I may be taking in a desert tortoise my friend currently cares for as they are moving out of the desert. Tortoise is currently about 1.5 years old and in a decent sized portable hutch with lid that will probably last her another year or two.

In researching care for the tortoise and future needs (building an outdoor enclosure), I found out we have one tree that is toxic to tortoises. It’s called a chinaberry, has flowers in the spring then berries in the fall. My yard is big enough that I could build her enclosure far enough away from the tree, but inevitably something from the tree could blow in. From what I’ve read they tend to ignore toxic plants, and my friend said she doesn’t eat everything that falls into her hutch currently as she has her favorite foods she waits for. How big of a deal is it that we have this tree? How toxic is it if she does bite a leaf or berry? I would hate take to take her in if I could be putting her in danger.

Looks like he had a crazy night, left some white stuff on his nose 👀

I wonder what does everyone feed their tortoise in a day? I have a 4 month old baby and sulcata and really wanna know what everyone else is feeding their torts. She loves mostly lettuce of course and light weight carrot but nothing else really.

I'm leaving for a vacation in a few days. I have an adult male Russian Tortoise that I'm wondering if I can take with me. We'll be traveling by car and going to a warmer climate.

Has anyone attempted to take their tortoise on a vacation, and if so, what kind of space requirements would he need? I was thinking of a tote, obviously with no lid on, but I'd rather not bring him if it would be stressful for him. I have a friend that can check on him at home, every other day. Thoughts🤔?

I have started to notice that my russian tortoise hasn't been pooping a lot. If anything he poops every 2 weeks or so. Is this normal?

I’m concerned about the ‘dips’ between the connections of the top and side ‘plates’ on his shell.

Also if you look on the back right - the plate connecting to the back centre plate looks like what I can only really describe as ‘flaking’

Any help is much appreciated. I think it may be a calcium issue myself.

So as a lot of you know, an overgrown beak can be trimmed down (most commonly) by a vet.

To prevent a beak from overgrowing, we provide our Torts with a hard surface to eat from and products like cuttlebone.

This made me curious though, can an overgrown beak be trimmed by the Tortoise? If it has an overgrown beak, could it be trimmed down by providing those options I mentioned? My Tort doesn't have an overgrown beak (never been trimmed either) but I was genuinely curious.

Found my little redfoot’s eyes cannot fully open, there seems to be some tiny coconut fiber in it’s eyes, tried to wash but didn’t help much, it eats normal and is very active. May I get some help with it’s eyes? Should I change the substrate? Much thanks!

My little redfoot is attempting to bask when they haven't before and I don't have any good places for them to sit out do that. Do you have any suggestions on how to build them something? Do you have a recommendation on something to buy?