Recent content by kthomas

  1. K

    New Desert Tortoise Hatchlings

    Still have x4 desert tortoises that are alive and well. Some have been growing at a faster rate then others, but they are all eating, drinking, peeing, pooping and generally active. I've started to add in some Mazuri pellets which I soak with water to their diet, which they love. Otherwise...
  2. K

    Commercial Tortoise Food Questions

    This is an interesting topic to me. I've somewhat recently (past 6+ months) have been adding in Mazuri to my tortoises diet. I will soak the pellets with water, to help with hydration but mostly for the purpose of softening up the food to make it easier for them to eat (they are just under 1...
  3. K

    Predator Protection - outdoor enclosures

    Right now my wife and I have four beautiful almost 1 year old Sonoran desert tortoises. They currently live indoors in the tortoise table I built them, but once they get bigger (I'm thinking another ~2 years or so), they will be moved permanently outdoors. We live just North of Tucson in the...
  4. K

    New caregiver to Desert Tortoise need advice.

    Mazuri doesn't say that. They say that if you add fruit and vegetables to the diet, they should not be in concentrations of more than 5% and 20% of the diet. At least that's what my Mazuri tortoise food bag states. Nothing about limiting the actual Mazuri pellets. My understanding is that...
  5. K

    Low heat UVB bulb?

    Thanks for the input! I ended up with a 48" reptisun 10.0 uvb bulb and zoo-med 48" hood. The local exotic pet store gave me 25% off which was nice. When the bulb burns out, I'll look to replace it with that Arcadia bulb. Now I need to come up with a clever mounting solution to place it at...
  6. K

    Low heat UVB bulb?

    Hatchling sonoran desert tortoises, coming up on 1 year old. They are still pretty small. Open top tortoise table that is 4' long x 2' wide.
  7. K

    Low heat UVB bulb?

    I recently moved into a new house, and the tortoise table has been moved into a "Arizona room" - a sort of indoor/outdoor room. Needless to say, it gets pretty dang hot in that room in the AZ summers (90°'s). The current UVB bulbs I have create too much heat for the room. I currently have 100 &...
  8. K

    FLIPPING OVER SOLVED ?

    My hatchlings have never tried to climb out of their enclosure/tortoise table. However, they seem to be very curious and will climb over any obstacle/structure in the enclosure. They will climb over rocks, climb over their pools/water dishes, climb through any food and calcium dishes, over their...
  9. K

    New Desert Tortoise Hatchlings

    Excellent, will try those out. Thanks!
  10. K

    New Desert Tortoise Hatchlings

    Hi Michelle, Apologise for the late response, haven't been on here much lately. Thanks for the compliment on the enclosure! Right now I am feeding them live lettuce (not the most nutritious, I know), wild grasses from the backyard (no pesticides or poisons are used on our property), a ZooMed...
  11. K

    New Desert Tortoise Hatchlings

    There are a few hides in the enclosure, but that particular one is probably the most favorable hide, if I was a betting man.
  12. K

    New Desert Tortoise Hatchlings

    Unfortunately I believe we are already seeing signs of bullying, based off of what my wife is telling me (I'm not going to be home until Monday). We currently have all 4 of the hatchlings from the clutch in our care (owners went on vacation). The most active hatchling (bomber as we call...
  13. K

    New Desert Tortoise Hatchlings

    Thanks Tom, unfortunately that means we will have to return one of the hatchlings back to it's owners. Thankfully they are friends of ours, so that shouldn't be an issue. Also - appreciate the tips on the humid hides!
  14. K

    New Desert Tortoise Hatchlings

    I remember looking over those threads a few days ago, I'll be sure to look them over again! Lots of knowledge on here. I think I've spent about 5-6 hours on this forum since I've discovered it, reading through the various subfroums. So glad I found this place.
  15. K

    New Desert Tortoise Hatchlings

    Thanks so much for the thoughtful responses everyone! There's certainly a wealth of knowledge on this forum, and I (and my baby tortoises) really appreciate you guys taking the time to respond! I would love to keep the enclosure and open top if I'm able to, I'll be making sure that it is...
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