Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

[wiccan_chicken]

Ah my sweet Vodka gets to move outside for the Summer! Finally right? Her home is 6x6 foot kinda sorta. I just took extra plank wood we had and built box

I had it outside for a year and it only slightly started to deteriorate in georgia's weather, so I put a thin coat of paint on it and let's hope that helps! I work crappy hours so I havent had much time to get somewhere with the enclosure. But this weekend it feels like I actually got somewhere! So I thought I'd have her in process pictures posted for you guys.

I am thinking on making her a little burrow so she can still go underground without digging to much in the dirt. I acquired six inch garden edging that I can hammer into the ground around the box so if she does dig she can't get very far. I was at one point worried about digging into the nicely established grass that I tried YEARS to get to grow on that side of the yard, but with my broad leaf seed mix coming in soon I'll just re plant the home. I'm also gonna use Tom''s cat box idea and have a box of plants just growing for trimming and feeding. Dad's going to be weeding the yard soon so bye bye free food -_-

On a lighter note Vodka has HUGE growth lines and she's getting more on her front and back areas instead of on her sides, which is really weird to me. I'll have to post pictures and show you what I'm talking about. Seems like she's getting longer.

Onto discussing her home, I have an idea for a night box but I really don't want to insulate it as she will be inside during the winter. I really can't see it dipping below 53 degrees at night and on those nights I can really just bring her inside. I was thinking maybe with her night box, make a nice sizeable "pillow" filled with rice. Heat it up in the microwave and for two hours it's nice and warm. Make two and change them out on rainy days or slightly chilly nights to help keep her from dropping too low without running wires or risk over heating etc.

Now if I get the rice bag idea down I'll probably build a night box for my hatchling Spook as she is going outside too. My goal is to let them enjoy the outside sunshine for more than an hour at a time and grow nicely over the warmer months.

Just throwing ideas around for now Lemme know any ideas, I'm on a very tight budget and I can't afford to keep spending tons of money on my guys if I don't have to, Though I am willing to spend as much as I can afford to give them a quality life. Below will be an in progress shot and a few pictures of Vodka.

 

[wellington]

Only one pic showed up for me. The enclosure is looking nice. If you do try the rice idea, be sure to put something between the tort and the rice pillow so they don't get too hot if they lay on it.

 

[Jacqui]

Is that Rosemary growing on the left?

Okay, help me get a few things straight. This would be a 24/7 enclosure for the summer? Your planning both a burrow and a night box? Both inside this enclosure?

 

[wiccan_chicken]

I will make sure to put a barrier between the rice and the tort, we got the night box started tonight.

Jacqui, yea that's my pride and joy rosemary bush, believe it or not that's only two years old! My dad mowed over it once when it was smaller, I cried lmao. It hangs over the side so that will provide a little bit of shade but I plan on making a canopy out of cloth to add more shade.

Yes I plan on a burrow and a night box, The burrow for those 101 days and to give her something she is allowed to dig in without getting in trouble. The nightbox is because we have a lot of stray dogs as well as coyotes and coons around where I live, the box is to keep her safe at night so if something gets through the chickenwire, it can't get to her. I plan to conserve space by putting the night box on small stilts of sorts and putting the burrow below it. More walking space.

I intend to let them stay outside 24/7 this summer unless it has another spell like it has been lately, rainy and chilly. Then they will be brought inside to stay warm. Other than that I plan on letting them stay outside.

 

[wiccan_chicken]

Update. Vodka is growing nicely this summer as well as Spook. Both have had enclosures slightly re done and Vodkas is still not done! Her nightbox has been built and painted, just waiting on top to be added and door to be sanded. I bought a ton of fleece to make rat toys with and decided to put fleece on the bottom of her night box to give her a little bit of comfort from the hard wood. Vodka has started growing hunchbacked. And it's worrying me if this is MBD or just her weird growth. I'll post pictures tomorrow. But she's growing nicely her growth lines have got to be an inch or more. My little pig.

Plus she's taken to biting shoe laces now. First Spook with her buttons, now Vodka with shoe laces. I have interesting animals. I can understand a red button being interesting but a black shoe lace? Thats about it for now, more updates soon! Plus I leanred how to work that full image thing!

 

[Shakudo]

Cute torts seems like you are doing a good job

Take care,

Joey

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Fill the bottom of the night box with substrate for burrowing or straw for insulation. Fleece scares me. If it's shredded & eaten it can cause blockage. It's indigestible. It will also stink.

That shell deformity does not look good. What dies she eat?

 

[ascott]

Both of their shells look fine....each of them have correct shells....I do not see where the concern is?????

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Fill the bottom of the night box with substrate for burrowing or straw for insulation. Fleece scares me. If it's shredded & eaten it can cause blockage. It's indigestible. It will also stink.

That shell deformity does not look good. What dies she eat?

Shell deformity?? Those trots look great, @wiccan_chicken! I love your baby... Make sure she has a water bowl, lots of plants, and a hot area that remains un-blocked.

 

[johnsonnboswell]

What species is Spook, the one in the palm biting the button? That's the one with that seems to have a misshapen carapace.

The rt below, Vodka?, looks fine.

 

[wiccan_chicken]

Its difficult to see from the top but I will show you Vodka from the side. Spook is an Eastern Box Turtle and she's growing fine and well rounded. Vodka is kind of a hunch back, you'll see in a second. I will also post an updated picture of Spook, she's doing just fine. I noticed Vodka's weird shell during a soak this week. I will not put the fleece in there I'll put a hay of some sort.

Vodka's home is still under works but she has a water bowl, food bowl, a place to get out of the sun a lots of room to bask! By the time I am done she will have a canopy sort of made with cloth on stilts to form shade and keep her house out of the hot sun, a deeper water bowl (Her current one empties too quickly) and her new and improved tort home All of the plants in her home are weeds and grass, so I thought I'd provide her some shade myself.

Vodka's got a big ole' butt! Her growth lines are mainly on her butt and the front of her shell. Here's where her shell looks weird. You can't tell it from here. Spook goes crazy for the wild blackberries! This is her shell after I cleaned it with a tooth brush. Is there more I need to do to help her growth even out?

 

[johnsonnboswell]

I see growth areas, rings, on your russian where the shell isn't smooth. Normal. Hard to tell in the photo if there is pyramiding, if the scutes themselves are raised. The light color between makes it look like there's not, but that could be an optical illusion. You'd know.

Your boxie, on the other hand, has a smooth shell, but it's not quite the right shape. I could show you with a pointer where the curve is not continuous, like a curve on top of a curve.

All you can do - all any of us can do - is provide the best possible care, with proper substrate & humidity, UVB light, cuttlebone & good diet. They respond to continued improvements.

Many of my crew have shell irregularities of one sort or another. Most of them were rescues and came to me that way, but at least one happened on my watch.

I like to reread the care books every few years, because I pick up things I missed or wasn't ready for, even after nearly four decades.

 

[Flipper]

I see growth areas, rings, on your russian where the shell isn't smooth. Normal. Hard to tell in the photo if there is pyramiding, if the scutes themselves are raised. The light color between makes it look like there's not, but that could be an optical illusion. You'd know.

Your boxie, on the other hand, has a smooth shell, but it's not quite the right shape. I could show you with a pointer where the curve is not continuous, like a curve on top of a curve.

All you can do - all any of us can do - is provide the best possible care, with proper substrate & humidity, UVB light, cuttlebone & good diet. They respond to continued improvements.

Many of my crew have shell irregularities of one sort or another. Most of them were rescues and came to me that way, but at least one happened on my watch.

I like to reread the care books every few years, because I pick up things I missed or wasn't ready for, even after nearly four decades.

What care books do you recommend?

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Tess Cook has a paperback and also a free online book.

For Russians, the info on russiantortoise.org

 

[AmRoKo]

Vodka's milkshake brings all the boys to the yard!

 

[Yvonne G]

Both carapaces look just fine. It happens with Russian tortoises - when they've undergone a period of bad growth/no growth because of poor diet, crowding and no sunshine, then when they are started on a good diet with the right UVB and no crowding, the growth sometimes comes in uneven. But if you look at the overall silhouette of the carapace, you can see that it is the correct shape.

 

[wiccan_chicken]

I knew the growth was a sign if good care for her I just wanted to make sure she was alright! That's the second time I've heard of Spook having an irregular shell, it's worrying me a little. Though Vodka is not pyramiding she's just got a hunched back for some reason.

 

[wiccan_chicken]

Update time! After a bad scare last summer, I am working on a drainage system in Vodka's outdoor home. It's all GA red clay so I am removing it and filling the holes in with topsoil moss and mulch. I will be spreading the braodleaf seed mix and throwing a few other edible plants in there for shade. Her home just needs the door hinged on and then it will be moved outside as well. I am excited to get her outside, Spook is already out and ready to go! She's banging her knife and fork because I am going berry picking with family friends and I am excited for all of the berries she will have! Both girls are doing awesome and have come through the winter nicely. Time to pack on the pounds and soak up the sunshine!