Tortoise Books

[Kirkie]

Well I got tortoises of the world volume 13 mediterranean tortoises today. Erm I'll try to be constructive. Published in 2005 in Florida it doesn't cover anything but the basics for each species with lazy gaps (Hermanns tortoise - Range - Not stated but believed to be France)!!!
THe first place I always go to is diet and the book recommends milk to be available every other day if the tortoise has no access to UV (more on that in a minute).

The price went up to £30 for the cheaper black and white version. It looks like a bunch of photocopied A4 sheets.

Page 80 is titled "avoid UV lights" it doesn't specify which UV lights just "UV lights". The author says he kept desert lizards under UV lights and all but 1 went blind. He then says he spoke to a director of "Tortoise Rescue" who told him he had a group of Leopard Tortoises kept under UV. His dog was facinated by the tortoises and spent a long time looking at them. The dog eyes developed red circles.(?) It wanders off there to the link between UV and cancer in humans.

It kind of misses the point that tortoises eyes aren't the same as human (or dogs) eyes or that they are better equipped for sitting in the sun all day.

I've got to stop now as this is making me laugh too much. I know different people have different points of view but this is so far off the mark. I was going to recommend not buying it but it might be worth it for comidic effect. How it ever got to volume 13 I don't know. It worries me that this advice may be taken as gospel by tortoise keepers.

Also got "Hermanns Tortoise, Boettger's and Dalmatian tortoises" by Holger Vetter (2006). Appears to be a translation from Germany but it is a wonderful book if you own or are interested in the Hermanns. Runs to 250 hardback pages and has got the lot even averages from weather stations within the home range of the various subspecies. Great pictures including a lot of the tortoises natural habitat (i find it hard to visualise it sometimes, lot more cover than you might think). Only bad thing are some graphic pictures of tortoises post scrub fires but even this is educational and goes on to describe how they avoid fires by hiding in rabbit burows (clever). Great book.

[Kirkie]

Apparently raw chicken livers can be offered once a week too and the term Osteodystrophy was made up for veterinary billing purposes. Arrrrrrgh make it stop.

[Sylvia1]

Er - maybe I won't be ordering that one! Thanks for your comments - they are really appreciated

[Kirkie]

In the interests of fairness I'll retract my statement about Hemanns rangein the Tortoises of the world book. It in fact states "type locality" which I believe refers to the area where the species was first scientifically identified. (Just in case Richard Carey Pall, the author, ever finds this and hunts me down).

[Eleanor]

Thanks for the list. Very interesting.

[Kirkie]

No problem Eleanor and welcome aboard. Hope my experiences above are a warning that theres lots of good and lots of bad advice out there but its all good advice on shelled warriors. If your just starting out you can't beat the books at http://www.vidi-herp.com/ If you're not just starting out, well, I still refer to mine all the time.

[Kirkie]

Oops just saw your other posts. Burmese browns! I take it your not just starting out

[Eleanor]

Originally Posted by Kirkie

Oops just saw your other posts. Burmese browns! I take it your not just starting out

Not to worry. still a very warm gesture. thank you.

[Kirkie]

Before "tortoises of the world volume 13" goes into the recycling bin I'd like to share this final "theory".

"A now deceased English vet, Oliphant Jackson, developed a formula,from observations of greek and hermanns tortoises, that predicted the proper weights for tortoises of given carapace length. I had been trying to work out some system to include all testudo. This morning, about dawn, it dawned on me.... If a tortoise feels it is full of water,not air, it is probably healthy. What is being conveyed is an easy test. No formulas are necessary. All you need is enough comfortably warm water to allow the tortoise to be floated. If, instead of floating, the tortoise sinks it should be protected from having its head submerged...If the tortoise sinks it is probably heavy enough. If it floats,from side to side it may be adequately heavy...However if the tortoise floats high or with one side up, its in trouble.If it floats like a cork, its emaciated. If it floats on one side it probably has water in the lung on the low side (not suprisingly).

So in one moment of blinding clarity the Jackson Ratio is replaced with the ducking stool method. It's almost monty pythonesque. If your tortoise floats, is it a witch? should you burn it?

Please don't try this at home.

[Lolly8]

What a "useful" book and "theory"....