r/TortoiseCare

hi, i found a baby tortoise in my backyard this afternoon and since none of the neighbors own him and don’t know where he/she came from, i’ve decided to keep him. since i never owned s tortoise or a reptile or anything like that i would reeeally really appreciate any advice🥺 i would love to keep it, i think it is pure fate that brought him/her to me.

it’s very small and i don’t know how old it is. i’ve asked chatgpt a loooot of questions because i really have noone to ask so all help is welcome🥺
p.s. i’m not holding it like that, the picture is just for size reference

EDIT:
i called the vet and they said that it definitely escaped from someone’s backyard or something. yes, it is native, but it’s natural habitat isn’t here in the continental croatia at all, it is most likely somebody’s pet tortoise’s baby that escaped. it was good that i rescued it because the crows would have attacked it. it’s natural habitat is in Dalmatia, at the seaside. it is only a few months old. since this is not their natural habitat and it would actually be dangerous to release her in the wild, they said that i could either give it to the rescue service or keep it so i have decided to keep it. everybody say hi to Leyla!🐢💕🥗🥬✨

also i would love some advice for keeping it, which uvb lamp is the best etc🥺

Hi! I recently moved to Arizona and created an outdoor enclosure for my 20ish year old rescue tortoise!

I have ran a line from inside my house to outside for moisture and he has an indoor enclosure for night (which isn’t as nice sadly but hoping to create one for him soon)

A few questions:

-Should I add coconut substrate outdoors?

-If the temp has reached 100 should I bring him inside or is the cold water misters every 30 minutes okay?

-His beak has been naturally trimming but should I step in to trim it more or what are helpful ways to naturally do it?

-I made a barrier around the fenced area but should i make it higher?

overall i would love advice and tips!! He’s been stuck in a box his whole life and want him to have air to breathe

(also yes my flowers died and have been pulled out lol, i made sure they were safe for him to nibble on!)

((after looking at the pics i noticed a broken zip tie and it has been removed :))

Hello, I got these tortoise pellets for my tortoise. The instructions on the back say to make them moist and to soak them. But I’m just wondering if I can give them to my tortoise dry, like they are?

I rescued this tortoise around a week and a half ago, and have noticed that her shell smells a bit like pee. I researched this, and it said it could be a sign of shell rot. She does not have any soft or spongy patches anywhere on her shell, however, she does have little white lines around the scutes, and on her underside, looks like discolouration? In her old enclosure with her first owners, the substrate was wood chips. Could the underside discolouration be because the wood chips were abrasive on her shell?

Just wondering if anyone could ID this for me. And if so, what can I do to help her? TYIA!

Edit: Her shell also seems to be pretty dry as well as her skin on her legs and head etc. Other tortoises I see on here look very moisturised. I bathe her, how can I fix this?

When we let Pistol Pete out for his daily roam inside ( westhers been too cold for outdoors) we have noticed his nails can get stuck on the floor surfaces. Do I need to trim any of his nails in particular?

Thank you for any advice .