs of our little 'Shelled Warriors'. They rely on us totally to cater for their every need whilst in our care. If more people took the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, there would be fewer examples like this one.

[Caroline McI]

I feel sick even now Laraine knowing that it could all
have been avoided, I have felt terrible for weeks now.
It's maddening how you can put your trust in someone
only to find it's actually harming your tortoise.

I don't want to take over the thread by talking about what
happened to me again but I'm still struggling to try and do the
best I can. everytime I read something else I get such a feeling of dread
and almost panick.

Anyway, your wee one will have a great life now, he deserves it.

[Caroline McI]

Am I allowed to add that I feel absolute hate for this
so called breeder? (sorry, but I can't help it)

[Eire_Ade]

Hi Caroline,

We all feel your pain, and fully understand that you are not to blame, but hopefully through threads like this it will aid as an educational tool to hopefully make people thinking of keeping tortoises this way what can happen.

So from incidences and stories like yours and this little horsefields their early years will not have been in vain, and most importantly they are being cared for properly now and will have a much happier life as a result.

Ade

[laine21]

Caroline, this thread is for learning about the dangers, you are allowed your feelings, and it will help you in the log run, its a stage you have to go through. You are now doing all the right things for your Cookie and I am sure he feels safe and secure with you. We are all allowed to have 'feelings' for those we know have deceived us and put something or someone we love in danger. Just keep telling yourself that you are doing it right, and will continue to do the best for Cookie. You probably know far more than the one who deceived you ever did.

[Caroline McI]

Originally Posted by Eire_Ade

Hi Caroline,

We all feel your pain, and fully understand that you are not to blame, but hopefully through threads like this it will aid as an educational tool to hopefully make people thinking of keeping tortoises this way what can happen.

So from incidences and stories like yours and this little horsefields their early years will not have been in vain, and most importantly they are being cared for properly now and will have a much happier life as a result.

Ade

Thank you Ade xx I 've made alot of changes and as you might remember me saying, I'm
moving south (Sussex) in a couple of weeks and a garden was total priority above any of
my needs, and I got that. I know it's not exactly something to boast about as you've all
got fantastic enclosures but it's another step forward. What I like about SW is that the support
is excellent, I will admit that after it all "hit" me I stayed away for a while as I felt so bad, and
still feel a bit nervous. I tell you, the more knowledge I have now, the more worried I've been.
Silly eh!

[Caroline McI]

Originally Posted by laine21

Caroline, this thread is for learning about the dangers, you are allowed your feelings, and it will help you in the log run, its a stage you have to go through. You are now doing all the right things for your Cookie and I am sure he feels safe and secure with you. We are all allowed to have 'feelings' for those we know have deceived us and put something or someone we love in danger. Just keep telling yourself that you are doing it right, and will continue to do the best for Cookie. You probably know far more than the one who deceived you ever did.

That's exactly it Laraine, it's because we feel so much love for our wee friends that
it makes us so mad and upset, which really is a good thing, it shows we want to do
what's right for them. I wish to god I'd googled "tortoise forums" years ago and would
never have needed to dial "his" number again. He's never contacted me once to ask
about Lottie (who is apparently a boy ) after he went off his food months ago.
If it hadn't been for someone else giving advice I don't know what would have happened.

The bottom line is that he just doesn't care, but he was ALWAYS happy to take £200 a time
from me. You are right, I am doing as much as I can at the minute and they are never short
of love and kisses ( is it ok to kiss them?), and Cookie actually looks better to me, she's more
spritely and seems different.

Lottie is a moody wee thing though