Builder/tortoise keepers in michigan

[gregcalverley0327]

Are there any tortoise keepers from Michigan on here? Just wanting to know some good spots for food, and hopefully find someone to build me a nice cage for my hatchling sulcata. Thanks!

 

[scottishscott]

These are the guys I use. They are right next door to you in Wisconsin. Check them out. They have great products.

http://www.customcages.com/

 

[Casseylane]

I'm from Michigan. We go to the grocery store, purchase online, and sometimes buy mazuri at stingers exotics in Westland area. I wouldn't recommend taking their advice on tortoise husbandry.
As for the enclosure- I have a very handy father and used some designs I found online. It was 1/2 the price to make a table than to buy one- and the quality is better.

 

[wellington]

Where about in Michigan? Not exact, but approx. There are quite a few. However depends the area you live whether any ones advice would be close enough to make it work for ya. I live in Chicago, but I order my Mazuri from a place in Big Rapids. Kristina, a member lives in Cadillac and also has a place buy her for Mazuri and I'm sure lots of stuff, as she has lots of torts and turts.

 

[gregcalverley0327]

Where about in Michigan? Not exact, but approx. There are quite a few. However depends the area you live whether any ones advice would be close enough to make it work for ya. I live in Chicago, but I order my Mazuri from a place in Big Rapids. Kristina, a member lives in Cadillac and also has a place buy her for Mazuri and I'm sure lots of stuff, as she has lots of torts and turts.

I'm near Grand Rapids, what's the place you order from?

 

[Laura Currado]

I'm just north of Detroit and we too go to the local produce stores or order online. As for enclosures, I also have a handy husband who built a few big sandboxes...but he had an awesome idea today for summertime: Remember those plastic kiddie pools? About 3 feet in diameter and 12" deep? You know they're like $8.99 from Toys R Us? Good luck finding one now, but you never know. My husband is planning on buying a few, filling them with organic soil and seeding it with the seed mixes (from the Tortoise Compound or SulcataFood.com), and cover it with chicken wire and leaving our little ones out there.
Honestly, if we had the room, we'd have using these now, but round is such an inconvenient shape. Don't they realize the market there is for cheap, semi-permanent tortoise-boxes?

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Just noticed you have a hatchling, however. Have you read Tom's care sheet on them, in particular their housing? If you haven't, I highly recommend it. I have 4 young torts, three of which were purchased as juveniles or sub-adults and all are pyramided to some degree, likely because all were raised in very dry environments on sand, mulch, or pellets. It's just a theory, but one which, when experimented with, is producing much better results than in the past.
We put together a very inexpensive (minus the $100+ on lights, which we're still not finished with) enclosure that didn't cost more than $40: tupperware from Target and coconut coir from Petco. I get that the new baby will grow fast, but for now, this will work fine. At 3' by 20", it's a good start. I tried to post an image of what we did below...


Tom's care sheet

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Nevermind... Think I just saw your enclosure on the Sulcata forum here. What you did looks like what we did. I'd like to see how our babies look in a year, especially yours to compare with our 2-year old Sulcata. His food, substrate, and humidity were all off in his former home, and it looks like what you're doing is the opposite of what he had.

 

[Pooks]

I'm from Michigan as well and was wondering what kind of food I can pick naturally for a marginated tortoise, all I know right now is dandelions.

 

[gregcalverley0327]

---

Nevermind... Think I just saw your enclosure on the Sulcata forum here. What you did looks like what we did. I'd like to see how our babies look in a year, especially yours to compare with our 2-year old Sulcata. His food, substrate, and humidity were all off in his former home, and it looks like what you're doing is the opposite of what he had.[/QUOTE]


Yeah I've been making a few changes and still have a few I want to make, looking for a closed in cage, but right now she is growing pretty slow

 

[kurmaraja12]

If you are ever in the Lansing area, Horrocks is a great produce market. And they even carry cactus

 

[noved32]

I'm from the flint Michigan area, and I would recommend Horrocks also!! They are great!! Nice see all the Michigan people!!

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

So I'm in Oregon, but I don't think this product is local specific. For cheep non circular tubs, check out a local feed/farm/ranch supply store. What we have are rectangular liners for those metal feed troughs you see in livestock pastures. The biggest drawback would be the sides are only about 6" tall and the corners slope pretty badly for our needs. You can get around that by building a picture frame type deal out of 1"x6" boards and laying that on the top edge. This keeps your tortoise in and if covered with hardware cloth, keep bad guys out. Hope this helps.

 

[gregcalverley0327]

If you are ever in the Lansing area, Horrocks is a great produce market. And they even carry cactus

Hm alright I'm from grand haven and have never seen one, ill check it out though thanks!

---

So I'm in Oregon, but I don't think this product is local specific. For cheep non circular tubs, check out a local feed/farm/ranch supply store. What we have are rectangular liners for those metal feed troughs you see in livestock pastures. The biggest drawback would be the sides are only about 6" tall and the corners slope pretty badly for our needs. You can get around that by building a picture frame type deal out of 1"x6" boards and laying that on the top edge. This keeps your tortoise in and if covered with hardware cloth, keep bad guys out. Hope this helps.

---

So I'm in Oregon, but I don't think this product is local specific. For cheep non circular tubs, check out a local feed/farm/ranch supply store. What we have are rectangular liners for those metal feed troughs you see in livestock pastures. The biggest drawback would be the sides are only about 6" tall and the corners slope pretty badly for our needs. You can get around that by building a picture frame type deal out of 1"x6" boards and laying that on the top edge. This keeps your tortoise in and if covered with hardware cloth, keep bad guys out. Hope this helps.

Alright cool ill look into it

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

They're pretty cool. 8-12'x4-5'.

 

[gregcalverley0327]

They're pretty cool. 8-12'x4-5'.

Yeah that sounds like a good size

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

They do have a small lip, but it goes toward the outside, not the inside. I figured this could be used to attach the frame thingy I was mentioning in an early post. I've got to go to this feed store today, I could try and get a picture if you'd like.

 

[gregcalverley0327]

They do have a small lip, but it goes toward the outside, not the inside. I figured this could be used to attach the frame thingy I was mentioning in an early post. I've got to go to this feed store today, I could try and get a picture if you'd like.

That'd be nice, ill look at my local feed shop today also

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Sorry. I was able to get out of going to town today. Friday I do however need to go.
Never do today,
What you can put off and do tomorrow!