# Meet Kumi



## Kumitsu (Jan 5, 2008)

Meet Kumi, My 1st Tortoist.

If there is anything i shouldnt be doing, please let me know now.
Here are the Pictures:




















































And heres alittle video of my tortoise eating from my hand after only having it for 1 week. (this is like 2weeks old):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGqL8uN0RV8


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## wayne.bob (Jan 5, 2008)

i love that picture of your tort in the car! Vroom Vroom


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## AST-Loch (Jan 5, 2008)

Lol, That photo of him getting out of his little car is the greatest thing I've seen all day.


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## cvalda (Jan 5, 2008)

What a cutie!!!!!1

The one suggestion I'd make is to put his hide on the cool side (opposite the basking light).


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## Kumitsu (Jan 5, 2008)

cvalda said:


> What a cutie!!!!!1
> 
> The one suggestion I'd make is to put his hide on the cool side (opposite the basking light).




i will do that right away, thanks alot.


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## Redfootedboxturtles (Jan 5, 2008)

Looks really dry. I would add a humid hide box.


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## Kumitsu (Jan 5, 2008)

Redfootedboxturtles said:


> Looks really dry. I would add a humid hide box.




ive been told to keep humidity between 40-50%, and thats what it stays at.


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## Redfootedboxturtles (Jan 5, 2008)

someone told you not to offer a humid hide?


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## Itort (Jan 6, 2008)

Humid hide for correct shell growth. All my torts have a humid hide weather rainforest or dryland. All the lasted research suggests this.


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## cvalda (Jan 6, 2008)

Is this a leopard? I thought they didn't need a humid hide at all???


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## Kumitsu (Jan 6, 2008)

its a sulcata.

anyways, where can i buy this humid hide ? im abit confused.


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## Itort (Jan 6, 2008)

You can make one. Get a cheap plastic container (opaque) and cut an entrance the size of your guy. Put some dampened sphagrum moss in it and you have a humid hide. Check the moss periodically to keep it damp.


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## Kumitsu (Jan 6, 2008)

Itort said:


> You can make one. Get a cheap plastic container (opaque) and cut an entrance the size of your guy. Put some dampened sphagrum moss in it and you have a humid hide. Check the moss periodically to keep it damp.



I have read alot on sulcata's but dont remember anywhere that they suggest this, or maybe i missed it.

what is the function of this humid hide ?


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## Itort (Jan 7, 2008)

Sulcatas are a burrowing tort. In the burrow the enviornment is more humid then surface. This humidity appears to be a mafor factor in preventing pyrimiding. What the humid hide does is recreate this. I do this with my stars (which come from a similar habitat) and they use it.


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## TestudoGeek (Jan 7, 2008)

Itort said:


> Humid hide for correct shell growth. All my torts have a humid hide weather rainforest or dryland. All the lasted research suggests this.



Didn't know about this... So it would also be true for Testudos (THH in my case)?


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## Itort (Jan 7, 2008)

Yes it should. What we should keep in mind is all torts seek somekind shelter and the shelter weather under a bush or in a burrow will have a higher humidity than the surrounding area. One specie of Testudo, the russian, as we know is a burrower.


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## TestudoGeek (Jan 7, 2008)

Itort said:


> Yes it should. What we should keep in mind is all torts seek somekind shelter and the shelter weather under a bush or in a burrow will have a higher humidity than the surrounding area. One specie of Testudo, the russian, as we know is a burrower.



I just assumed that by burrowing inside the hide, the tort would have access to a damper enviornment. I actually changed from coconut fiber (bead-a-beast type substrate) to topsoil, since I find it holds bottom moisture better (you can see my setup here).

Is any type of moss ok to use or does it have to be sphagnum moss?


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## Itort (Jan 7, 2008)

I use sphagnum because I feel the long fibers hold moisture better without becoming mush making it easier for the tort to burrow into. Is there another type of long fibered moss available? If so, feel free to use it, just be sure it is organic without additives.


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## Itort (Jan 7, 2008)

I just saw that you are in Portugal and thought perhaps they callit by different name. It is also used as a medium for growing orchids. This may help you find it.


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## TestudoGeek (Jan 7, 2008)

Itort said:


> I just saw that you are in Portugal and thought perhaps they callit by different name. It is also used as a medium for growing orchids. This may help you find it.



great tip, thanks.


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## Kumitsu (Jan 7, 2008)

Updated: I changed a couple of things around and now it looks like it should be based on recommendations from these wonderfull people on this forum:


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## Itort (Jan 7, 2008)

Look's good.


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## Redfootedboxturtles (Jan 7, 2008)

Looks great! I would add one more thing. Just a dry hide. Another shelter with no moss under it. He will use both. Just like having a hot and cool side of the enclosure.


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## Crazy1 (Jan 8, 2008)

Also if he is a climber be careful were his water bowl is currently. If he climbs, when he slides off his hide he could flip and if he lands in his water he could drowned.


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## Kumitsu (Jan 8, 2008)

Crazy1 said:


> Also if he is a climber be careful were his water bowl is currently. If he climbs, when he slides off his hide he could flip and if he lands in his water he could drowned.




thanks for the tip, but i already thought of that, if he happens to fall inside the water upside down, he wont drown, because the bowl is really meant for food, its suppose to be a food dish, so thats the reason why i put water there instead because its not deep at all.

thanks.


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## Crazy1 (Jan 9, 2008)

Great, Looks good. Kumi should be very happy in his new enclosure.


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