a bit confused :s

[ryanp15]

I have a 5 year old Meditteranean Spur Thighed tortoise, and this year he can go outside for longer than I have let him before.

What's confusing me is that I don't know if the rest of you are from US or UK, I don't know if you keep meditteranean tortoises and whether they need to be kept the same. (if you get what I mean!)

I know that lots of tortoises in the UK have plainish runs with not much in, (from what I've seen). I want a much more interesting and enriching run. Will hostas, hebes, carex grasses, pansies etc be ok in his run? as well as the usual dandelions and other weeds.

I know you must get this lots :s sorry. but any help will be really useful

a pic of him is attatched

 

[Yvonne G]

I have a 5 year old Meditteranean Spur Thighed tortoise, and this year he can go outside for longer than I have let him before.
I know that lots of tortoises in the UK have plainish runs with not much in, (from what I've seen). I want a much more interesting and enriching run. Will hostas, hebes, carex grasses, pansies etc be ok in his run? as well as the usual dandelions and other weeds.

Hi Ryanp15: Anything you can do to make your tortoise's habitat easy-on-the-eye, only helps to enrich the tortoise's life. First of all you should look at images of the tortoise's natural habitat and try to reproduce that for him. I don't keep the Med. tortoises (except Russians), so I don't know what their natural land looks like, but I would think clumps of some sort of plant, chunks of wood (a grape burl, etc.), edible plantings, and maybe even a small boulder, scaled down to size.

Welcome to the forum, and good for you, trying to make your tortoise's life more interesting!!

Yvonne

 

[Crazy1]

I have a 5 year old Meditteranean Spur Thighed tortoise, and this year he can go outside for longer than I have let him before.

What's confusing me is that I don't know if the rest of you are from US or UK, I don't know if you keep meditteranean tortoises and whether they need to be kept the same. (if you get what I mean!)

I know that lots of tortoises in the UK have plainish runs with not much in, (from what I've seen). I want a much more interesting and enriching run. Will hostas, hebes, carex grasses, pansies etc be ok in his run? as well as the usual dandelions and other weeds.

I know you must get this lots :s sorry. but any help will be really useful

a pic of him is attatched

Ryanp15, welcome to the forum. Nice looking Tort you have. We have people from all over the world here and quite a few have Greeks, You can look under Greek Geeks http://tortoiseforum.org/greek-geeks-f-30.html
Yes, whether in the US, UK or anywhere for that matter making a tort habitat exciting for the tort is a good thing. Here are some lists of some plants for landscaping http://www.russiantortoise.org/edible_plants.htm
http://www.sdturtle.org/Tortoise Plants and Food Revised_files/Tortoise Plants and Food Revised.htm
http://www.turtlecafe.com/ediblelandscaping.htm

Just make sure you do not get plants that have been sprayed with chemicals or have Chemical plant food in their soil. They should have a period to clean out the chemicals. I usually give mine 3 months. You can get some of these plants from organic gardeners listed on the net if needed. Good Luck and Congrats on giving your tort an exciting, safe place to live.

 

[stells]

i'm in the UK and my runs are far from plain lol Plain seems more of a US thing.
*ducks*

 

[stells]

here are a couple of mine these are last years pics now in the process of perking them up again for this season.

 

[Jacqui]

i'm in the UK and my runs are far from plain lol Plain seems more of a US thing.
*ducks*

I don't think it's a situation more in one place or another. I think it's more that as knowledge of what plants can be used and how to create a more realistic environment it spreads. Goes a lot I think also with the general publics awareness of their outside rooms. Plus some folks are just more comfortable with creating wonderful worlds for their torts then are others.

The sweet thing is every time you see what somebody else has created, it gives you new thoughts and ideas to use on your own.

Nice areas Stells.

 

[ryanp15]

thanks for everyones advice i think i've got a few more ideas. nice enclosures stells

i was thinking of reinforcing the sides of my current tun with a corregated plastic, would this be ok? It would also hep to obscure his view, as he likes to try coming out all the time!

 

[ryanp15]

oh also, can i see fuschia in your run stell? Somebody was going to give me some fuschia

 

[stells]

yep it is a fuschia theres also........ hmmmmm lets think ........
Rosemary, Lavender, Iceplant, Pansy, Petunia, Hosta, Campanula, a variety of weeds and thats all i can think of right now lol.
The long tunnel is roofing ridge and there are some stones in the weeds, somewhere in that lot.
Oh and a water dish, wooden hide, Terracotta pots on their sides and coldframe

 

[Jacqui]

See fushia is a plant I keep looking at, but never try. Stells do your torts like eating them or do they tend to leave them alone?

 

[stells]

they don't eat the fuschia but when they bush out they make great shade plants they are ok if they are eaten though.

 

[ryanp15]

yep it is a fuschia theres also........ hmmmmm lets think ........
Rosemary, Lavender, Iceplant, Pansy, Petunia, Hosta, Campanula, a variety of weeds and thats all i can think of right now lol.
The long tunnel is roofing ridge and there are some stones in the weeds, somewhere in that lot.
Oh and a water dish, wooden hide, Terracotta pots on their sides and coldframe

oh Rosemary aswell, that's really easy to grow. I can start transplanting some of that. Thanks for the help, I never knew that tortoises could eat all these plants as well as the weeds

do you have to me careful with wire mesh incase they climb up the side?

 

[Jacqui]

do you have to me careful with wire mesh incase they climb up the side?

Looks like Stells has the lid covering to keep them from climbing out. On my old enclosures with no coverings, I just made a lip by bending the wire over in towards the cage. Then if they climb, they get to that point and can't keep climbing. Think my wire lip is about 6" wide.

 

[Jacqui]

they don't eat the fuschia but when they bush out they make great shade plants they are ok if they are eaten though.

Think when I go to WalMart tomorrow, I will pick up one or two for the torts. They don't do very well in this area, so most folks only have them on protected porches. Have not saw one grow into a bush. Bet they are beautiful however.

 

[ryanp15]

oh right, my grandad has just taken one out which was a large bush, he said he'd give it to me. He might have thrown it away now though! We also have one potted on our patio, could you try potting it in a sunny place? Then you could dig the pot in the ground :s maybe

 

[Crazy1]

I am just finishing putting up a new pen and used corregated plastic, or pvc roofing (the wavey kind) in it that's is green and 13 inches high to block their view. then I will add substrate and plant it for them for this summer. So Yes Ryanp15 corregated plastic would be OK. Stells your pens are wonderful.

 

[JustAnja]

Here is a list of what I planted in my tortoise pens this Spring ;D

Pansys
Campenula
Shungiku (Edible Chrysanthemum)
Crimson Clover
Red Veined Sorrel
Presto
Golden Purslane "Goldberg"
Dandelion
Lemon Grass
Chickweed
Portulaca
Hens N Chicks
Mediterranean Tortoise Seed Mix
Some other grass and clover mixed seeds marketed for Deer food plots

Day lilies that just happen to have already been there, we had no idea when they started coming up.

Will have some various Coleus Im starting from seeds to go in there as well. There are a few more flowers that I threw in there as well but I cant remember right off hand what they all are. I have a ton of potted succulents that will be in and around the pens also. Just picked up two large bunches of Sedum that I divided and potted from a private home with no chemicals. Where these pens have been put in, we cleared forest brush back to make room so there will be a ton of stuff that comes back up from there as well. Ive also been transplanting mature Dandelion bunches out of the yard and into the pens along with a few other weeds. Its starting to look really lush, its a shame that I wont be here to enjoy it coming back up next year.


Almost forgot I have 3 Rose bushes potted over by the pens so there will be plenty of rose petals and leaves for the torties as well .

 

[ryanp15]

oh right, my grandad has just taken one out which was a large bush, he said he'd give it to me. He might have thrown it away now though! We also have one potted on our patio, could you try potting it in a sunny place? Then you could dig the pot in the ground :s maybe

Here is a list of what I planted in my tortoise pens this Spring ;D

Pansys
Campenula
Shungiku (Edible Chrysanthemum)
Crimson Clover
Red Veined Sorrel
Presto
Golden Purslane "Goldberg"
Dandelion
Lemon Grass
Chickweed
Portulaca
Hens N Chicks
Mediterranean Tortoise Seed Mix
Some other grass and clover mixed seeds marketed for Deer food plots

Day lilies that just happen to have already been there, we had no idea when they started coming up.

Will have some various Coleus Im starting from seeds to go in there as well. There are a few more flowers that I threw in there as well but I cant remember right off hand what they all are. I have a ton of potted succulents that will be in and around the pens also. Just picked up two large bunches of Sedum that I divided and potted from a private home with no chemicals. Where these pens have been put in, we cleared forest brush back to make room so there will be a ton of stuff that comes back up from there as well. Ive also been transplanting mature Dandelion bunches out of the yard and into the pens along with a few other weeds. Its starting to look really lush, its a shame that I wont be here to enjoy it coming back up next year.


Almost forgot I have 3 Rose bushes potted over by the pens so there will be plenty of rose petals and leaves for the torties as well .

oh wow that sounds like a great enclosure
I have lots of ideas for mine now!
thanks everyone