Recent content by kolouri

I’m building an outdoor tortoise enclosure for summer and wanted to see what everyone is using for mulch. The forest floor stuff at petco is pretty expensive for a large area. Is redwood mulch toxic? I haven’t been able to find cypress. Everything here seems to be cedar. I have very sandy soil...

She seems much better already. She pooped in her bath today and humidity is clocking in around 89% with the new substrate and the glass. She finally ate some veggies and pellets and has been walking around and burrowing in the coconut. She really is a friendly little thing and sticks her head...

Before I open them, are these right? I couldn’t find orchid bark. And ah yeah zero looks to be in a more tropical environment than me. We have the heat but not the humidity out here. Kris

I would for sure have the enclosure covered with a mesh and was looking into misters for humidity. Not sure what to do about temperature yet, but California has mild weather so it would be mostly something for the chilly nights and cooler winter days. Do you have photos of your setup? Outside...

Thank you so much for all the thoughtful responses. Ugh. The rescue definitely either did not know or just didn't communicate the type of care that she needed. I definitely wasnt planning on having much of an indoor setup for her, so I really need to re-evaluate where I'm going to find space...

Also, if I’m reading right, if she’s able to be outdoors for 4-5 hours a day, does she not need indoor uvb? I was planning on making an outdoor greenhouse from some old windows, but would that block the outdoor uvb? Perhaps a better outdoor solution would be chicken wire and misters. Also what...

Poor thing. I’ll definitely figure out an enclosed habitat this weekend. Is the pyramiding caused by bad diet or lack of uvb? Anything I can do to help or is the damage kind of already done?

Here’s a photo of her now. Kind of shows how big she is. Definitely not a hatchling but also nowhere near adult size.

Ahh.. how big does she need to be until outside more? The rescue didnt know how old she is. And yes, was planning on setting up a mister system in her outdoor area with a greenhouse and lots of plants.

Thank you! Oh a greenhouse topper makes so much sense. Her tabletop is only 4' X 2' which I know is way too small. I'm pretty handy around the house and good at DIY. I have plenty of backyard space to make her an amazing habitat in the yard. And being SoCal desert, it's going to be warm...

Shes good on temperature. Ok I'll get a mixture of coir and orchid bark pronto. Bigger enclosure is in the works, but for now this will have to do. How do I raise humidity other than keep the substrate damp? I'm in the desert. And yeah... to be fair it's a sulcata rescue and said she...

Hello everyone! I recently moved to Joshua Tree, CA and adopted a big sulcata. He's about 10 years old, and I did all the research before getting him. He has an insulated and heated mansion and full run of a 1/2 acre fenced yard. Anyways... when I picked him up from the rescue, the woman...