Hello everyone,
I recently got a house where the previous owner had raised a DT for the last 25 yrs he has his own underground lair on the side of the house made of a 2x4 shoot going down into the ground and a huge mound he has built in front to stop water from flooding his cave. The previous owner gave me his feeding schedule of every morning at 8 am he comes out and stares in the sliding glass door waiting for his food which I was told to give him 2 1/4 in. slices zucchini chopped into cubes, 2 1/4 in. slices cucumber chopped into cubes, 1 leaf of Romaine and 1 leaf of Kale torn into scraps, so I have now for about 3 months he devours it every day at 8 am like clockwork then disappears into his underground lair.
So I have a few questions...
1. I did some reading about diet and I read that romaine lettuce or any lettuce has no nutrients for him and should be not used and Kale should be used more sparsely and to use more like turnip greens mustard greens or collard greens instead, also I read that cucumber and zucchini should be used sparingly and that butternut squash or Acorn squash is better. Now if he has been living on this same diet for so long is there any reason I should change it or just stay with it?
2. All the pictures I see of these Tortoises they are all so clean looking my DT is very, very dusty like he has never touched water before and I read that people are soaking them in water should I be giving this guy water to bathe in or should I hose him down with slow running water in the mornings when he is done eating? Now also the previous owner did not have anything about water on his feeding schedule he wrote down for me, so do these guys not drink water either? I tried to put a shallow dish of water by his food 1 day and he just walked over it, spilled it, then ate his food and left.
Any way I will get some pics of him up soon as he comes out again to better show you his dusty appearance.
but here is a pic of his lair entrance...
View attachment 180221
Thanks for any responses