养龟高手美国 【Tom】 大神 给新手的建议

导读：我很希望能把国外的一些好文章转载上来。供给大家学习，希望大家能借鉴国外的一些优秀经验。这位大神在龟圈是非常出名的，绝对不是二道贩子类，纯纯的爱好者。国内需要象TOM这样的玩家，把自己的经验分享出来，让大家互相学习参考。

首先，欣赏几张TOM饲养的龟。

下面是中文翻译：（由 学-无涯 提供翻译）

多年来我们中的很多人，也包括我自己都犯了很多下文的错误，我们也看到很多其他养龟者犯了很多这样的错误。在春日将近，一批批小龟就要来到这个世界之际，我觉得指出以下养龟的常见错误可能会对大家有所帮助。从错误的商家那里买龟。养龟老人都知道哪里可以买到好龟，哪里不可以。但是一些初入爬宠界/养龟界的人还不知道。如果你是新手，就在论坛四处打听打听。但是请私下里询问，这样的话别人就能很自在得说很多。这就是“私信”的作用。（译者注：据作者自己介绍他养的龟是从一个朋友的朋友那里入的，这个人上世纪90年代引进的豹纹，然后自己养殖出售。这些龟是纯种的，而不是市面上常见的混血龟）到宠物店买龟或者寻求建议。虽然有例外，但是大多数的宠物店JS根本就不了解陆龟，会给你一些错误的建议！他们所卖的大部分陆龟用或者爬宠用产品不仅没用、贵，而且有时是有害的！我的大部分龟用产品都是从五金店、沃尔玛或者一些专门用品的店。认为有很多好的垫材可以用。任何沙子类的、兔笼垫底托盘、压缩的干草垫、干草都不是好的垫材。如果有人告诉你用这些垫材，那么他们告诉你的其他方面的知识，我严重怀疑是不是对的。这些作为垫材都太干了，如果你用的垫材全是沙子，对乌龟甚至是危险的。水盆宠物店卖的不合适。水盆的四边太陡太高。你需要一个浅一点的，这样的话当你的龟翻到了水盆里才不至于溺水。我喜欢用赤土陶器厂的陶碟，比较大，边低，比较浅，可以让龟更好的扒附，并且易于清洗。当然也有别的一些比较适合的水盆。不给幼龟准备水盆也是错误的。幼龟并不能从食物中获取足够的水量。尽管生活在沙漠型地区的陆龟，他们在野外有平衡水合作用的方式，但是家养的不具备这种能力。在沙漠中，幼龟并不会在中午顶着太阳四处溜达的。请让你的幼龟想喝水的时候有水可喝。温度对于爬宠来说温度就是一切。不当地测量、了解、检查、调整温度，不能保持适当的温度是严重的错误。每个养龟的人都应该有红外测温枪和远程测温计。热点的温度，冷点的温度，小龟泡澡的温度和夜间的温度。这四种温度需要你观察了解。这样的话，一个温度计探头显然就是不够的了。我见过的最大错误就是让热带龟过冷，尤其是晚上。陆龟晚上需要黑暗的环境，但必须是温暖的。陶瓷灯加热不错，有颜色的加热灯泡也是可以的。请检测您的温度，这直接关系到您的陆龟是健康活泼得生长还是病泱泱甚至一命呜呼。前几个月，任何种类的新孵化陆龟宝宝都需要每天泡澡。这样做一点坏处没有还能让它们活命。这并不是说把它们放在一个浅水盘子里让它们可以爬走，而是把它们放在一个高边的盆里（让它们爬不出来），放上浅浅的温水泡。水温应该保持在29.5摄氏度到35摄氏度。泡上15～30分钟就好了。我居住的地方非常干，所以我会让新孵化的幼龟早上泡一次，晒过太阳后再泡一次。一般来说，每天泡一次就够了。所有的陆龟都需要让它们感到安全的躲避所。进一步来说，我还不知道有任何种类的陆龟是不受益于湿润的躲避所的。敞开的饲养箱却没有一个让陆龟可以休息的躲避所，这本身就是个很大的错误。宠物店里给没给陆龟躲避所，能够显示出这个店是不是懂得养陆龟的知识，以及他们对陆龟的照顾程度。如果店家连一个简单的躲避所都不能放进饲养箱，他们还有什么该做的事是没做的？成对成群的养龟很多时候是个错误。这一条更多的是一种观点，但是是很多人持有的观点。我见证了很多由此引发的问题。陆龟不需要同伴，它们本就是独居动物，并不是群居的。它们的同种类通常是它们的竞争者、伴侣或者攻击对象。某些时候如果它们“有缘”群居一起也能友好相处，但是它们独居是100%不错的。当然有些陆龟群养是可以的，比如红腿和豹纹，但是苏卡达和俄罗斯陆龟却更适合分开养。所以买龟之前考虑清楚，如果你没有足够的钱买设备和没足够的空间，那么你就不要买更多的龟。不建议混养我个人见证了由于混养造成的陆龟死亡，所以我不建议混养，并且认为这是个错误。有任何的异议、讨论可以去“混养”板块讨论，我在这里这么说不是为了争论什么，而是告诉大家我认为错的东西。食物店里买的陆龟食是可以的。但是我们可以为陆龟提供更多对它们更好的食物。很多龟粮的替代物很便宜甚至是不花钱的。比如一些野草：蒲公英、苦菜花、车前草、苜蓿、野荠菜等等。植物叶：桑叶、玫瑰的花和叶、芙蓉的花和叶，葡萄叶，仙人掌，M粮、Z粮，南瓜叶和花，向日葵叶子、蝴蝶花、菊花、旱金莲属植物、木槿花等等。补大发了我们的龟需要补一补，尤其是钙。但是过犹不及，每周2～3次微量补补就可以，并不需要每天都补。太多的钙影响龟对其他矿物质和微量元素的吸收，这会引起各种各样的问题。所以需要补，但是一定要适量。如果你曾经因为带你的龟或者别的爬宠到户外透气、晒太阳、锻炼而失去它的话，请举手。很多手举了起来！如果没有合适安全的笼子、箱子、盆等把它们保护起来，把你的龟带到你家的院子、小区的庭院、公园是个错误。如果不那样厄运总会，也许不会第一次就降临，也许不会是第一个月降临，但最终一定会降临。小区和公园总是会会使用杀虫剂和除草剂，即使他们说他们没用，不值得冒这个险。关于饲养空间最大该是多少作者举了一些例子，总结起来一句话，只要环境合适你就是把一只龟放在地球这么大的地方养都可以，所以饲养箱只有最下限多少，没有最大该是多少。作者认为的饲养箱体积最小约为0.1515立方米（哪怕你养的那只龟是刚孵化的小龟），否则不利于龟的活动。我计算了下，按作者的要求至少100*40*1000px的饲养箱才是合格的！

下面是英文原版：

This has come up a lot lately and I want to try to give a better, more thorough explanation.Tortoises are solitary animals by nature. Few species congregate together in the wild and individuals are seldom seen in the company of others. There are exceptions, like pancakes. Out of practicality, convenience and sometimes necessity, we sometimes keep more than one in an enclosure in captivity. As conscientious keepers, we must understand, and take into consideration, the ramifications of this. Many breeders strive for groups of single males and 2-4 females. Others keep larger groups of mixed sexes in large pens. Usually this works out, but sometimes not.It is, and always has been, common for the casual pet owner to buy just two. Often they are hatchlings, but sometimes they are older. I see this as a common problem, and wish to prevent it wherever possible. Occasionally, having a pair will work out satisfactorily, but most of the time, one or the other suffers for this ill-advised, unnatural situation. Here is why: All living beings have different "personalities". Some are more boisterous, outgoing and unafraid. Some are more timid, shy and fearful. Every tortoise alive falls somewhere in this very wide spectrum. Please note that I'm not even getting into territoriality and aggression yet. Whenever we put two animals together they are always at different points on this spectrum. The "weaker" one will always feel intimidated by the "stronger" one and will wish to leave the area of the more dominant animal. Our enclosure, no matter how big, prevents this, and forces the more timid submissive to live in fear every day. Occasionally they simply desensitize and survive, even though it is stressful. Sometimes they fail to thrive and eventually die. Either way it is not good. This situation is made all the more serious if the more dominant one actually bullies or intentionally intimidates the other one. But understand that neither of them has to actually DO anything for this to take place. Just the presence of the other is enough to cause substantial stress in a one on one situation.Now I know that there are exceptions and that lots of people keep pairs together and everything seems fine. I have done this in the past too. If the two animals involved happen to be close together on that dominance spectrum, AND not territorial or aggressive, they stand a much better chance of getting along for a while, and this is probably the case for some of the people who will say that their pair of tortoises is fine together. I am simply saying that it is asking for trouble, and most of the time, trouble is what you get. Clearly this is less of an issue with some species like redfoots and leopards. But it can be a very serious issue with more aggressive species like russians or sulcatas. It is a situation that is best avoided by having just one tortoise to an enclosure, OR having a group of three or more in an appropriate enclosure. Having MORE than two tortoises in an enclosure changes this dynamic drastically. By adding another tortoise or two, any subtle aggression is spread out over multiple individuals vs. focused all on one. Remember the dominant animal WANTS the submissive to leave as much as the submissive wants to leave himself. When the submissive fails to leave, despite being clearly told to in tortoise language, the dominant will usually increase his efforts. When there are multiple submissives the aggressor either divides up his aggression, or often gives up the tactic as hopeless since he is "surrounded" by so many. An example: For a short time I had Scooter, my adult male sulcata and Delores, my adult female sulcata alone together in a giant 7000 sq. ft. pen. He hunted for her all day every day and bred her 10-15 times a day. He was obsessed and she was suffering. She ended up hiding all day, and I had to take her food to her secret hiding spots. Luckily, I was given two additional adult females and as soon as they were introduced, the attention was off of Delores. He was enamored with the new girls and after a few days everything settled down. Now, he breeds 2 or 3 times a day TOTAL, as opposed to 10-15 times a day with one female. Because he has females and movement all around him all the time, he seems to feel less of a sense of urgency and not so obsessed. It is pretty peaceful in there now and everybody explores and grazes freely. They usually hang out together voluntarily and eat together too, even though they have the option to be far away from each other and out if sight.Another example: When I went to pick up Scooter as a hatchling in 1998, Walter Allen generously gave me a second tortoise for free. I was ecstatic. I named her Bertha because she was quiet and shy and behaved very "female-like" to me. I raised the two of them together for about two years before I was given Delores. For around 8 or 9 years I was convinced that Bertha, the second free tortoise, was a female. "She" had no plastron concavity, tiny gulars, a very small head, a small tail and the anal scutes were right in the middle. "Her" behavior was also very typically female. Scooter bred "her" and Deloris constantly from the time they were all 4-5 years old. I was sure I had a 1.2 group and that all would be fine. As they hit maturity, or as "Bertha" hit maturity, I realized that I was wrong and I had a problem on my hands. Bertha was really Bert. Scooter was much bigger and always more dominant and active. Bert was so intimidated and chronically stressed as a hatchling and a juvenile that he failed to develop his secondary sexual characteristics. Bert has a great pen on the other side of the ranch now and is quite happy to be alone and away from Scooters tyranny. If they ever got together again, it would be a fight to the death.To recap: Yes, I know it is not the end of the world and an instant death sentence to keep two tortoises together. But it IS a bad idea. At best it is a compromise, and a tenuous one at that. Many people do it and get away with it, but it is often just a question of time until the luck runs out. There are lots of example's of this here on the forum. As a tortoise owner, I want to give them the best possible chance at success and house them the best way possible. To me, this means not keeping them in pairs.Discussion is welcome, but I will state ahead of time that for everyone who comes on with a story about a pair doing fine together, it can be countered with a lot more stories of a pairs that "seemed" fine together for a while, but really weren't fine, or pairs that ended in injury or death.

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