r/Tortoises

I’ve tried posting this in two other subs and it was deleted, I just want to help her from a distance.

UPDATE: We were able to find a new home for the tortoise. I really appreciate everyone who engaged on the post and became a part of it. Keep the community strong ✌🏽

Hey neighbors,
We found a tiny Mojave desert tortoise stuck in a pest trap inside our garage near Rushwing Drive and Harvest Green Way. It is very small—only about 3 inches long.

We have managed to safely free it from the trap, but we want to find its owner. If this belongs to you, please message me

⚠️Seeking experienced help/adoption:

We have absolutely zero experience with pets and are doing our best to keep it safe right now, but we are completely out of our depth—especially after the trap ordeal. If the owner isn't found, we would deeply appreciate it if someone with reptile experience is willing to adopt or foster it to ensure it recovers well and thrives.

Note: We have reached out to tortoisegroup.org and already put up flyers in our neighborhood

I need help, I got my tortoise when I was 11 and I wasn’t informed about proper care and housing for my tortoise. The shell rot is something I don’t know how to navigate and I feel horrible about how ignorant I have been about his care. Please help and give me any tips for how I’m supposed to care for him. I am getting old enough now where I realize that I am doing something wrong and I want to fix it. I’m doing my own reasearch but any help is appreciated. I do live him and know I am capable of giving him the proper care.

I also live in Iowa and was wondering about vet suggestions as I don’t have one for him. Please offer constructive criticism and not hate, I know I need to provide better care.

This was an old dog kennel and hasn’t been used in 2-3 years so I’m turning it into an outdoor enclosure for my Hermanns tortoise.

The area has little black ants and I’m not sure if I should do anything about that, the area is also pretty shaded but I still think it will work for the summer months, we live in Iowa and I’m not sure if I should let my tortoise stay out there during the night.

Anyway we haven’t added anything yet but we have sand and aloe plants were going to put in soon.I’m looking for suggestions for plants and other things I could to make the area more full of enrichment.

Also in general any tips on how to better care for my Herman’s tortoise.

Hiya

So I live in scotland and my sulcata is getting too big for us to keep in the house so we've been making the steps to have her moved to our front garden. Since I live in Scotland its quite wet and cold so we're prepared for that by insulting and heating her outside home. She'll have free roam of the garden so grass and dandelions will be available whenever she's hungry and we're not available. We're installing cameras everywhere to monitor her if we're not in as well.

If there's anything I haven't mentioned that is really important please let me know. 😊

(The pic isn't of her in my garden and she's a rescue so her shell is still on the mend)

i recently brought him home (this past sunday) and im wondering if his shell looks healthy to you all?

Hello everyone!

I have two Testudo marginata hatchlings (9-10 months old) and I’d love some advice on heat wave management and summer housing logistics. We still have about 2.5 months of summer ahead. I have my apartment is ~5 min away by car to the outside enclosure (at my grandparents yard) and stays at a constant 25–28°C I have a smaller house near the outside enclosure where the temp is around 22-26 °C

My current setup all attached in photos:

•	Outdoor enclosure (200×100 cm) in my grandparents’ yard, some lavender and denser grass patches but not much shade overall
•	Small plastic tub (55×38 cm) – already built, with heat lamp + UVB (last 2 photos)
•	OSB wood enclosure (~100×60 cm) – almost finished, also with heat lamp and possible uvb 

I’m planning to add 2 water dishes and terracoco (coco choir) to hide in the their mini house(made by wood can be seen in the photos) în the outdoor enclosure so they can self-regulate a bit.

Question 1: Is 32–35°C in the shade dangerous for juveniles?

We’re having a heat wave here in Romania with shade temperatures hitting 32–35°C. My routine on hot days:

•	7–8 AM: Stop by before work, let them out into the outdoor enclosure
•	11–13h: Move them inside the outbuilding (22–26°C), food and bath
•	16–17h: Move them back outside
•	19–20h: Bring them in for the night

Is this schedule reasonable, or would it be less stressful to just keep them inside the whole day when it’s that hot? With a terracoco soil wood hide available, could they self-regulate enough to stay outside safely, or is 32–35°C in the shade just too much regardless?

I don’t want to leave them overnight outside due to possible predators, I live in a city but anything is possible.

Question 2: Which summer housing option is best?

I have 3 options (but I’m open if you have any new idea):

Option 1 -> Everything at grandparents’ (my current preference): The OSB enclosure with both heat lamp + UVB stays in the outbuilding at grandparents’. Daily routine: I let them out in the outdoor enclosure before work. On normal days I leave them outside until evening, then bring them in for the night – no lamps on overnight, they just sleep. On heat wave days (32–35°C+ in the shade), I move them into the OSB enclosure at midday (11–13h) for a bath with heat lamp + UVB on, then back outside around 16–17h until evening. Speaking of which on slightly cooler heat wave days, is it actually okay to leave them outside all day with just a small shelter filled with terra coco (coconut coir substrate) and water dishes, or should I always bring them in at midday regardless?

Option 2 –> OSB enclosure at my apartment, plastic tub at grandparents’: The OSB with UVB + heat lamp goes to my apartment. The plastic tub stays in the outbuilding at grandparents’ with heat lamp only (no UVB, since that goes with the OSB). On heat wave days I’d use the plastic tub for the midday break – but with no UVB available there, is that a problem for a 2-hour midday stay? Also, my apartment stays at 25–28°C constantly – is that too warm at night with no cooler period?

Option 3 –> Plastic tub at my apartment, OSB at grandparents’: The plastic tub with UVB + heat lamp goes to my apartment. The OSB stays in the outbuilding at grandparents’ with heat lamp only (no UVB). Same concern as Option 2 – no UVB during midday breaks at grandparents’. And the 55×38 cm plastic tub feels quite small even for short stays at my apartment on bad weather days.

But the weather in Romania is very changing now it was a heat wave, next week can be only rain with 20-26 Celsius degrees.

So main questions:

1. Heat management: Is 32–35°C in the shade genuinely too hot for 9-10 month old marginata, even with a terra coco shelter and water available? Or can I leave them outside all day until evening and just bring them in at night? On cooler days (under 30°C, like next week’s forecast), I’m actually leaning toward keeping them at my apartment in the OSB enclosure and leaving the plastic tub + outdoor enclosure at grandparents’ for the hotter days – does that kind of flexible approach make sense?
   2. Best option overall: Between the three options described above, which would you recommend for the remaining 2.5 months of summer? Or if you have a completely different suggestion, I’m open – though building another full wood enclosure isn’t currently an option financially.
   3. Transport stress: For Options 2 and 3, I’d be moving them by car (~10 minutes) on a daily or near-daily basis. How stressful is this for juveniles this age, and would it be better to leave them somewhere for 2 days at a time rather than moving them every day?

So i got a russian tortoise this past sunday. He has been burrowing a lot and not moving much. He also hasnt eaten any food. I read that may be signs of sickness, and they would hide their symptoms until it gets worse. So im starting to get concerned that there may be something going on with his health. He sometimes makes exhaling sounds, and while its super cute, i read that it may be a bad thing...

I also have heat lamp that is 15+ inches away from his substrate, but it doesnt feel warm enough to me. Should i buy him a heating pad for under the tank, that way itll heat him from underneath?

When i turn the heating lamp and uvb lamp off at night, im worried that itll get too cold and too humid for him.

Please provide as much advice as you all can think of!!

Thank you all very much in advance!

Pic 1: when hes burrowed
Pic 2: his size, about 5"L x 4"W
Pic 3: his tank, and height of lamp

My tortoise is not eating anything. Even if we try to give him food he just spit it out And few days ago he did this kind of urine

She looked down part way through it to check if I dropped food/fingers fell off so she could eat it.

Little leopards should be trained dince they still smol!

My preety 6 year old girl. She loves her scritches 😃

She's 10 but about the size of my hand. I took her over as a rescue. She's already growing well. In this burrow it's 16-18 inches deep, pea gravel topped with cement pavers inside with a 3.5foot pipe on top. Inside I threw a couple inches of dirt so she can dig around a little. At the back is a paver cap and behind it is a pocket filled half with pea gravel and topped with soil. I'm about to cover the whole thing up. It will probably only last a few years but that's ok. I don't mind making a new one as she gets bigger - but with how stunted she is, I'm not sure how big she will actually get.

Any flaws in my design? I live in Central California - 100+ is regular and 105-115F is not uncommon. Hoping this is enough for her. If not I have a garage with a cooler that never gets over 82F. For winter she will have an insulated and heated shed on a raised concrete foundation, so winter isn't an issue.

Danke, dass du mich seit Beginn meines Lebens bis heute begleitet hast.

Thank You for staying with me since the beginning of my life.

I will Never forget you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️