Hatchlings

kingskettle

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These were born on June 18th and June 16th. I finally found some small bark for them and I think all is ok in their viv The humidity is just over 80 and the temp between 80 and 90. They are finally eating really well now and yesterday weighed 78 and 72 gms. Do they look ok to you experts? They eat hibiscis, petunia, tradescantia, mulberry, rose and lettuce. I chop it up finely then add a little bit of lettuce and they munch their way through 4 or 5 gms twice a day. Also drop a piece of opuntia in and give them each a cube of cooked sweet potato twice a week.
 

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Tom

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They look okay in that picture.

I'd skip the sweet potato and lettuce and add some grass, plus more variety. https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

That is pretty good growth for one month.

They should not be living together as a pair. You need to add one or two more, or separate them into their own enclosures. Pairs don't work. Even in the picture they are showing their discontent for each other. See how they are both sitting in the food bowl trying to cover the food and displace the other tortoise? Not good. The chronic stress of this can hamper their immune systems and is overall a bad deal for them.
 

kingskettle

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5 Year Member
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Dec 8, 2011
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They look okay in that picture.

I'd skip the sweet potato and lettuce and add some grass, plus more variety. https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

That is pretty good growth for one month.

They should not be living together as a pair. You need to add one or two more, or separate them into their own enclosures. Pairs don't work. Even in the picture they are showing their discontent for each other. See how they are both sitting in the food bowl trying to cover the food and displace the other tortoise? Not good. The chronic stress of this can hamper their immune systems and is overall a bad deal for them.


I give them grass every day but they ignore it. They'd ignore all the other types of leaves as well until I added a tiny bit of chopped lettuce to them. That way they eat really well now. I shall keep trying with the grass. They'd already eaten when I took the photo and I placed them both in the saucer together and they just wanted to try and escape out of it! Pretty hot here and not much gowing so they will have to make do with the various leaves I have growing such as vine, rose, hibiscus etc until September when the temps drop and the rain comes, plenty of weeds then. Can they also eat Tagetes, it's a type of Marigold? I have some still flowering. I shall have to see about getting another hatchling though. Thank you for your advice Tom.
 

Tom

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I don't know about Tagetes. I have no experience with that one.

The way to get them eating new foods is to finely mince the old favorites and spray them down with water. Then mince up a tiny tiny amount of the new stuff and thoroughly mix it in with the old favorite. They'll either eat it all, or be hungrier the next day. In time they get familiar with the new stuff, and you can add in more and more over time.
 

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