A Day in the Life of Tortillini

turtlebean

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2020
Messages
190
Location (City and/or State)
Connecticut
Hi all!

As some of you guys know, i’m newish to these forums as well as still new to owning a tortoise! I got tortillini I think about 3-4 weeks ago. Who knows, in quarantine all of my days are starting to blend together lol!

I just wanted to share some pictures of my little guy and his daily routine. If you guys have any suggestions or comments feel free to share!

I have a nest cam pointed on the enclosure at all times, and the app will send alerts to my phone when there is movement happening so I get to peer in on Tortillini all day. Even when I would be at work I would have the nest cam tab up all day. This is what it looks like, best invention ever! 948A6D75-8979-4D16-B12D-23A98194D135.png


I have my lights on a timer and they click on about 8:30 in the morning. Then around 8:50-9ish I start to get the notification that Tortillini is coming out of his hide. At this point in the day I’m just waking up so I watch him on the app from my bed, and he just basks for about 20-30 minutes.

Usually at this point in the morning I finish showering and I head upstairs to feed him and put warm water in his dish. He’s usually chilling out on his slate, basking and once or twice has come up to the side of the enclosure when he sees me! Super cute love that.

This is him patiently warming up under the lights.

8911F9CB-0876-4F7C-AB84-81C6C83504EB.jpeg

Then I usually roll my desk chair over and just watch him for a little bit. Sometimes if I notice he hasn’t gone in his water bowl in a day or two I’ll put him in there for a quick soak, I figured it can’t hurt! He seems to like the warm water.

Usually while he’s soaking, or just patiently basking I’ll put his greens on his slate and he’ll make his way over to them. Sometimes as soon as he sees the clump of greens come into eyesight he heads right for them.

I noticed if I don’t feed him as early in the day, like on weekends i’ll sleep in an extra hour or two, he does way more laps around the enclosure! He’ll go over and sniff where I usually put the food and then go for a couple laps and then go back and sit where the food usually is. Definitley gets his exercise in lol!

Then I watch him for like ten more minutes and realized I am again late for work because it’s actually been a half hour and he’s just so mesmerizing to watch.

He’ll usually eat, go bask under the light for a while, sometimes do some laps, and repeat. He usually does this same loop from when I put the food down till about 3-4ish. Sometimes i’ll come home early from work and just sit next to him for a couple hours and other times I come home and he’s gone into his hide for the day.
753FC689-BA5A-4F83-8BD7-3DCEA5B5947E.jpeg
When I first got Tortillini I started feeding him a mix of all store bought greens, spring mix, and escarole. Then I introduced chicory into his diet, as well as some carrot tops, and cilantro. Meanwhile I went through the forums and found out where and how to grow my own seeds so he can have a better diet! I also have the ZooMed natural grassland pellets. Sometimes i’ll throw a few into his food pile but he doesn’t seem to eat them.

Two questions! I saw mixed reviews and advice for both of these things. The pellets, do I give them to him only sometimes, a little everyday or none at all?
Second, calcium or supplements? I have read conflicting information stating that if he is an adult he doesn’t need much supplementation and other people say do it. I bought ZooMed Calcium and so far have sprinkled it on his food once a week for the past two weeks. Is this okay? Also people talk about Minerall, do I need that? Sorry so many questions. Okay back to his routine.


Here are my first two “creations” lol. The russian tortoise seed mix and then some hostas. I’m trying not to kill them, like I have done with plants in the past. But these are different because I actually remember to water them since they will serve a purpose for my little tort.

This picture was about a week or so in. 650DF9CC-31AC-4188-87C9-A454A90CF521.jpeg

This picture is probably a week old, so picture this same setup but with way more growth. I read to wait till the weeds are six inches, then cut and feed.

My hope is to slowly start weaning him off grocery store food and get him into eating all homegrown plants and weeds. Little by little!

Okay so as early as 3 or 4 on some days, Tortillini will retreat to his hide and won’t come out until the next morning. Some days he will stay out till as late as like 8pm and then go in his hide and won’t come out. Other times he makes little burrows and will just fall asleep in them until the next day. Then he wakes up and it’s this whole routine all over again!

So that’s it! Sorry this turned out to be an entire novel, I just had so much information I wanted to share with you all. I probably forgot some stuff but I can always post more in the future.

Again, please let me know if I should be doing anything different or any suggestions.

CDE0F48E-A4B1-431D-9968-135E854560D9.jpeg
Sometimes he makes a little pillow out of the substrate, and will nap under the light!

Thanks again for reading:)
-Julia R
 

LaLaP

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2018
Messages
959
Location (City and/or State)
Portland, OR
Isn't it wonderful to have a tortoise to watch?! I love it too.
You're doing a great job spoiling Tortallini! About your questions.. the calcium once a week is plenty of supplements. Giving pellets is an individual choice, no rules, as long as they get plenty of greens. I give it as a treat or to trick them into eating something new (sometimes they need encouragement to try new things so I'll cover it in pellet mush).
 
Joined
Apr 3, 2020
Messages
78
Location (City and/or State)
Texas
Such a beautiful turtle! I would like to know how you setup his enclosure and the camera if you have the chance to tell me! Thank you so much!
 

turtlebean

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2020
Messages
190
Location (City and/or State)
Connecticut
Such a beautiful turtle! I would like to know how you setup his enclosure and the camera if you have the chance to tell me! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much! I built the enclosure out of some plywood and some other wood I had laying around. I posted a whole threat about it showing the steps and materials used, feel free to check it out!

The camera is a Nest camera! It’s super cool, I got it on amazon and it’s very eat you use! You just plug it into the wall and download the nest app onto your smartphone. From there you set up your wifi and done! Available to customize shut off and start up times for the camera, or even have it motion detect like mine does. Definitley worth it!
 

Madkathq

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2020
Messages
94
Location (City and/or State)
Lake Elsinore
Hi all!

As some of you guys know, i’m newish to these forums as well as still new to owning a tortoise! I got tortillini I think about 3-4 weeks ago. Who knows, in quarantine all of my days are starting to blend together lol!

I just wanted to share some pictures of my little guy and his daily routine. If you guys have any suggestions or comments feel free to share!

I have a nest cam pointed on the enclosure at all times, and the app will send alerts to my phone when there is movement happening so I get to peer in on Tortillini all day. Even when I would be at work I would have the nest cam tab up all day. This is what it looks like, best invention ever! View attachment 289540


I have my lights on a timer and they click on about 8:30 in the morning. Then around 8:50-9ish I start to get the notification that Tortillini is coming out of his hide. At this point in the day I’m just waking up so I watch him on the app from my bed, and he just basks for about 20-30 minutes.

Usually at this point in the morning I finish showering and I head upstairs to feed him and put warm water in his dish. He’s usually chilling out on his slate, basking and once or twice has come up to the side of the enclosure when he sees me! Super cute love that.

This is him patiently warming up under the lights.

View attachment 289541

Then I usually roll my desk chair over and just watch him for a little bit. Sometimes if I notice he hasn’t gone in his water bowl in a day or two I’ll put him in there for a quick soak, I figured it can’t hurt! He seems to like the warm water.

Usually while he’s soaking, or just patiently basking I’ll put his greens on his slate and he’ll make his way over to them. Sometimes as soon as he sees the clump of greens come into eyesight he heads right for them.

I noticed if I don’t feed him as early in the day, like on weekends i’ll sleep in an extra hour or two, he does way more laps around the enclosure! He’ll go over and sniff where I usually put the food and then go for a couple laps and then go back and sit where the food usually is. Definitley gets his exercise in lol!

Then I watch him for like ten more minutes and realized I am again late for work because it’s actually been a half hour and he’s just so mesmerizing to watch.

He’ll usually eat, go bask under the light for a while, sometimes do some laps, and repeat. He usually does this same loop from when I put the food down till about 3-4ish. Sometimes i’ll come home early from work and just sit next to him for a couple hours and other times I come home and he’s gone into his hide for the day.
View attachment 289542
When I first got Tortillini I started feeding him a mix of all store bought greens, spring mix, and escarole. Then I introduced chicory into his diet, as well as some carrot tops, and cilantro. Meanwhile I went through the forums and found out where and how to grow my own seeds so he can have a better diet! I also have the ZooMed natural grassland pellets. Sometimes i’ll throw a few into his food pile but he doesn’t seem to eat them.

Two questions! I saw mixed reviews and advice for both of these things. The pellets, do I give them to him only sometimes, a little everyday or none at all?
Second, calcium or supplements? I have read conflicting information stating that if he is an adult he doesn’t need much supplementation and other people say do it. I bought ZooMed Calcium and so far have sprinkled it on his food once a week for the past two weeks. Is this okay? Also people talk about Minerall, do I need that? Sorry so many questions. Okay back to his routine.


Here are my first two “creations” lol. The russian tortoise seed mix and then some hostas. I’m trying not to kill them, like I have done with plants in the past. But these are different because I actually remember to water them since they will serve a purpose for my little tort.

This picture was about a week or so in. View attachment 289543

This picture is probably a week old, so picture this same setup but with way more growth. I read to wait till the weeds are six inches, then cut and feed.

My hope is to slowly start weaning him off grocery store food and get him into eating all homegrown plants and weeds. Little by little!

Okay so as early as 3 or 4 on some days, Tortillini will retreat to his hide and won’t come out until the next morning. Some days he will stay out till as late as like 8pm and then go in his hide and won’t come out. Other times he makes little burrows and will just fall asleep in them until the next day. Then he wakes up and it’s this whole routine all over again!

So that’s it! Sorry this turned out to be an entire novel, I just had so much information I wanted to share with you all. I probably forgot some stuff but I can always post more in the future.

Again, please let me know if I should be doing anything different or any suggestions.

View attachment 289544
Sometimes he makes a little pillow out of the substrate, and will nap under the light!

Thanks again for reading:)
-Julia R

I LOVE the fact that you posted this. It makes me wanna do the same! My little sulcatas have been soaking *pun intended* all of my time and attention. I love them so much, and I might just post a novel of my own
 

Madkathq

Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2020
Messages
94
Location (City and/or State)
Lake Elsinore
Thank you so much! I built the enclosure out of some plywood and some other wood I had laying around. I posted a whole threat about it showing the steps and materials used, feel free to check it out!

The camera is a Nest camera! It’s super cool, I got it on amazon and it’s very eat you use! You just plug it into the wall and download the nest app onto your smartphone. From there you set up your wifi and done! Available to customize shut off and start up times for the camera, or even have it motion detect like mine does. Definitley worth it!

How much did the nest cam cost?
 

turtlebean

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2020
Messages
190
Location (City and/or State)
Connecticut
I LOVE the fact that you posted this. It makes me wanna do the same! My little sulcatas have been soaking *pun intended* all of my time and attention. I love them so much, and I might just post a novel of my own

Thank you so much! Yes definitley do! I would love to read the routine of other torts on here☺️
 
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