[
attachment=574]Hi,
I have never owned a tortoise before and have many questions! We are excited to have the little one and want to make sure we take care of him properly. We have been feeding him a little bit of grass from the backyard and an alfalfa/hay mixture we bought at the pet shop. I have researched online and get many different answers of what to feed him. Can someone give me some insight on what is best and where to get it? Also, if we are not home and he flips over, how long can he stay on his back or side because he does not seem to have the ability to flip back over on his own.......I am at work now but can share some more photos later on.
Congrats on your new Leo. I don't have Leos so I can't tell you much. I can tell you to switch the hay you are using as it is high in protein and leos need low protein, high fiber hays. Try Orchard, Timothy, Also
http://www.carolinapetsupply.com sells a chopped hay mix I was just told about it, it looks good. There are also a lot of places to purchase seeds so you can plant foods just for your leo.
http://www.turtlecafe.com & carolina both sell seeds. There are also places that you can purchase organic grown foods that they pick and ship for a good mix of food. Anyways Welcome to TFO!!! You have a beautiful Leo.
Thankyou for getting back to me...what happens to them if they flip over? how long are they ok like that for?
Marley, welcome to the forum. Your Leo is sweet. What is its name?
I am not a leo owner either but here is a good site with info on foods etc.
http://africantortoise.com/edible_plants.htm
http://africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm
If you are feeding him things from the garden or yard please make sure there has been no chemicals or pestisides use on it for about 6 months.
Flipping; Do you know what is causing him to flip? (a hide he is climbing one etc.) If they are under the heat lamp or in water they can expire from overheating or drownding. What type of substraite do you have your little one on?
[
attachment=575]His name is Marley, mine is Nina. The pet shop gave us rabbit pellets to keep him on. First they gave us fir bark, which came with bugs so we switched. He has a cave and some fake tree that he likes to hide in. He has only gone in the cave once and spent the night there, haven't seen him go back into it yet. He does like to climb it though. When he does, he falls off into the pellets and continues on his way. He falls into his water dish, maybe it is too high for him? What do you think?
If I wanted to grow something at home to feed him, what would the options be?
Crazy1 Wrote:Marley, welcome to the forum. Your Leo is sweet. What is its name?
I am not a leo owner either but here is a good site with info on foods etc.
http://africantortoise.com/edible_plants.htm
http://africantortoise.com/edible_landscaping.htm
If you are feeding him things from the garden or yard please make sure there has been no chemicals or pestisides use on it for about 6 months.
Flipping; Do you know what is causing him to flip? (a hide he is climbing one etc.) If they are under the heat lamp or in water they can expire from overheating or drownding. What type of substraite do you have your little one on?
hello Nina,
welcome to TFO!
baby torts tend to have a hard time getting upright after a backfall.
you'll have to do youre best to make the enclosure baby-safe, minimizing "drop-offs" for example.
I've had a baby upside down a whole afternoon. not a pretty sight to come home to, believe me.
also is that an aquarium you're keeping him in?
yes, he is in a 40gal tank. I am paranoid when I am at work all day and not know how long he has been that way for. he is fine when he falls off the cave he falls into the water dish, maybe it is too big for him??
Marley Wrote:yes, he is in a 40gal tank.
Nina,
inspite of what the petshop has told you, tanks are an inadequate housing solution for a tortoise (read
this article)
They offer Poor ventilation & Lack of temperature gradients.
You can find some examples of baby enclosures
here and
here (these are the ones that come to mind, you'l find lots more on the encolsure section of this site)
Nina, I had yearling DT that would do the same thing. They tended to flip over their own feet. Luckily I found one that had fliped in the water dish so I did take it out. It was close He was listless when I found him. Luckely I wasn't at work that day or he wouldn't be here. Yes baby proofing your habitat is best. Give them smaller things to climb on that they won't flip like slate slabs. I would take out his cave for now. Change the rabbit pellets it is hard for them to walk on and they can't get a grip to flip themselves back over when they do flip, plus they are drying. A rubbermaid or similar sweater type box or a cement mixing box from home depot, or even a rabbit cage works well for their housing. If he is flipping in his water dish he has the possiblity of drownding. Downsize his dish or take it out unless you are home. I wouldn't take the chance. If you can Post pics of Marleys' habitat that would help.
When I get home I will send some picutres over..Thanks for helping us out! We have a cat too so I am not sure what is best to keep him in...in order for him to be safe.
Crazy1 Wrote:Nina, I had yearling DT that would do the same thing. They tended to flip over their own feet. Luckily I found one that had fliped in the water dish so I did take it out. It was close He was listless when I found him. Luckely I wasn't at work that day or he wouldn't be here. Yes baby proofing your habitat is best. Give them smaller things to climb on that they won't flip like slate slabs. I would take out his cave for now. Change the rabbit pellets it is hard for them to walk on and they can't get a grip to flip themselves back over when they do flip, plus they are drying. A rubbermaid or similar sweater type box or a cement mixing box from home depot, or even a rabbit cage works well for their housing. If he is flipping in his water dish he has the possiblity of drownding. Downsize his dish or take it out unless you are home. I wouldn't take the chance. If you can Post pics of Marleys' habitat that would help.
If you have a cat go with a large rabbit cage, that way he has a secure cover and they are not to expensive. For substrate try aspen or bead a beast/sand mix. I personally use aspen for my less humid torts/turts, then I place a humid hide in there and a small section of bed a beast for a little humidity. I agree with Robyn either get a really small water dish (I use small plant saucers for the little ones) or remove it when you are not home.
I think, I would probably go with a rabbit cage. ( I just got one after having my adventure outside with Comet. this way he will be safe inside or out). The ones with the deep plastic bottoms would work nice I just picked a new one up at Petsmart for about $25.00 but you can often find them cheaper on Craigs list or in thrift stores. Or if you are handy with hammer, saw, and nails you could use a plastic tote and make cover over it. But remember UVB does not penetrate through screen well. They do have the 1/2 inch mesh screen (uvb should penetrate ok) at home depot that you could make a cover out of it.
[
attachment=576][
attachment=577][
attachment=578][
attachment=579]Here is a picture of where we have him. He is very active when he is awake, walking and climbing. He has this little frog like action going on under his chin sometimes when he is basking in the sun, is this normal?
Marley Wrote:When I get home I will send some picutres over..Thanks for helping us out! We have a cat too so I am not sure what is best to keep him in...in order for him to be safe.
Crazy1 Wrote:Nina, I had yearling DT that would do the same thing. They tended to flip over their own feet. Luckily I found one that had fliped in the water dish so I did take it out. It was close He was listless when I found him. Luckely I wasn't at work that day or he wouldn't be here. Yes baby proofing your habitat is best. Give them smaller things to climb on that they won't flip like slate slabs. I would take out his cave for now. Change the rabbit pellets it is hard for them to walk on and they can't get a grip to flip themselves back over when they do flip, plus they are drying. A rubbermaid or similar sweater type box or a cement mixing box from home depot, or even a rabbit cage works well for their housing. If he is flipping in his water dish he has the possiblity of drownding. Downsize his dish or take it out unless you are home. I wouldn't take the chance. If you can Post pics of Marleys' habitat that would help.
Marley Wrote:We have a cat too so I am not sure what is best to keep him in...in order for him to be safe.
A rabbit cage might be a good\safe solution.
Most of mine make that movement too. Nina, you have made a very pleasant looking habitat for your Leo but it has a few drawbacks. UVB light needs to be without a barrier, even a screen can cause some of the uvb light to not reach its intended destination. What kind and size uvb are you using? See site below.
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttubemeshtests.htm
There is a thread that deals with bad lighting. It is an interesting read.
I would change the substrate to aspen or play sand / bed a beast (coco fiber) and/or dirt mixture.
Take out the large things that cause him to flip for now. I would place him in a rabbit cage if you want use your backdrop to line around the cage to help hold some heat and moisture in. Keep a check on these if they get too high take it away. The water bowl you did great when you placed rock inside it. That way he can get a drink but not flip. Just make sure if he can get over the side it does not cause him to flip. Or use a smaller bowl or remove it when you are not home. It takes us all time to tweak the environments of our shelled friends. I do not have Leo’s so I am sure someone who owns will chime in and add comments too. Keep up the good work your on the right track.