Reptile & Amphibian Forums

this past saturday we moved into a new apartment, and junior's not very happy about it. the day we moved, he was very active and stimulated by everything going on around him, but the following day, he was very inactive. he was even kind of flinchy with me and didn't ask to be let out of his sandbox like he usually does. yesterday was day two, though, and i let him walk around while we were unpacking a few things... he seems to be feeling better now.

i wish that there was a way to communicate with our pets sometimes to let them know that everything is okay in times of stressful change!

poor little tort! Just let the little guy settle in at his own pace. As long as his enclosure is for the most part the same as it was before, he should settle in over the next few days. Just make sure his temperatures, food, humidity, etc. are all the same as they were prior to the move.

I've been curious lately, how difficult is it to live in an apartment and keep tortoises? I have a fair amount of reptiles, and I'm just curious as to what's going to happen when I have to go out and get an apartment. I mean, I can easily sneak a lot of them in, but my female russians are in a huge cattle trough that just barely fits through a door. It might be hard to get that past neighbors without a few questions as to what it is to be used for, and it might be hard to find a landlord understanding enough to let me keep them there.

I live in upstate NY, in an apartment. I didn't have much trouble finding a landlord who didn't mind the reptiles, fish and cat. Lollypop farm has a listing of pet friendly landlords, and I'm sure other cities humane societies and such have them as well. IMO its better to be up front and honest about what you have than possibly be kicked out and having to find a place quick for you and your pets. I would much rather have a house with a yard than an apartment, but until that can happen the list from the shelter was very helpful.

because I live in penfield (outside of rochester ny), and it's good to know that there are places around here that are cool with it. Thanks for the info!

I think most people would rather live in a house with a yard than an apartment. I know I sure would. I have a house and a yard right now...but that's because I still live with my parents. It's nice to be able to put the tortoises outside in the summer, and especially nice to be able to play and teach drums here (something that I doubt I could do in an apartment), but I'll have to move out in the somewhat near future, which is distressing, since I'm in school for music (meaning I won't have a lot of money).

I think the difficult thing is that my career (playing and teaching drums and percussion) requires making loud noises, which doesn't gel well with apartments. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do about that.

Compared to that, keeping tortoises in an apartment should be downright easy I suppose.

junior is already doing better... he's a lot less flinchy than he was and is eating fine. he's also started "asking out" of his enclosure and exploring and patrolling "his" new place.

torts in apartments... well, junior is my only pet, and is still quite small at nearly 3 years of age and roughly 6 inches or so in length. i make sure that he gets proper uv lighting and heat in his enclosure, but i also like to let him take walks outside. i'm thinking of eventually making our patio tortoise-safe for him to enjoy as well when weather permits.

our complex was completely fine with him and didn't charge us a pet fee/deposit. many people think turtle/tortoise and have a mental image of a harmless, nondestructive pet, thankfully. like someone else said, just be honest with the leasing offices you deal with, and hopefully they'll be cool.

on an unrelated topic that you mentioned, i have friends who were musicians and lived in an apartment, and what they did for band practice was pretty innovative (or so i thought, anyway) -- they rented a storage space. the owners of the place didn't care (who complains about noise in a storage facility?), and it had elextrical outlets in it and everything. just a thought!

Still just a little guy! I'd love to see some pics (if you've already posted some, could you direct me to them?). I love redfoots and hope to raise one myself once I get my russians all settled (once they are all full grown and reproducing). I'd say redfoot is probably at the top of my list for other tortoise pet candidates, and it has been since I got the russians. When I wanted a first tortoise I wanted either a russian or a redfoot, but decided to go with the russian because of the smaller size. Second on my list of other tortoises would be egyptians at the moment, followed by leopards. There's just so many great torts out there and they're all so unique!

That's a great idea about renting a storage space for band practices. I should check into the price of that. Of course, I couldn't teach lessons there, but I suppose with a little enginuity (and an electronic drumkit) I could teach out of an apartment. But being able to play on an acoustic drum kit is a big concern of mine, so a storage space might be a good idea.

Thanks for all the tips. Being upfront about having tortoises and other reptiles sounds like a plan.

If you have a big enough patio, you could build a large wooden box on one side with a bit of dirt in it, some dandelions/weeds growing, and some hiding spots. It just depends on how much you plan to be out there yourself, as it would obviously take up some space.

i linked below to my kingsnake gallery -- the pic you see below is his most recent picture (reckon i should take some since it's been a while).

it's starting to get kind of cool at times here, so next spring perhaps i'll make him a lil' garden along the lines of what you mentioned. in the meanwhile, i'll at the very least put some boards along the botton of the rails to keep him from climbing out for short excursions.

keep an eye on your torts outside at apartments where people walk their dogs, because we all know how torts are about POOP!

pictures

Personally I'm not a big fan of apartments and tortoises.
My russian is in a 3x4 foot enclosure. It takes up quite a bit of room and is kind of an eye-sore. But not only that, I'd rather have a whole room for him to use...

I'm just glad my land lady let me build a large outdoor enclosure so he can go out during the warmer months.

Yeah, I don't think anyone that keeps tortoises is a huge fan of apartment living. It's just so nice to have a little plot of land where you could build a nice tortoise pen and allow them to enjoy the warmer months. Not to mention how much easier it is to house tortoises if you have a basement (you don't have to worry about taking up too much space, or about having too much weight do damage to floors).

Ideally a house would be great, but I'm honestly not sure I'll ever make enough money in music to be able to have my own house.

The thread derailed a little bit...sorry about that I just was very interested in how those that live in apartments manage to keep their tortoises happy and healthy.