I have an enclosure for Hercules about 4000 sqft in size. Half of it is grass and the other half plants, his home, his mini pool, etc. He definitely favors part of the grass more than the rest and has been over grazing some sections and not others (I still have to mow it weekly). Currently, I...
Well, I would soak him normally and he would still mess around the house. Then when someone mentioned potty training to me, I took it more seriously. I would then specifically soak him till he went potty, then rinse him and take him out of the bath. The first few days, it took 30 minutes or so...
I know they can definitely be potty trained in the house. Like I said, it took a week, but then he would have no accidents and could roam around without problems. He lived indoors for about 5 years while I was in MN. He had access to my patio in the summer, but in the fall/winter/spring he was...
When I lived indoors, Hercules was really easy to potty train. I just had to put him in the bathtub every other day and he learned to pee/poo in there and not around my house. It took about a week to teach him.
Now he is outdoors and has a huge yard. He has recently begun to pee on our patio...
I have a slow growing guy, but his growth has always been steady. He's now about 10 years old and weighs 45 lbs, but I just checked his growth chart and at 7 months of age, he was only 80g. He didn't reach 200g until he was 2 years and 3 months old. I let him mostly self forage the first 5 or so...
BrianWI, I'm not sure what farm you worked on, but they do lots of fertilizing in the U.S. Do you remember a few years ago the huge explosion at a fertilizer plant? There is no way we'd be able to continue our corn production without any fertilizer.
If she is eating her urates, she must be needing some nutrients from them. It is not uncommon for other hind gut fermenters to eat their own feces (coprophagia). I haven't seen my guy do it, but I have seen him eat dog poop.
Urates are high in nitrogen, which will help with protein generation...
Yes, that was my point. :)
I didn't think the photo looked like caterpillars because they were so tiny. Instead, the look like some kind of fly larvae from a soil or vegetation dwelling insect.
Hello, I am really impressed with the difference in your sulcata's shell. There is a stark difference from his previous pyramiding, to his now much smoother shell!
I did my doctorate in ruminant nutrition and you're absolutely right about grasses. Some people think grasses are all the same, but...
They look an awful lot like this:
https://www.ent.iastate.edu/soybeaninsects/node/352
So they may be very closely related, which is the larvae of some vegetation-eating insect. They are not parasites coming out of your tortoise.
Thanks. I figured climate plays a large role. That is why I was asking that in the case that outside climate is the same as inside climate and there are no predators. In Malaysia, the humidity is quite high, so I don't think that would be an issue. I imagine that fencing is an issue, but that...
I'm curious, if the climate is warm all day and night, and there are no predators, then why would being inside be any different than being outside? Wouldn't outside be better since the tortoises can get actual sunlight? What benefit would being indoors give?
Since he is in Malaysia, I think...
My little guy had a dried umbilical cord scab as well. It actually stayed for many months. I thought something was wrong with him, but eventually he seemed to grow out of it.