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SarahChelonoidis

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@SarahChelonoidis have you read this, I'm still only about a third the way through, not much alone time. But it's a very very good read.

God damn it, the PDF didn't link in on my reply and I don't know how to find out what number post it is in Will's thread. It's on page 16 of this thread.

Thanks for the tag - no I haven't read it, but I'll give it a read this week. Definitely looks like something I'd enjoy.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Live-naked-people.126107/#post-1454265
 

Yvonne G

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@Will - I hope you don't mind that I post my feeding here too. Afterall, you are the one who gave me the idea.

So yesterday I went grocery shopping and outside the front door of the store they had these "bushel baskets"??? stacked up to sell.

Will had been telling me it would be much easier in the a.m.s when I'm mixing up the tortoise food if I were to use a big cement mixing tub like he does and just get in there and toss it all around with my hands. So I looked at those tubs outside the store, placed my fist under my chin, and said, "Hm-m-m-m-m. . ." I bought one. And he was right. It IS much easier to mix up the food in a larger container:

feeding tub.jpg

First I put in three scoops (a 2-cup measuring cup) of Mazuri, then one scoop of bermuda grass pellets and a scoop of Purina Layena. I added water until it was all submerged and let it sit. In the meantime, I went outside and cut several small branches off the mulberry tree, a couple stems of prickly lettuce and a couple stems of mallow. By the time I got back into the house all the pellets were mushy. I added the stuff from outside along with 6 heads of romaine, a bag of collards and a bag of kale. I had a bit of iceberg garden salad left over from my lunch and I also added that. Mixing it all up with my hands, I was able to break apart the clumps of soggy pellets so that it coats the greens. And now, with the handles, I no longer have to balance three dish pans of food while trying to open the door to get them all outside. I cut the leaves off the stems, and cut up the lettuce so it would all mix together better.

I used to chop up food for the babies, but I'm going to try feeding them from this mixture too. If they eat it, no more baby chopping! Whoopee!

I also have a wonderful food grinder given to me by a very nice friend, and on the days I feed veggies like zucchini, carrots, etc. I will grind up those with the food grinder and mix it in too.

Thanks, Will.

I feed this to all my tortoises and box turtles (leopard, manouria, YF, RF, Aldabran, desert, sulcata. For some I also add in the occasional fruit)
 
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wellington

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Can I add in a couple requests? Let us know what species you feed your mixtures too and with any of the specialty foods like Mazuri or the Purina Layena, etc, mention how often you feed these items.
@Will love the idea of the tortoise chef thread. Seen it. It should help a lot of members with food ideas.
I think Julia Child would love it if you get drunk and spit when you talk, while mixing the foods LOL
 

Kapidolo Farms

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I got ahold of some used crickets tubs made by vision, the cage manufacture. They are all about 25 x 50 inches on the outside base. They all have a lip that gives the top rim/edge some structural integrity. They are variable by an inch or two though.

I made them into enclosed enclosures (mostly all done) here are some images associated with making them into enclosures.

The first image is looking through from one end to the other. I put a door at each end for access. This was done so I could fully use the 4' x 8' span of the industrial shelving I placed in the garage and shown elsewhere.

Next are images of a closed and open access door. You can see screw heads for both a 2 x 2 inch wooden rim that I used to replace the variable plastic rim that was part of the mold. You can also see a hinge and door jam line of screws holding 1 x 2 structural wood pieces so the door is not stressing the plastic with use.

The last two images show the double bulkhead system I'm using more and more. The water tray has a 3/4 bulkhead that sets over and into a 1 1/4 inch bulkhead in the enclosure floor. That way I can drain and refill the water dish right in place. The enclosure as a whole can also drain. Now I only need one hose/pipe to run from the bottom for drainage. I can dump much water into the enclosure for plants and humidity without swamping it so much.

I still need to place the lighting and lid. The lid is just 1/2 inch foam board held with double sided tape. I made it two pieces so that a can 'crack' the lid for heat escape and air circulation. I'm using two T5HO lights, one for 14/10 light cycle, and one for mid "day" brightness using a zoomed forest UV tube.

As the tubs were free the total cost per enclosure is under $100. The tubs retail new for $185. I looking to find or buy more used ones. At one time @cowboyken had some but shipping was cost prohibitive.

The first one took about 8 hours of fussing around. The last one took about an hour -all the sorting out "how to" was done.

1492451487637.jpg 1492451634631.jpg 1492451645208.jpg 1492451815837.jpg 1492452054217.jpg
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Post 365 was done from my phone where all the images are and I was too slow to have edits saved. @Cowboy_Ken

It took a few minutes per enclosure to clean/sanitize the tubs. I used plain dish soap and water, rinse and dry, then bleach on wet surface so it would cover better, then rinse and dry, then ammonia, rinse and dry, and lastly hydrogen peroxide, rinse and dry. I used a one gallon garden sprayer for each cleaning agent application, it goes pretty fast that way. I let each cleaner sit for about ten minutes or longer, then rinsed well.

By the time the hydrogen peroxide is used, the 'no bubbling' is a good indication that all dirt and grime is gone. It is also a good sanitizer onto itself.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Some detail about the fake forest. I used Giant Canary Reed grass this time. I stripped the lower leaves off as they would get buried. The tortoises don't eat this grass. These will only last several months, the palm fronds last much longer but none are available right now. I have several more 'trees' to plant to make it more foresty. I had an easier time digging as I used the holes from the last few applications of grass and palm. I cut the tops off the taller stalks and jammed them nto the hole so that's why there is bushyness near the ground. Once more dense the tortoise mostly just go sit there and watch the world.

There are squirrels, rabbits and many kinds of birds running around in the yard and they too like hanging out in this little forest.
 

Yvonne G

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We have a giant flying beetle here called a fruit/fig beetle. He's iridescent green/black and the colors are actually quite beautiful. They sound like humming birds when they fly close to you. Well, reason I brought it up is because they love to "nest" in my manure pile, and in the past as I was digging up old, decomposed manure for gardening, I would uncover the larva of these beetles. It's huge, even bigger than yours in the picture. Funny, I never thought of it as turtle/Manouria/YF/RF food. What a treat that would have been for them.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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A couple of images of converted vision cages. The conversion is not so complicated. I remove the screen air areas at the back and top and use aquarium sealer to glue 1/2 foam board to that opening with the shiny side in. I use plastic closet rod hangers/ends glued to the inside (Liquid nails) and then span that with 1/2 inch PVC and hang the light from the pipe. I have used fence boards and 2 x 4 to increase the height along the front. I drill one large bulkhead fitting into what will be the low corner, connected to a drain hose. I use coco fiber mat so that loose substrate does not clog the drain. I use a slightly smaller bulkhead fitting in a water dish that fits into the larger bulkhead fitting in the floor. I use a plug fitting for the water dish. Each morning I dump a few gallons of water at the high point and it works its way in the substrate to the low point and drains. I un-plug the water dish and poopy water goes away, a quick rinse, and re-plug and then overfill the water dish. I use tiles for food plates, when they get soiled I run them under hot water and wipe them off, put them right back. I have a heat panel in there for when it gets cold, set at 85F right now, I think it may have turned on once or twice. I keep the end's of the doors open about an 1.8 inch for air exchange throughout the day and night. The things that need to plug in go through the smallest hole possible in the top, I did not plug the air gap there. RH is now never less than 89%. The lights right now are providing a good temp gradient. The tiles, (just like substrate in the outside world) absorb energy from the light and attain 98F at a peak.

I have a smaller one set up for six neonate M. impressa that I noted in another thread http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...cies-at-least-in-the-usa.159742/#post-1511651

Costs are associated with getting the least expensive Vision cage you can off Craig's list. One panel of the foam board is less than $10.00, the glues are about 5$ each. I bought the coco mat from Amazon, I got a large roll. but you can use the end of season discounted ones from a local super store (lowe's, Home Depot, target, wall mart, whatever). The bulkhead fitting from Aqautic Eco Systems (now someone else but the search term still works.) Tyler (Tortoise Supply) sells square plant saucers or you might find them at a local plant nursery. Lighting and heating is at your discretion.
 

Anyfoot

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Nice set up Will. Plenty of moisture in there. Can't wait to see how these leopards grow. No one tort is dominating that pile of food :D.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Nice set up Will. Plenty of moisture in there. Can't wait to see how these leopards grow. No one tort is dominating that pile of food :D.
That's the funny thing, there is absolutely no ring, just slow expansion all the way around each scute. It is difficult to 'see' growth by evidence of observation of growth seams. But they are growing.

I actually drain water dish first, then dump the few gallons at the high corner, that purges the small poops out of the discharge hose. I'm using 5/8 garden hose and it clogs remarkably easy.
 

Anyfoot

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I've noticed this with my redfoots. The areoles seem to expand for a while, soon as the bone under the scute starts to thicken then growth rings follow.
I couldn't for the life of me work out how my homeana were growing, I didn't see any growth rings for at least 6 months. These start off with the sunken scute look just like yellowfoots. Mine look smooth now and growth rings are appearing. I can only think it's the same principle for both types of tortoises(sunken scute look or not), the bone under the scute thickened to make them look smooth then growth rings follow. With the redfoots(that don't start with sunken scute look) at around 6 months old the bone thickens giving the look of raised scutes, then growth rings follow, as the tort grows they start smoothing off again. I'm hoping your Leo's do the same, I'll bet the transition of bone thickening to growth rings appearing is the most critical time to keep moist and humid so the bone can push the keratin to smooth off again. Some of my redfoots have gone through a really ugly look at around 6 months and now are smoothing back out.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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I've noticed this with my redfoots. The areoles seem to expand for a while, soon as the bone under the scute starts to thicken then growth rings follow.
I couldn't for the life of me work out how my homeana were growing, I didn't see any growth rings for at least 6 months. These start off with the sunken scute look just like yellowfoots. Mine look smooth now and growth rings are appearing. I can only think it's the same principle for both types of tortoises(sunken scute look or not), the bone under the scute thickened to make them look smooth then growth rings follow. With the redfoots(that don't start with sunken scute look) at around 6 months old the bone thickens giving the look of raised scutes, then growth rings follow, as the tort grows they start smoothing off again. I'm hoping your Leo's do the same, I'll bet the transition of bone thickening to growth rings appearing is the most critical time to keep moist and humid so the bone can push the keratin to smooth off again. Some of my redfoots have gone through a really ugly look at around 6 months and now are smoothing back out.


Back to the little impressa, of the many adults I have seen necropsied, they have large fenestra (gap of bone underlying the scute) almost like pancake tortoises. I'm thinking they don't not require calcium as much, but can do with less. To that end I am adding calcium to what they eat to try and make sure it is not a growth limiting nutrient. I'll try some macro photos of each.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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This will probably get 'lost' here in Live Naked People, but I am at a quandary to know where better to put it.

I have a few species of forest type tortoises, as neonates. Adults are good at walking to food plates to get food, but the neonates just don't seem to get it or want to do that. Could be a way to avoid being preyed upon, or otherwise just a cautious way to not get stepped on. No matter, they are not adventurous in regards to traveling to the food plate, even when it's just 4 or more inches away.

So, with the small Pyxis planicauda and now Manouria impressa, I have been putting a small stack of food on a leaf (dry magnolia leaf or fresh mulberry leaf) and putting the food right in front of them, where ever they sit when the lights come on. They gobble it up. They move around during the day, and days when I've had a chance to watch them off and on throughout the day, they go and "steal" other tortoises food. But no worries, I am now putting more leaf plates of food in the enclosure than there are tortoises. They are all growing a noticeable bit better now.
 
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