Help urgently needed

[TortoiseCrazy]

Hey everyone,

I have recently started work as a volunteer down an animal sanctuary near where i live in England. There is this tortoise there that i love to pieces, he was found wondering a around a forest a week ago and bought into us. He is a young one, currently in a fish tank with an open top on newspaper and sawdust. He is on a diet of cabbage and lettuce with water. He has a light but not a uv one. The animal sanctuary manager said that as he has been off the uv light for quite a long time and survived without it fine there is not much point reintroducing it.

My Dad has recently suffered a stroke and is very very very very X1000 depressed. He kept tortoises as a kid and i think it would cheer him up no end if i was to bring this rescue home.

The manager said i could have the fish tank, but the tortoise pref needs to be on wood chips etc.

We are unsure of the breed of tortoise.

Would the tortoise be ok in a fish tank lined with woodchips with an open top indoors in my dads room? my dad would have him out of his desk every now and then whilst working aswell.

Is this ok, please can anyone give me any advice or any info i should know? would this be suitable or shouldnt i even think about it?

Any help would be great

Thanks again,

Sam

[cookis81]

someone might correct me but i thought tortoises needed uv light, if he was found in a forest he would still have been getting uv from sun

sorry cant comment on anything else but someone will be along soon

[wizzasmum]

[quote=TortoiseCrazy;3743954]Hey everyone,

I have recently started work as a volunteer down an animal sanctuary near where i live in England. There is this tortoise there that i love to pieces, he was found wondering a around a forest a week ago and bought into us. He is a young one, currently in a fish tank with an open top on newspaper and sawdust. He is on a diet of cabbage and lettuce with water. He has a light but not a uv one. The animal sanctuary manager said that as he has been off the uv light for quite a long time and survived without it fine there is not much point reintroducing it.

Does this person not think that it has been getting uvb outdoors? This is what will have been helping it to survive. I would suggest the manager goes on a course in proper animal husbandry not just guess work.

My Dad has recently suffered a stroke and is very very very very X1000 depressed. He kept tortoises as a kid and i think it would cheer him up no end if i was to bring this rescue home.

The manager said i could have the fish tank, but the tortoise pref needs to be on wood chips etc.

It does not need the fish tank or the wood chips, both could be detrimental to it's health - it MUST have a basking lamp too.

We are unsure of the breed of tortoise.
To find the species (not the breed) you need to post some pictures of it and some of it's plastron (underneath shell) for ID purposes

Would the tortoise be ok in a fish tank lined with woodchips with an open top indoors in my dads room?
No - it would need to be in an outdoor accomodation to thrive and certainly not in a fish tank.
my dad would have him out of his desk every now and then whilst working aswell.
That is still not a good environment for a tortoise which has specific needs.

Is this ok, please can anyone give me any advice or any info i should know? would this be suitable or shouldnt i even think about it?
I think it certainly needs to be got out of where it is right now but not to the conditions you describe as it's health woudl suffer very quickly.

Any help would be great
Have a look here www.tortsmad.com

[Tina]

Hi and to the forum.


If you can post a picture of the tortoise (shell, plastron and head shots would be great) then we can advise you how to set up a suitable enclosure (indoor and outdoor) and help on a suitable diet for it. Cabbage, lettuce and no uv isn't suitable for any species I'm afraid.

It certainly sounds like it needs a new, caring home so hopefully with a little guidance you'll be able to provide that.

[tortoiselady]

[MissHayho]

To be honest i think wizzamum has covered it all in her posting about this tortoise - im absolutely disgusted about your boss / colleague thinks this tort doesnt deserve a uv light or heat light - they do need uv or it can stunt growth and can lead to various illness.

Outsde enclosures are better for tortoises to be honest, but if you really want to keep the tort indoors than it may be good to look at a tortoise table (if you put it in google you'll get lots of pics and ideas for one) obviously we would need pictures to id the tortoise

Hope this helps and well done for trying to get it out of such a terrible situation!! WELCOME TO THE FORUM

[tortoise_dude]

It was nice talking to you today, you will be all-set with the temporary enclosure until you can get a proper one going The little tort will be very pleased to have a change from his old 'home'