Search results

I grew Roselle from seed last year and this year and my sulcata readily eats the leaves. When he sees me carrying some he comes right over.

Actually you have it the wrong way round. The nightshades are plants in Solanaceae, including plants such as tomato and eggplant. Morning glory is in the Convolvulaceae, which includes plants such as morning glories, sweet potatoes, and bind weed.

Morning glory is not in the same plant family as tomato or eggplant

If you are using new pots and new soil, you won't get cochineal from those things. I would be more concerned about the new pads. I would wash and dry them like I described. Baby cochineal ("crawlers") are very small so they could be on your pads and easily escape notice. Cochineal crawlers can...

As others have said it's cochineal. If you only have one cactus, and it's relatively small, I would cut off one pad, set if aside. If the cactus was in a pot I would put the pot (if inexpensive) and all the other pads in a bag, seal the bag, and put it in the trash. If the cactus was in the...

I forgot to add that seedlings don't need fertilizer for germination or early growth. Adding some at that stage may do more harm than good and is a waste of fertilizer. M.

This looks like "damping off", a fungal disease that is favored by cool and moist conditions. Most seeds don't require 100% humidity to germinate, and the jar is probably causing more harm than good. They would probably benefit from a heat mat, but take care not to let the soil dry out. The...

Where are you located? I am in Fresno and could provide some cactus cuttings if you are having trouble locating any.

Thanks for this information. Can you offer any advice on arrangement of heating units, a floorplan, basically? I noticed our tortoise likes to snuggle up in corners so I anticipate putting the cane mat in a corner, with a radiant heat panel mounted to the roof above the mat. I am not sure how...

Thanks. Those panels are on our radar screen. The only hesitation is if RHPs and a kane mat would provide sufficient heat. Normal wintertime lows here are usually in the high thirties, but it's not unheard of to get occasional lows in the high 20s. Matt

Thanks for the replies. To be clear, we are not trying to cut corners, we are looking for suggestions on the safest heating technologies that could be effective for the size of our box in our climate. We wouldn't skimp on an extension cord and will plan on putting an outlet near the box in the...

It looks like my message was truncated but I am basically looking for suggestions on the safety and effectiveness of various heating options because I am second guessing the safety of the oil filled radiator.

We are building a night box for our sulcata similar to the type that Tom and others have posted. I greatly appreciate the plans, instructions, and diagrams that have been posted. Ours will be about 4' wide, 8' long, and 2' tall (interior height). Every wall, roof, floor, and door is, or will be...

It's edible as is. Most "Spineless" cacti have a few random spines and almost all of them have glochids, which are very small and fine spines that can be very irritating when they get in your skin. Tortoises don't seem to mind pads with a normal amount of glochids but I would avoid feeding...

This is scooter, our juvenile Sulcata. We acquired him as a hatchling in June 2019. Today he weighs about 3.8 lbs. Picture taken yesterday.

Grapes are grown commercially in the Coachella valley. They can take a lot of heat, but need some chilling over winter to resume normal growth in spring. There could be other issues affecting your vines besides heat. I wonder if it's worth the trouble though. Our sulcata doesn't really like...

Does this work? https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-documents-first-tortoise-with-allergies/article_bec5b332-33f3-11ea-ba4e-8fd1de35bfcc.html

Actually, it seems possible that sulcata tortoises can have allergies: https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-documents-first-tortoise-with-allergies/article_bec5b332-33f3-11ea-ba4e-8fd1de35bfcc.amp.html

What everyone else has said regarding spineless cactus being preferred feed is true but if those are native cacti it would be a shame to remove them if not necessary for safety reasons (yours or your pets).

There's this: https://newscenter.nmsu.edu/Articles/view/10352/tortoise-keeper-s-interest-in-teff-hay-sparks-interest-for-future-nmsu-research