Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here some new pictures of the albino Geochelone carbonaria I breeded 9 weeks ago.

Imagehttp://img400.imageshack.us/img400/4235/elega

Um, I really don't mean to be rude, but, well, WHY??? How is this tortoise to live? Can he even be in UVB light? If not, how is he to survive and grow normally?

I don't understand why mutations that would clearly not be tolerated in nature are encouraged by breeders. Just makes me sad.

Wouldn't albinism be a form of nature? We have people that are albino?

I think that it's gorgeous! Personally i would like 10 of them! haha Is he eatin well and things? You having any problems? Or is he a simple just like the rest of them, no mutations?

It's "natural" in that it's a mutation. But given that (1) tortoises need UVB and an albino animal (or human) cannot be in the sun, and (2) an albino hatchling would be unable to hide effectively from predators, no albino will last long in the REAL world. So albinos do not prosper unless sheltered "unnaturally."

I just say that there are also adult albino redfoots been found in the wild, and they can survive.
I dont have any problem whit his health, hes doing realy good.

I agree, albino's are great. I have a couple now and really enjoy working with them. I can't wait for a true albino burmese mt. tortoise to be produced

Andy

i have had 2 adult albino snapping turtles and a adult albino razorback musk that where all found in the wild as adults.

i also have 2 albino sulcatas that are now 2 years old that have no problem being out side and live a perfectly normal life.
-----
Albinos Unlimited home of the Jester ball.
website coming soon

Who said Tortoises need UVB/UVA? I've kept many different types/species of Chameleons/Torts/Lizards that eat,sleep,poop, and breed without any problems at all, and havn't seen a lick of any type of artificial lighting. Some are exposed to sunlight for short periods of time, but not enough to help with D3 conversion. Proper diet and supplementation go along way, and most of the time are over shadowed by all these fancy money wasting bulbs. Instead of spending X amount on these bulbs, spend that money perfecting your animals physical and nutritional needs. And No, using UVA and UVB will not make your animal brighter and more colorful, its all in the way the scales refract light, and the scales refract incandescent light differently than Flourescent/other types of UVA/UVB bulbs

and to those that say lack of UVB results in pyramiding... this is clearly not true. The most direct cause is dehydration.

My male russian that I bought a year and a half ago (as a 1.5" hatchling) is up to 5.5". He doesn't have pyramiding, and he's been raised under incandescent bulbs with hot basking spots and as much food as he can eat. He's a tuff little brute.

I also have a hatchling that came from my largest female that hatched in november. Also raised under incandescent lighting with access to as much food as possible. He was 1" upon hatching and is almost 3" now. He is another tuff tortoise. He has actually attacked me a few times. Like when I'm reaching into his enclosure to get his food dish out, if he's near it he won't hesitate to ram into my hand (similar to what sulcatas often do to other male torts during mating season).

I think that the importance of UVB producing bulbs has been greatly exaggerated.

Thanks i just thought maybe i had lost a noodle or something that ablinos were not real? Yea ok. Thanks guys for making it very clear that it's completely normal just like i had assumed.

Your animal is 5.5 inches after one year and a half and he's not pyramided? I'd like to see a picture, because I would term the speed of this development to be excessive growth, and I've never seen excessive growth without pyramiding.

T.G.

Of course they require UVB!! If not from the sun, then from UVB lighting. OMG, you guys are scaring me. Please read up!

http://www.tortoisetrust.com/

OOPS! I mean:

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/
Tortoise Trust

Lol,

millions of years without UVB artificial lights......

Lets see million years ago they were not pets being kepts indoors.... That could be 1 reason

You do know the sun has UVB in it...

Um . . . DUH. Did I not SAY "if not from the sun, then from UVB lights?" Obviously the sun is best, and hopefully most people keep their torts outside at least part of the year.

EJ response not yours, lol

Please do the same.

UVB is a precursor to vitamin D which can be provided in a vitamin supplement.

I find it humorous in that not very long ago this was not even a topic where chelonians were concerned.

UV lights might be a benefit... they probably are a benefit... but are they a necessity or requirement...? I don't think so considering that tortoises have been reared for well over a hundred years without the artificial lighting.

Oh... and please look at other resources outside of the TT. While his information is good it is by no means definitive.

Ed
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tortoise_Keepers/
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care.

>>Of course they require UVB!! If not from the sun, then from UVB lighting. OMG, you guys are scaring me. Please read up!
>>
>>http://www.tortoisetrust.com/
-----
Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

It would be incorrect to lump all tortoises into one catagory and say they all need the same amounts of UVB. In nature Redfoot tortoises are rainforest animals, and do not bask in the sun! They tend to hide from it in damp undergrowth. Especially in their hatchling and adolescent stages. They are being raised quite successfully in Tennessee and other places with absolutely no UVB at all!
Check it out:
www.turtletary.com/redfootcare.htm

Beth in AZ
(btw, I took the course from TortoiseTrust, highly recommended!)

A little clarification...Redfoots are not restricted to rainforest. In fact, they occure mainly at forest edge and transition zones to grassland. For the most part they come from relatively dry areas.
-----
Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

The most often misunderstood aspect of reptile keeping is the fact that they use micro climates. Some red-foots may come from a relatively dry area (compared to the rain forest), but they utilize the humidity gained by hiding under debris and such. Also, I can't remember which issue it is, but I was looking at a copy of reptiles' magazine that had two articles on red-footed tortoises. One was about their captive care, and another was about a colony of them that exists on a large, dry island (and how they came about living there was unknown). They were wondering why the tortoises exhibited so much pyramiding, but it's so obvious. They are in a dry area with few micro climates to give them the heightened humidity they require. They even noted that they found a bunch of them in a dried-up lake-bed (or pond bed, or something like that). I think it's obvious that they were most likely searching out moisture. The pictures of the island show it as being primarily desert, so there is tons of sunlight (tons of UVB), yet they had terrible shells, and were dehydrated.

Even sulcatas and leopards in the wild spend most of their time deep in humid burrows (which is why their shells are almost always smoother than their captive relatives).

You just have to look beneath the surface (literally). Tortoises don't spend that much time in the wild out of the safety of there humid hiding areas (burrows or beneath debris/leaf litter/etc.) As a general rule, however, I very rarely see captive tortoises kept in conditions that allow them to burrow or hide underneath substrate/wood/debris where there is more humidity. I also have only very rarely seen indoor tortoise enclosures with ambient humidity that reflects what they would encounter in the wild.

I figured you understand this already EJ, but I just thought I'd throw it out there for extra reading material for those that may have been following this part of the thread.