O.K. I went to Regal Reptiles today and bought a very spunky Burmese brown mtn. tortoise. I have done the research, I have many herps, I work with herps and I don't like to keep anything wild-caught unless I see what I'm dealing with first. The tortoise I picked is probably a 1-2 yr. old and he/she was cruising the pen like none of the other tortoises. Every Burm. tortoise I ever saw was wild-caught and they just hid in their shells, closed their eyes, shyed away and generally did not look healthy. Not this one!

Its eyes are very clear, alert, big and round. Its shell is smooth,and shows no pyramiding. It has great weight and general appearance. This tortoise has been at Regal's for 3 months now and is apparently eating ravenously. Everything looks fine....

I really want to make sure I keep it that way. So, I'm wondering if I should Panacur and Flagyl my new tortoise???

As far as housing: I bought a very large 56 gallon Rubbermaid bin at Home Depot, laid fresh coco bedding and placed a large piece of corkbark in the cage. I am going to put 2 strips with Repti-Sun 5.0 on the cage and I currently have only a basking 60 watt UVB spot on the cage. I keep my bedroom humidity upwards from around 40-55 with a cold-air humidifier. I live in New England and it is cold right now and with the central heating it dries out my apartment. I also have a heater in my room that keeps the ambient temperature at 70-75 during the day and drops no lower than 70 at night. All my cages have "hot spots" in each cage.

I think I have a good set up. I will soak my tortoise and mist the cage frequently and I will offer a variety of greens, veggies and fruit.

What does everyone think about treating parasites at this stage? Any tips? Any signs to look out for beside the obvious: not eating, closed eyes, dirty mouth, weezing, etc...

I'm just really happy and I want to make sure I get everything down to a T! All my herps and bugs are spoiled so I want to make sure I'm doing the same for my tortoise. Thanks for your tips, comments, advice!

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