... are humping again!

Do they ever stop? anyone else got any?

Donna and charliex

no I haven't got any humping tortoises.

Does that mean you'll be having some baby tortoises soon?

shouldn't they be getting snuggled up for winter, instead of humping.

I know someone with one & he loves Jam sandwiches (I'm sure they're not good for him, but he's 35 & looks good on them)

:)

hiya snoopy

i dont hibernate then... they are kept in a viv so they dont really need hibernating. Altho last year i got set to hibernate them by starving them and turning the temp down they just went mad by banging on the side asking for food... so i gave in and fed them.
Fingers crossed for babies!!! :)

lol@jam sandwiches.... i once fed my older one a beef burger and was told off for doing it by the tortoise trust.. so i wont do that again... (as i type they r munching on brocolli)

Donna and charliex

I'm quite fasinated by your tortoises. LOL @ them knocking on the wall asking for food.  :)

What's the gestation of a tortoise?
Are they hard to breed?
Have yours bred successfully before?

How cute - a litter of tortoises!

Hiya snoopy

No i havent bred them before but i think i'll be able to do it! I have faith!
They lay eggs and it can take several months for them to be laid and then  hatched  after being incubated. Im watching them both like a hawk (as is murphy (dog)   he babysits them constantly.

Im very fasinated by them.. its hilarios watching them eat! They sometimes have dried tort food that u add water to.. like little coloured balls. Jack the older one... eats only green balls!
Jack eats anything though... he tried eating his plastic plant... had to confiscate them!

Colin on the other hand is picky... strictly dandelion leaves and curly kale

:)

Donna and charliex

I'll watch this space then for news on baby torties. How cool would that be. I know this is a silly question, but what would they survive on when first born. i mean they don't suckle from mom surely? or do they?
how many babes can they have?
how old are yours?

The man I know with one, showed it to me once & I said "oh he's lovely, how long have you had him" & it tickled me when he said "my wife had him when she was a little girl - he's 35"  :)

snoopy,

they have no parental care whatsoever...  they hatch and can near or enough eat straight away.
They can have many eggs.. around 10 or more. (not all hatch tho :( )
Mine are 4 years and im not sure about the other one.. i bought him from a woman who had no idea how to keep them.
When i took my 2 for a check up there was a 70 yr old one there. The old woman said 'pick him up' so i did.. well tried to! He weighed a ton!!
massive also...
Thats the thing with tortoises they are a life long commitment... anything up to 100 years!!
Well worth it though! Mine are so funny and not slow in the slightest.. (when i first got jack he ran away!)

Donna and charliex

I would love a tortoises had 2 when i was a young girl didnt have to look after them mum use to do that.
where and how can i get one now as pet shops arnt allowed to sell them any more.
Thanks for any help.
sandra

the pet shop near us has a liscense to breed them but said he will only sell them to people with viv's,i always thought they just roamed around the house and slept in a cardboard box in winter
mel :)

sandra- you can buy them from selected reptile breeders/shops. I got jack from a private sale, and i got the younger one from a man in devon.. (very well known in tortoise circles) As mel said you really should keep them in viv's with heat lamp and uv lighting. If you want some more details let me know :) Oh they have to have a licence also :) Never buy one without.

Mel.. we had one when we was younger and he roamed around the garden for years.. sadly he died in hibernation aged about 20 :(

They say they are protected species hence the licence, and guide lines set by the tortoise trust.

Mine are fast asleep..

Donna and charliex

My mum's always wanted one.    A friend of hers bought her a toy one that sings you'd better slow down, for Christmas, it's so comical and life like too, Anton and Lana (SWD's) love it :d

Donna, Do you ever have them in the garden for a mooch around? Or round the house? Or are they happy enough mooching around in their viv.  :)

Thankyou for your help.i also thought i could leave it in the garden the 2 we had when i was young girl were..how things change..could i leave it in the garden or would that be cruel.
sandra

my 2 tortoises are always at it ! well one is, the other one tends to run in the opposite direction ! they make the most amusing noise whilst doing it though, strange honking noises. we've never had any babies, not surprising since i think they're both boys !

sarah
x

Snoopy..
They roam around the garden in the summer (warmer days) and around the house every day.
They have a soak in the bath also :)

Sarah (lilylaru)
Mine do too! Hilarious!
Mine also open their mouths when humping lol  Usually the one on top rolls off disappointed lol
Have you never had them sexed? How old are they? What type?

Mine are still asleep.. must be knackered after all that hard work yesterday! :)

Donna and charliex

to be quite honest i don't know what type they are, i just inherited them from my parents, they are about 10-12" long, garden, not vivarium ones. my parents used to have 3 but one died a few years ago :( when i was younger they also got given a tortoise by a local vet that had been run over, it's shell was completely smashed, they glued together what they could salvage. he lasted a few months but died too :(

they all did the open mouth thing, it's so funny. in the summer people always ask what the strange noise is, they don't quite believe it when we say it's just the tortoises !

the first tortoise, Speedy, has been in the family for about 25 years, the second, Eddie, for about 15, i'm not sure how old they were when we got them !

sarah
x

I'll say sorry in advance Sarah if i bombard you with questions! :)

I think in the 70's every one kept them in the garden, retiring them to a box in the shed in the wnter. People also pinted their shells and tethered them by drilling a hole in their shells. :(
Like most things these days there are guidelines... When we had one years ago he ate cat food... the tort trust would be horrified if i gave mine cat food now.
So yours are pretty big now.. so i guess your bringing them up right.. i thinkmany of the old ways were better. Still think its a shame to put them in a viv all day :(

I can just imagine your neighbours faces when u tell them its the tortoises making the racket lol
So what do yours eat? just whatever they find in the garden or salad? (i was told off for giving them iceberg lettuce altho my many many books say otherwise.... whos right n whos wrong?)

Yours are probably hermans (hermanni) that was the general species in the uk in the 70's.. which is what mine are.

Donna and charliex

mine just eat salad, i too give them iceberg - speedy will NOT accept any limp lettuce alternatives !
in the summer they like watercress and melon and strawberries and anything else they can get their beaks on :)
Eddie would kill for banana, it's what he was entirely fed on before we got him ! he had a really long beak and needed it trimmed which he wasn't entirely impressed by :)

i just had a look for pictures of hermanni tortoises and speedy looks identical to the first picture on this page http://m1.213.telia.com/~u21316352/hrmbld.htm

sarah
x

Hiya Sarah,
I guess Speedy is a hermans then :)

Mine also love melon and strawberries :)
Think bananna is another forbidden food.. altho mine like it too :) (You know what they say... A little of what you fancy does you good!)
What does your dog/dogs think of your torts? Mine love them :)

Cuttlefish (the stuff you give to birds) are good for torts beaks.. altho mine also ignore this

Are yours hibernating?

Donna and charliex
(not forgetting Jack n colin (colin is female lol)

yep they're both asleep (at least i hope they are!)

i only let eddie have banana as a treat, although he tramples over speedy in his hurry to get it :)

my dogs pay very little attention to them except when they're making noises ! my old dog used to flip them over every chance she could get, i had to run out and rescue them from her every five minutes !

my mum's dog thinks their poo is the best thing ever and tries to eat it, which is just plain disgusting because their poo is the most toxic substance on earth !!!! absolutely foul stuff !! how can lettuce turn into something so revolting ??

sarah
(my old tortoise jemima was a boy !)

Yuk@tort poo!
Nothing more disgusting!

:)
Donna and charliex
jack n colinx