1st time outside

[Shellby49]

As it's the warmest day of the year so far in the North East of UK, we decided to let Shellie out for the first time. We have cleared an area of garden which we named the bug garden as wild flowers and weeds grow here yearly. We have also planted lots of dandelion seeds for extra food later in the year. Shellie was very confident and moved around freely, however, she kept eating the soil. Is this normal? Like I say this is our first outing so any advice will be welcome.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Shellie was very confident and moved around freely, however, she kept eating the soil. Is this normal

Do you supplement calcium and/or vitamins? How do you provide indoor UVB?

Eating soil could be caused by too much or too little calcium.

 

[Shellby49]

Do you supplement calcium and/or vitamins? How do you provide indoor UVB?

Eating soil could be caused by too much or too little calcium.

Yes she has a pinch of calcium added to her vitamin pellets twice weekly. Also she has a calcium block which she knaws on most days. UV lamp 12 hours a day.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Yes she has a pinch of calcium added to her vitamin pellets twice weekly. Also she has a calcium block which she knaws on most days. UV lamp 12 hours a day.

What are the contents of her pellets?

What kind of UVB lamp do you have? How close to the substrate is the lamp? The recommended T5 tubes only need to be on for 3 to 4 hours per day?

 

[Tom]

As it's the warmest day of the year so far in the North East of UK, we decided to let Shellie out for the first time. We have cleared an area of garden which we named the bug garden as wild flowers and weeds grow here yearly. We have also planted lots of dandelion seeds for extra food later in the year. Shellie was very confident and moved around freely, however, she kept eating the soil. Is this normal? Like I say this is our first outing so any advice will be welcome.View attachment 388375View attachment 388375View attachment 388376

Soil eating is usually due to:
1. Nutrient or mineral deficiency
2. Mineral imbalance
3. Lack of fiber in the diet.

This is most commonly seen in tortoise that are fed mostly grocery store greens that have not been properly amended.

Calcium should be added to the greens, not to the balanced vitamin pellets, as adding calcium upset the mineral balance.

Much more info about this and other subjects in these two threads:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome.

 

[Shellby49]

Soil eating is usually due to:
1. Nutrient or mineral deficiency
2. Mineral imbalance
3. Lack of fiber in the diet.

This is most commonly seen in tortoise that are fed mostly grocery store greens that have not been properly amended.

Calcium should be added to the greens, not to the balanced vitamin pellets, as adding calcium upset the mineral balance.

Much more info about this and other subjects in these two threads:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome.

Thank you!! I will do this from now on. I totally appreciate the feedback.