Recent content by Markw84

My grandson and I also put up 4 bluebird nest boxes. Here's one in the large Galapagos pen on the Mulberry Tree. I checked the end of April and did have a clutch of eggs in it. Should be ready to fledge as well.

In areas that are very hot like we have, the heat sheilds are to keep the top and south facing back a bit cooler. So the door faces north. The partition is shown if you look carefully on the blow up picture. you can see the top of it next to the door opening. It goes next to the door opening...

Brenda and I will sit overlooking the Burmese enclosure with the Galapagos pasture and the the owl nest box in the distance. We would go out about 29 min after sundown and like clockwork the male would come from his daytime roost to what seemed like, relieve the female to go hunt a bit...

@Tom Your owl is looking great. I love the face of the barn owl! I remeber seeing this guy in November when just a baby. Here's the plans I used for my nest box. I did add a few branches I cut for an entrance perch instead of an entrance platform.

We've been overrun with gophers and field mice here at our tortoise ranch - officially Rancho Tortuga now. In keeping the pastures going and planting trees and plants for tortoise food, it often is only to see it die with all roots eaten away just as it was getting started. My grandson, when...

I'm interested in the liver issue relating to overgrown beaks. Would love to look into that more. Never heard that and wonder if any liver issue has been diagnosed in a tortoise with overgrown beak? @mark1 I have issue with your relating aquatic turtle experience so liberally to tortoises...

Tortoises have been around a long, long time. Millions of years. The climate of any area goes through a tremendous change in 20,000 to 40,000 years. Animals in any area, adapt, migrate, or decline/go extinct. Look at the sulcata. Just 4000 years ago the area that is now the Sahel was a...

I have several radiated available now, with some hatching today. Thought I'd share a few pictures of the new ones while soaking today. I also have lots of Burmese Stars and pancake tortoises available now. Here's a new baby in its first soak. Came out of the egg this morning... This is the...

Here's a post I did about 6 years ago when I built a pool for my sulcatas. Since then i have build a few more much larger for my Galapagos and have found it the best way to provide a pool for a giant tortoise that is as easy to clean as possible. No filter will work! You need an easy way to...

In well over 1/2 of the northern parts of the US, burrows just do not work for sulcatas. The problem overlooked is ground temperatures. Where you live the ground temperature at just 8" deep right now is 69°. That is what you tortoise will be sitting on in a burrow with the flat plastron...

The biggest thing to get right is a good, heated house for a Burmese Star. Stars like it hot. So they will stay in their house to warm up, or to stay cooler in extreme heat. The issue you will find is that Burmese Star adults are evening tortoises. Where they come from, the days are too hot...

Welcome back, @hyacinth - hadn't seen a post from you in about 14 years and now you're back and have a Galapagos. Congratulations on that and your Galapagos looks great - growing nice and smooth. Your night house looks great as well, but won't last too long. by the time my Galapagos are 6...

I use a thermostat on all my closed chambers for overheat protection on the basking light. A good closed chamber holds heat (and humidity) extremely well, so a basking light, especially when A HO T5 UVb is on too, will overheat the enclosure. As @Alex and the Redfoot mentions, I use a...

The UV index you see from weather reports is not totally applicable to our tortoise UVB needs. The UVI I see on my local reports for weather is always quite a bit higher than the UVI I get when I check with my solarmeter. It seems the UVI for weather is more of a total UV reading and includes...

I would also add a good UVB light for your tortoise. Keep in mind you are at 54° N latitude. The farthest north any wild tortoise population has been able to survive is about 50° N. The farthest north for hermanns is about 44° N. Where you live just does not get enough sun intensity and the...