Canoli ...is growing! updates, pictures

Mortis_thetortoise

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first week of regularly soaking and getting her OFF the lettuce only diet and improved tank setup!

she is happily enjoying her soaks and only starts getting antsy when the water cools down!
her poops are not like apple sauce. she pees and poops while soaking (usually on the second water refill) change it a third time, then shes done and gets breakfast.

i enclosed her enclosure, heat and humidity improved. and made her a simple humid hide(she loves it)

i feel like with all the new knowledge,also gaining and learning more everyday, ill have a nice big healthy tortoise soon. and a nice healthy small one til she grows! haha

hopefully the 2-3 weeks prior of being dry/lettuce-only wont have much harm overall.

she has gained 2.5grams in 3 days !
picking her up for her soak today she felt slighttttllly heavier. weighing her again tomorrow !

pictures down in the comments. any tips or help appreciated, any early signs or pyramiding or anything else i should be worried about?

thanks!

canoli & adam
 

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Stuart S.

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Looks great!! Just keep her heat and humidity up where they need to be and stay consistent on daily soaks and you should be good to go! Sounds like she's getting a good variety diet too which is great! How old is she exactly and what was he weight? It looks like it could be a little egg tooth, Spur's is starting to go away now!
 

Mortis_thetortoise

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Looks great!! Just keep her heat and humidity up where they need to be and stay consistent on daily soaks and you should be good to go! Sounds like she's getting a good variety diet too which is great! How old is she exactly and what was he weight? It looks like it could be a little egg tooth, Spur's is starting to go away now!

unsure of age when i got her, roughly a month i have had her , 2 days ago she was 52.5g from 50.0g 3 days prior. will measure carapace tonight or tomorrow when i weigh her again
 

Mortis_thetortoise

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update on canoli:...... got her a nice bundle of turnip greens, she loves it, she has trouble biting hardier leaves but still tries a few bites of everything. i got a small bundle of it so i plan on using that with garden weed mix to get her completely off romaine lettuce. when this is done i plan on getting collard greens to mix with the garden weed and grass blend. i do a lot of gardening so we have some stuff already growing she could eat. getting the soil ready in a couple beds to plant tortoise food plants to eventually get her off store bought stuff too.
( i live in florida so any good plants you suggest id be interested to know! )

everyone seems to be raging over the mazuri tortoise food so i want to incorporate that into her diet as well and see how she does
tried looking for it at a few of the good pet shops around and no one had it, any type of place that may have it?
going to try calling a horse feed/ farm supply place, is online the only option ?

currently weighing 54.3g, she didnt eat as much as usual yesterday(only 15% lettuce (compared to 30-50% usually) but a gain of +4.3g since 6 days ago. she loves the turnip greens and can easily eat them so im going to weigh her again tonight after a full day of eating then a soak sesh and a poop and see what she weighs. (guessing 55.6g, she feels ever so slightly heavier when i pick her up everyday. made a bunch of charts to track growth daily temps etc. have all my controllers set up so i can know exactly whats going on.....pretty stoked
based on some calculations i made up if she stays on a 4% 3day growth average, she'll be 56.5g on the 15th or 16th.

humidity was 59-60% this morning with a min temp of 82.1. before leaving to work i mixed some water in her substrate refilled her water dish and sprayed the whole enclosure with a spray bottle while she was soaking.

ill post all my current temps and weight update when i get home.

any place in particular the probes should be to most accurately get the temperature / humidity ?
any good plants that grow well in florida,usa year round ?
any good ways to increase humidity? its moooossstly all closed chamber aside from the light holes and 2 air vents in the front.... should i close the front holes? will air from the top be enough? maybe the substrate could be more even more damp? going to read now and try some things when i get home

thanks!
 
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Maro2Bear

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Looks like ur on track :)

Temperature and humidity probes should be placed pretty much at your tort's level. You might want to get a point and shoot infrared thermometer so you can check all areas easily.

I had our sully's CHE probe right at ground level, and then used point n shoot to check basking area, inside the hide, etc. this way i knew there were hot, cool and warm areas throughout.
 

Mortis_thetortoise

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awesome appreciate the help !

My dad luckily has a temp gun so I been using that. checking hottest areas, her hide , coolest , water temp, shell temp, ground temp she's chillin at , directly under light etc

She wanders around and i would assume settles in a favored temperature so I find the temp of her shell and the ground and try to get the temp to close to that average. But I need to do some more final tweaks still , I'll close the vents move the probes , hydrate the substrate and see how it looks after
 

Big Charlie

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I don't what grows well in Florida, but here in California I have hibiscus and roses planted for Charlie, as well as grass and weeds. Opuntia cactus pads are a good food. Mulberry leaves and grape leaves are also good.
 

Mortis_thetortoise

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shes been 54.2g the past 6 days now. anything i could do to help her keep growing healthy? she had a little jump then stayed the same. should i expect this? ive been weighing her every 2-3 days feeding and soaking as usual. i see some pictures with their torts in pretty deep water soaking. is this preferred?
 

Stuart S.

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You can expect this, hatchling don't jump in weight as much as ones that are a little bit older. Spur will gain a gram or 2 one day and then it'll be gone the next and back up again a few days later. I've just been trying to make sure he gets Mazuri and his grassland pellets to help with fiber and weight gain. This might not be the 100% right thing to do but I'm just trying do what I've learned.
 

Mortis_thetortoise

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You can expect this, hatchling don't jump in weight as much as ones that are a little bit older. Spur will gain a gram or 2 one day and then it'll be gone the next and back up again a few days later. I've just been trying to make sure he gets Mazuri and his grassland pellets to help with fiber and weight gain. This might not be the 100% right thing to do but I'm just trying do what I've learned.

the zoomed grassland tortoise pellets? getting the mazuri tomorrow hopefully
 

Stuart S.

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Yup, the zoo med grassland pellets, they're a great source of grass and hay.
 

Mortis_thetortoise

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Yup, the zoo med grassland pellets, they're a great source of grass and hay.

i almost got them last time but was unsure because of the d3... im assuming this is the regular amount and the ones the have it more prominent on the label is added D3 ?

will likely get that tonight if i cant find the mazuri locally
she gets outside time and has a uvb bulb so i dont want to risk getting too much
 

Mortis_thetortoise

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weight lower this morning than last again
soaked her for about 45 mins this morning changing the water as needed to keep warm
checking weight again after work after a day of eating
getting the grassland tortoise pellets/ or mazuri tonight
 

legan52

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weight lower this morning than last again
soaked her for about 45 mins this morning changing the water as needed to keep warm
checking weight again after work after a day of eating
getting the grassland tortoise pellets/ or mazuri tonight

I have a little guy the same size and his weight has been fluctuating. It was 48 on arrival, and jumped to 50 after the first couple weeks. It stayed about there for another bit then jumped up to 52, then 56, and then back to 54. I'm sure it mostly depends on if I caught him before or after a poop. He doesn't always go in his bath. I always weigh before feeding to get the most accurate numbers. He was 54 today post poop and pre food. ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1482298548.327190.jpg
 
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