No I don't keep him in sand. He's on a cypress mulch and dirt mix. It does get hot in the room I keep him in upstairs, the door is always closed, and doesn't get much air flow. The window is always open. I'll post a pic here in a few. [hr]
He does feel heavy, has some weight to him
He always has water available and I see him use it. I soak him 10-20 min 2-3 times a week, and often place him in his water dish also. But yea his eyes do seem sunken in.
What are some symptoms of dehydration? He is urinating and his urates are phlegmy like, sometimes a little chalky. Was curious because his eyes are a little sunken in? He is a sub-adult/adult Russian.
I also have a baby tortoise around 6 months old and I havent seen any white urates being...
Shell rot: This is another 'catch-all' term for a variety of conditions that can include bacterial, fungal, or environmental factors. In most forms of shell rot, micro-organisms get under the protective layers of the scutes and begin to 'eat away' at the tissues they find there. This means that...
This happened to my Russian tortoise, and it was kinda bad, worse than this. If it's not soft or anything, been gettin calcium and D3 and sunlight, then it is prolly a bacterial infection. That is what the vet told me. If it's flakey and white like that (could be spotted with a little black...
RE: What Is A Better Substrate.
I got a large bag of cypress mulch and organic top soil from lowes, maybe home depot, gardening center. Much cheaper than a pet store
You can get coco coir from a pet store in a bag or it comes in bricks that you soak in water to break it up.
Yea that's the responses I'm getting now, lol. That it doesn't have to be that humid. I'm using a mix of cypress mulch and sphagnum moss, so it stays fairly moistened underneath, and dries out a bit on top. Do you use a humid hide?[hr]
What do u try to keep your humidity at?
RE: What Is A Better Substrate.
Well most people will tell you to definitely not to use rabbit pellets. They don't hold moisture for a microclimate and can mold and hold fungi.
Others will say that playsand/dirt mixture is
Ok, but sand can cause compaction.
And the majority will tell...
Thank you for your replies, helps out tremendously, was worried that his humidty wasn't high enough, bit now lower would be better. Not desert type dry, but not rainforest humid. Semi-moderate.
I wasn't sure about the humidity, I was following a guideline that seemed very good, but it was for a sulcata or leopard.
He is a young hatchling, so I wanted to avoid the pyramiding. I do have sphagnum moss throughout his enclosure and in his hid that is right below the heat lamp.
Thank you...
So I got a baby zagros mountain Greek the other week. I have him in an open toe box, very roomy for his size. I am having trouble keeping the humidity level up around 70-80%. I currently keep it covered with a sheet of plastic, occasionally fully covered (lately mostly at night) or half to two...
Weeds are usually a pretty good thing I think, varied dandelion and dark leaves. Just make sure they are not pesticide or fertilized (plant food is ok I think) maybe from your yard? Also no animal feces lol