The Mighty Odin's indoor oasis-The Build

Anyfoot

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2014
Messages
6,309
Location (City and/or State)
UK Sheffield
We have had a pretty brutal cold snap this last week (below zero most every day) and generally our lower level gets pretty chilly when that happen, but I am pleased to say that although the temps in the room have dropped as low as 70 at floor level, the temps in the enclosure temps have held steady at 78 and up. Considering that January is historically our coldest month and we are halfway through it, I am finally confident that having him downstairs is going to work!
Odin, on the other hand, has spent the week being a complete and utter wanker. Completely refusing to exit his burrow, even to eat. Which means I have had to dig him out (or attempt to) twice a day, every day while he digs his claws in and "hisses".
He is exasperating.
He seems to be getting over it finally, but it was a long week.
The plus side of his anti-social behaviour is, of course, GREEN!
There is even grass sprouting in the dry box. :)
That is the area nearest the shelves of seeds. I hold the dish I use over it while I pour different seeds in and mix them up before tossing them about the enclosure. I knew that seeds fall as I do it (which is why I do it, so they don't fall in the carpet) but I never expected growth since under and around the ramp is one of his regular trampling areas.View attachment 162666

The middle box is also brilliant green!View attachment 162667

Some of the seedlings are large enough that I can even tell what they are! I spy dandelion, clover and at least three different grasses! I know there is more but heck if I can tell what they are yet.View attachment 162668

This is the grump, irritated that I was digging around in this greenhouse. I took about a dozen assorted squash seeds and planted them around the place, it'll be a wonderful treasure hunt for him when they sprout!View attachment 162669 View attachment 162670

And in the greenhouse we have grass upwards of 6 inches high with piles of other plants and weeds sneaking in around themView attachment 162671

Including the remains of one pumpkin plant that he hasn't destroyed yet. It is a whopping 4 inches tall and actually has a real leaf! He never lets them get this big, so this is a real feat! :rolleyes:View attachment 162672

And his morning salad awaits! Lots of banana leaf, hibiscus, timothy hay and grasses along with some spring mix and mazuri LS, with a side of opuntia fruit, if he doesn't come out in the next couple hours I will have to dig him out, so he better get on it!View attachment 162673

The goal today is to increase the size of the burrow overhang and move the hibiscus. I have been dreading it because of how angry he will get (hence the opuntia fruit) and what a pain it's going to be, but with his recent growth spurt he has been steadily increasing the size of the hole and the overhang is no longer completely covering it.
Not sure of the details yet, but I am working on it. Wish me luck!
Excellent read as always, boy does the mighty look grumpy today.
 

Odin's Gma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
1,035
Location (City and/or State)
USDA Zone 4a+
Excellent read as always, boy does the mighty look grumpy today.
Which is why I chose today to upset his apple cart, I mean, how much more of a jerk can he be? Right? :eek:

I removed the old topper and was greeted with a vicious hiss.
015.JPG

I moved him to the dry box where he proceeded to seethe with murderous rage017.JPG
And quickly pulled out and replanted the poor, half-dead hibiscus and installed the new topper. The same as before but about twice the size
020.JPG 021.JPG

I don't know if the hibiscus will recover, but I am hopeful. It continues to put out new growth on the few stems he hasn't destroyed.023.JPG

I then brought him up for a bath and his weekly scrub and check-up025.JPG

Where he continued to pout026.JPG

And then fill the sink with rage-poop. I kid you not, it was an easy 4-6 ounces of poo, I have never seen anything like it. I cleaned it up, rinsed the sink and picked him up to scrub his belly. The turd-nado continued, unabated. I could feel him getting lighter! I have seen 6 pound humans poop less!029.JPG

I brought him back down, set him in the dry box, and he proceeded to storm into the middle box, ram his face against the wall, and plot my death underneath his MVB
030.JPG 032.JPG

Until he realized I had made him a snack033.JPG

And begrudgingly took a break from his assassination planning to storm down the ramp to eat034.JPG

He looked like he was considering not eating just to spite me....036.JPG

But eventually gave in042.JPG


Now he is rage eating so he can make more poop to shoot at me :rolleyes:044.JPG


Oh, and the answer to my original question? He can be A LOT bigger jerk.
 

Odin's Gma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
1,035
Location (City and/or State)
USDA Zone 4a+
what an adorable grumpyface! But turd-nado?! I kinda wanted a photo of that......Purely so I have some idea of what I'm letting myself in for when I get my baby...
I suppose whirl-turd would be more accurate.
It was awful! Generally the turds hold together long enough for me to scoop them out and drop them in the toilet, but with the opuntia fruit this morning they turned into a brown pool of partially digested grass and leaves as soon as I got the scoop near them. I had little choice but to pull the plug and let it all swirl down the drain....multiple times.

I swear he was smiling as I cursed......
 

Stitchpunk

Active Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
Messages
206
Location (City and/or State)
Auckland New Zealand
I suppose whirl-turd would be more accurate.
It was awful! Generally the turds hold together long enough for me to scoop them out and drop them in the toilet, but with the opuntia fruit this morning they turned into a brown pool of partially digested grass and leaves as soon as I got the scoop near them. I had little choice but to pull the plug and let it all swirl down the drain....multiple times.

I swear he was smiling as I cursed......
ha! Who needs babies when you've got a tortoise! Are you sure his name isn't really Stewie Griffin?
 

Odin's Gma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
1,035
Location (City and/or State)
USDA Zone 4a+
After a week refusing to come out of his burrow, he spent all afternoon refusing to go in.
He spent the afternoon walking over to it, bumping the plastic with his nose, looking angry, and then storming back, biting seedlings along the way, to one of the other boxes to sit under one of the two lamps.
He is now, FINALLY in there and sleeping soundly after yet another meal.

*sigh*

What a day.
 

Stitchpunk

Active Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
Messages
206
Location (City and/or State)
Auckland New Zealand
Now I wish I was a tortoise. You get to be as grumpy as you like for no particular reason, you don't have to share a room with anyone, eat as much as you want whenever you want, nap a lot, and have a Big Giant Hand that brings you food and does all the housework. Paradise!

overexcited Scrubs.gif
 

Odin's Gma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
1,035
Location (City and/or State)
USDA Zone 4a+
Now I wish I was a tortoise. You get to be as grumpy as you like for no particular reason, you don't have to share a room with anyone, eat as much as you want whenever you want, nap a lot, and have a Big Giant Hand that brings you food and does all the housework. Paradise!

View attachment 162726

Fingers crossed for my next life!
 

Odin's Gma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
1,035
Location (City and/or State)
USDA Zone 4a+
I ended up feeling under the weather this weekend so I got next to nothing done, but the greenhouse, and and banana plant are beautiful:

019.JPG

what an adorable grumpyface! But turd-nado?! I kinda wanted a photo of that......Purely so I have some idea of what I'm letting myself in for when I get my baby...

You're going to regret asking for this......
012.JPG

And that's pretty mild.

Let's end this on a happy note, with a pretty tort enjoying his noms, pre-bath and pre-turnado.
009.JPG
 

Stitchpunk

Active Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
Messages
206
Location (City and/or State)
Auckland New Zealand

Odin's Gma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
1,035
Location (City and/or State)
USDA Zone 4a+
lol! Ah well, I'm guessing it doesn't smell anything like as bad as cat poo...
Not even close! It has more of an earthy, composty type odor. Honestly until recently I hadn't even detected an odor because his turds were so tiny, now....yeah...not so tiny. But i wouldn't call the odor overtly unpleasant, of course i'm a Minnesota gal, and I don't find cow and horse manure overtly unpleasant either.
 

Stitchpunk

Active Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2015
Messages
206
Location (City and/or State)
Auckland New Zealand
Not even close! It has more of an earthy, composty type odor. Honestly until recently I hadn't even detected an odor because his turds were so tiny, now....yeah...not so tiny. But i wouldn't call the odor overtly unpleasant, of course i'm a Minnesota gal, and I don't find cow and horse manure overtly unpleasant either.

It's a small country here, I'm pretty familiar with the smell even though I live in the city. I think I'll be able to cope :)
 

Odin's Gma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
1,035
Location (City and/or State)
USDA Zone 4a+
It's a small country here, I'm pretty familiar with the smell even though I live in the city. I think I'll be able to cope :)
And, call me crazy, but when Odin has had fruit there seems to be more odor. He gets a bit of grated pumpkin or opuntia fruit 2-3 times a month and after that it is always a bit more ripe.
Otherwise, like today, it is nearly nonexistent, at least to me. I am even composting the waste from his enclosure along with his waste, in a bin in his room, and it just smells like good, rich dirt to me.
 

naturalman91

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
Messages
2,015
Location (City and/or State)
Medford Oregon
what do you have growing in there? looks very nice i might add.

i had a greenhouse like that to but after about a year the plastic covering became brittle
 

Odin's Gma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
1,035
Location (City and/or State)
USDA Zone 4a+
what do you have growing in there? looks very nice i might add.

i had a greenhouse like that to but after about a year the plastic covering became brittle
Oh, geez, a lot! The big plants are hibiscus, banana, spider plants, aloe, opuntia and palm, but it is primarily grasses, about 10 different kinds, along with a few kinds of clover, dandelion and a few kinds of plantain. I also always throw in some veggie seeds like meslcun, radish, carrot, squashes etc. I like to make it different every time I seed, and I seed at least once or twice a week. He rarely lets anything get taller than a couple inches, as a matter of fact, most of that awesome green that I posted from over the weekend is now nibbled and flattened. He seems to have gone on a bit of a tear last night and today. :rolleyes:

Yeah, I saw your thread, that's a bummer! I bought an extra greenhouse just in case I wanted to expand or if something happened, but I also didn't plan for it to last more than a year or so considering how fast sullys can grow, so it isn't as discouraging as it could be. For now it is suiting it's purpose beautifully, but soon I will have to start planning for next winter!
 

Odin's Gma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
1,035
Location (City and/or State)
USDA Zone 4a+
I was potting up my wandering jew cuttings and thinking how I would like to put them in Odin's enclosure and suddenly it hit me! After quick trip to Lowes and an hour of so of work, new hide, new plant space!


It started with a piece of mesh gutter cover. I spent as much time wandering Lowes looking for something strong enough yet still workable for my vision, and this was it. But first I had to straighten out the folds on the edge. That was easy.
001.JPG

Then I had to cut it to fit the corner. That was kind of a pain in the ***. Over the last few months I seem to be developing a bit of arthritis or carpal tunnel in my right hand, so it took longer than I thought, but I got it! Stubbornness for the win!
It wasn't wide enough to just cut one piece so I had to cut two to make it large enough..

002.JPG

I attached the two pieces with zip ties003.JPG


Removed the old plastic cover (I am going to pay for that)004.JPG


Took the plastic curtain off of that and attached it to the mesh with zip ties005.JPG


Checked it for fit (he is still mad)006.JPG


Dug him out and sent him on his way so I could staple it to the trim with heavy duty staples (now he is enraged)007.JPG

PERFECT! (he is going to kill me in my sleep)008.JPG
Pu the pot on it to check for size, stability and strength
009.JPG

And I was pleased! It's a shallow pot, half filled with orchid bark to minimize the weight. I also threw in some pumpkin seeds so hopefully they will also trail over the edge010.JPG

Odin is the exact opposite of pleased012.JPG

And, since he is already fuming, I figured now was a good time to add in the other small bromeliad I bought a couple of months ago013.JPG

Hopefully he will be kinder to it than he is to the opuntia014.JPG

Pic through the greenhouse plastic of the newly camouflaged hide. Hopefully he isn't so angry that he never uses it again........:oops:017.JPG
 

Odin's Gma

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2014
Messages
1,035
Location (City and/or State)
USDA Zone 4a+
MY LIGHTS ARE HERE!
Excuse the shouting but I am so very excited!

Bought here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014FCV98A/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

They don't look like much out of the box:
004.JPG

To be extra safe I wrapped all the connections in electrical tape:005.JPG

Instead of using the sticky-back, I used zip ties:006.JPG

Looped the end connections in the corner upward to avoid drips:007.JPG

Set them on the same timer as the main light in the greenhouse008.JPG

And tried to take decent pictures of the end result, and didn't do a very good job of it.....011.JPG

012.JPG 013.JPG 014.JPG

I also looped it up over the middle bracket on the end with the CHE to avoid any heat damage015.JPG


I don't know if it's going to help the plants at all, but for the price it is worth a shot. That is also why I used zip ties. If they are a bomb I can easily remove them.
Odin refused to come out of his burrow and check them out. He is already very angry with me for all the digging yesterday.
Two new banana plants, a mulberry, grape vine, raspberry bush, strawberry plants! Best weekend ever for me, reason to pout for a month for Odin. :rolleyes:

009.JPG
 
Top