It’s egg-laying season for the majority of our turtles and tortoises and there are eggs to be dug up everywhere! Today alone we got Cuora flavomarginatas, spotted turtles, redfoot tortoises, Nicaraguan wood turtles, and albino red-eared sliders.
Digging eggs is a morning and evening ritual every day of the week now for the next several months. Which means [...]
There are many plants that could prove lethal to your turtle or tortoise so the following list consists of just a *few* of the more common ones:
Chrysanthemums (“mums”)
Daffodils
Euphorbia
Privet
Crocus
Cyclamen
Delphinium
Foxglove
Hydrangea
Jasmine
Lilly of the valley
Lobelia
Lupine
Mistletoe
Potato leaves
Rhubarb leaves
Rhododendron
Wisteria
Yew
It is imperative that you do not use any toxic garden chemicals such as weed killers, pesticides, mouse/rat/slug poison, etc.
Continue reading about What plants in my garden are poisonous to my box turtle or tortoise?
We always recommend Redfoot tortoises for beginners. They are very hardy and easy to take care of. Some other tortoises you might consider are Russian and Hermanns tortoises as they stay small (4-6″ and 8″ respectively).
During egg-laying season it is very important to be sure that your female tortoise/turtle is receiving adequate amounts of calcium to ensure proper egg formation. We do this by placing multiple cuttlebones in their feeding area. We do this every 2 weeks during egg-laying season and once a month in the off season. It is [...]
Continue reading about How can I be sure my female tortoise/box turtle is getting enough calcium?
People have long been told not to feed their reptiles iceberg lettuce because it does not contain enough of the essential nutrients necessary to keep your animal healthy and because it is “mostly water”. Both varieties of lettuce contain the same nutrients however romaine lettuce contains almost 3 times the amount found in iceberg. Iceberg can be fed to [...]
Continue reading about Why is iceberg lettuce not recommended for reptiles?
When turtles and tortoises get ear infections, you will most commonly see a swelling on the side of their head. This is more commonly known as an abscess. Unlike infections in humans, when turtles and tortoises develop pus, it solidifies into a ball. This occurs because, although turtles/tortoises can absorb moisture through their skin, they cannot [...]
Continue reading about What does an ear infection in turtles or tortoises look like?
So when people think of Florida, they think of beautiful, sunny, hot weather. WRONG! We are experiencing quite the cold snap right now here at the farm. It has been quite the undertaking to ensure the health and comfort of all of the animals. We have brought all of our baby turtles in and locked [...]
In just a few days we will be launching our new turtle and tortoise kits. There will be 3 types of kits available – 1 for turtles and 2 for tortoises (either forest/tropical or savannah/grassland). They will be available in different sizes depending on the size of your tank. We cannot ship glass so you will have [...]
This is intended as a basic set of husbandry techniques to follow to help insure the health of your new hatchling tortoise. The following techniques have been used with great success by our breeding facility for close to thirty years. We have refined our practices to help to insure the health and proper growth of [...]