hi im china.i have just got a horsfield called dave,only had him aweek,he was born in 08 so not very big,we live in salisbury in wiltshire.would it be ok to get another one to go with him(well i think its a him)as he might bored on his own.all advice wecome

thanks china

Hi China,
Where did you obtain Dave from?

If he's a pet shop tortoise, it's best to get his stool sample screened for worms. You do need to be careful you don't end up with two males as male Horsfields are very competitive & aggressive. One male and one female isn't a good mix either as an attentive male can be quite distressing for a lone female. Two females would be the best mix. If he/she's from a breeder they may be able to indicate the likelihood as to whether he/she's a male or female as the incubation temperature donates the sex of a tortoise.

HTH
Darren

I agree with all that Darren said, and can just add that most tortoises are quite happy to live on their own (unless they lived for some time with other tortoises after they hatched). In the wild they are pretty solitary creatures. They do get bored though, but it tends to be if their enclosure is boring (if they can see from one end of it to the other, they often get bored), so give Dave as big a tortoise table as you can (and don't put him in a vivarium), and put rocks, hides, and plants in there to make it more interesting for him. Why not post a photo of Dave -- we love looking at picture of tortoises!

Nina

 DAVE

Hi Darren,

i got dave from a large pet and aquatics centre in porton,

hi nina,

dave was in with alot of other tortoises the same size as him.

im on the look out for a bigger tortoise table for him at the momment.it looks like he will be on his own .I put pics of dave on,add more later as those ones are'nt to good.

CHINA

Hi China,

Isn't Dave a handsome devil! Glad you're getting him a larger tortoise table -- the bigger the better. And because Dave is a horsfield, he will want to bury himself in the substrate, so make it nice and deep (a mixture of 60% topsoil and 40% playsand is good). Have you had a look at our care sheet for Horsfields? If you click on The Tortoise in the left-hand column, and then on Care Sheets, you will find one for Horsfields. And there are some photos in the Photo Gallery of indoor and outdoor enclosures too. Looking forward to seeing more of Dave soon.

Cheers,
Nina

Hiya

It wouldn't be a bad idea to get his stool sample checked just in case. It's likely he's been imported, possibly taken from the wild. When tortoises are held prior to shipment there may be a 100 or more tortoises held together at one time. Any parasite contamination can easily spread from one tortoise to another and so on.

Personally, I would first confirm what sex "Dave" is before taking on another tortoise, if thats' what you are looking to do in the future. I know a few people who have had two male Horsfields and have had to separate them, which would defeat the object.

HTH
Darren
He does look a lovely chap/girl:-)

hi nina,thanks for your help,gonna get the topsoil and sand next weekend

china

Hi China,

Glad to help. Do you have an outdoor enclosure for Dave too? Torts really need the sunshine to get the Vitamin D3 that enables them to metabolise calcium to make strong shell and bones, and your UVB light indoors is no where near as good as the sun.

The thing about Horsfields is that because they are a burrowing species, you need to make the outdoor enclosure really secure, by burying the walls at least 10" to 12" down so that Dave can't tunnel down, under and out. I hope you find our care sheet and the photos of enclosures in the Gallery useful, and let us see a photo of Dave's set-up when you've finished it. I imagine he'll have a proper palace!

Nina

hi darren, do you think dave is too young yet to tell what sex he is

ive look at pics and it looks to me like hes a boy,i will have to get my daughter to

take some more pics of him and put them on for you and nina to look at

to c if you can tell what you think. china

hi nina,havent got a outdoor enclosure yet.i do have a large rabbit run

spare so i can use that.i shall have to watch him untill we get things sorted

i wasnt gonna to put him out yet as i thought it was too cold.post more photos when we have done all the work on his set ups

 china

Hi China

I let my horsfields out but they can go inside under a lamp to warm up whenever they need to.  They can tolerate coolish weather, but can't cope with damp so you are right to leave them out.  If it's sunny and you're about then let him out for a while but do keep an eye on him.  If you put him in your rabbit run can you make sure he can't see out of the netting bu putting a barrier around it.  If he can see out he'll definitely try to get out and if you don't watch him - he will.

Hi China,

Horsfields are particularly difficult to sex at a young age, and they all tend to look like girls until they get to a certain size (it's size rather than age that makes it easier to sex them). If you send us a good photo of Dave's plastron (the underside), clearly showing the tail, we might be able to tell you something, but then again we might not.
Can you tell us how long he is? This is called the SCL measurement, and the way you do it is to put Dave on the floor on a piece of paper, with one edge up against the skirting board or wall. Gently push Dave's head up against the wall until his head is drawn in and the front of his shell touches the wall. With a pen, make a mark at the other (tail) end of his shell, and then measure, in millimeters the distance from your mark to the top of the paper that was touching the wall. That is his SCL, and when he is about 5" long (about 125mm) you should be able to tell for sure what sex he is, but you can sometimes tell earlier, so send us a photo and we'll see what we can do.

Nina

hi i will put some planks of wood round the rabit run so it will be ready for the next warm day we have.i think he will love getting outside.

 china

He will, and you'll love watching him.  I could watch mine forever.  If Dave turns into a girl you'll have to change his name to Davina lol.  You normally can't tell the sex until they are 4 or 5 years old.

Helen

hi nina,i will have to do this tomorrow as hes asleep now.have to get my daughter

to do all the photos as im useless with computers only just learnt how to do this

catch up with you tomorrow ok

china

i hope its not a girl as i hate davina,reminds me of davina that does big brother

shes so over the top

china

LOL -- you'll have to think of something suitable then, if it comes to that. My Horsfield was originally called Boris. Then that got changed to "The Tortoise formerly known as Boris". Then it became "Doris". And now, because she is unusually small for her age, someone suggested that I should change it again, to Little Dorrit. Poor thing -- I still call her Boris sometimes!

Nina