Chrysanthemum

[Sienna'sHermanns]

It says chrysanthemum on the pot but with no definition and I'm struggling to pinpoint this exact variation.

Not going anywhere near my boy until I know it's safe! I'm trying to encourage him to eat as he's being treated for an RI and refuses to eat.

Image 1 is the label from the store, image 2 is the flower still in a pot.

Also, will store bought have pesticides in? Should I avoid simple grocery stores for food?

Thanks!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

It’s definitely chrysanthemum, however as its store brought, it’s recommended to wash roots and plant in your own organic soil, you then have to wait 3-6month to feed new growth, this is to avoid the fertilisers that’s potentially been absorbed by the plant.

Whist you’re here I don’t suppose we could get some information on how you’re keeping them? As they have an RI some of the members might have recommendations for you to help

What are your temperatures like? Ie basking spot(directly under the bulb) overall day temps and night temps?
What kind of lighting/heating are you using? Packaging pics are good if you have any
Is this a baby you have or adult?
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s your humidity? What do you use for substrate?

Any answers to the above questions would be great! Along with a photo of your full set up and tortoise would be good too

 

[Sienna'sHermanns]

It’s definitely chrysanthemum, however as its store brought, it’s recommended to wash roots and plant in your own organic soil, you then have to wait 3-6month to feed new growth, this is to avoid the fertilisers that’s potentially been absorbed by the plant.

Whist you’re here I don’t suppose we could get some information on how you’re keeping them? As they have an RI some of the members might have recommendations for you to help

What are your temperatures like? Ie basking spot(directly under the bulb) overall day temps and night temps?
What kind of lighting/heating are you using? Packaging pics are good if you have any
Is this a baby you have or adult?
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s your humidity? What do you use for substrate?

Any answers to the above questions would be great! Along with a photo of your full set up and tortoise would be good too

Thank you for your message! My boy is called Ray and he's a 22 year old "Eastern Hermann or Spur-thigh" there's a debate going on about that still as I've only just got him in the last year. He's about 17cm and 2.5lb which is apparently a good weight.

Basking spot is at 28°C with a flood lamp and CHE, a dimming thermostat on both to keep it constant. The warm end is around 28-30°C and the cool is usually about 23°C but I'm getting a second CHE to warm that up as someone said it was too cold? Night temps I drop to around 24°C with the CHE and no light. He gets 12-13 hours a day of lights on.

He's also got an Arcadia Pro T5 for UV and goes outside on warmer days but I'm in the South of the UK so those are sparse. Humidity is at around 45-50% though I do need to get a better hygrometer as I'm using an unreliable disc at the moment, he's got edible plants in the soil of his indoor house. Things like dandelion leaves and water cress? But he doesn't really touch them at all.

My substrate is Coir soil from The Tortoise Hut online and an inch layer of cypress chips for the surface. He does also have a slate but he doesn't sit on it often and walks around it when he can so I have to trim his nails!

He's supposedly got MBD but we're getting x-rays and bloods to find that out for sure soon.

His diet is difficult because he was fed a lot of fruit before I got him and now he basically refuses anything aside from dandelion heads. I've tried cucumber juice smeared on leaves and even a tiny bit of banana smooshed onto a radish leaf but he doesn't want any of it.

He's currently on 0.22ml of Enrobactin for a swelling he had in his mouth and the specialist thought it would also help clear out any RIs that he may have too. Bi-daily soaks for 20mins which he seems to enjoy but he's VERY lethargic all day, doesn't walk, doesn't even reach for his food. Even the dandelion heads that he DOES eat, he won't crawl to.

Phew, sorry that was a lot! I'll put some pictures of Ray in too. Unfortunately he uses to live on my parents kitchen floor which was far too cold and had no grip so his claws were all overgrown and pointing the wrong direction and he's not very good at walking, more like swimming on the ground. His pyramiding isn't great either but I'm working on that with calcium powder or maybe some liquid calcium for his soaks if he's got MBD.

 

[Sienna'sHermanns]

Oh also, he's currently in a box (4×2) in my bedroom which is TOO SMALL but I have ordered a shed of 4×7 that will be insulated and he'll have a better outdoor set up too! Until then I take him into the garden for two hours a day and sit with him to make sure he doesn't do anything dangerous.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you for your message! My boy is called Ray and he's a 22 year old "Eastern Hermann or Spur-thigh" there's a debate going on about that still as I've only just got him in the last year. He's about 17cm and 2.5lb which is apparently a good weight.

Basking spot is at 28°C with a flood lamp and CHE, a dimming thermostat on both to keep it constant. The warm end is around 28-30°C and the cool is usually about 23°C but I'm getting a second CHE to warm that up as someone said it was too cold? Night temps I drop to around 24°C with the CHE and no light. He gets 12-13 hours a day of lights on.

He's also got an Arcadia Pro T5 for UV and goes outside on warmer days but I'm in the South of the UK so those are sparse. Humidity is at around 45-50% though I do need to get a better hygrometer as I'm using an unreliable disc at the moment, he's got edible plants in the soil of his indoor house. Things like dandelion leaves and water cress? But he doesn't really touch them at all.

My substrate is Coir soil from The Tortoise Hut online and an inch layer of cypress chips for the surface. He does also have a slate but he doesn't sit on it often and walks around it when he can so I have to trim his nails!

He's supposedly got MBD but we're getting x-rays and bloods to find that out for sure soon.

His diet is difficult because he was fed a lot of fruit before I got him and now he basically refuses anything aside from dandelion heads. I've tried cucumber juice smeared on leaves and even a tiny bit of banana smooshed onto a radish leaf but he doesn't want any of it.

He's currently on 0.22ml of Enrobactin for a swelling he had in his mouth and the specialist thought it would also help clear out any RIs that he may have too. Bi-daily soaks for 20mins which he seems to enjoy but he's VERY lethargic all day, doesn't walk, doesn't even reach for his food. Even the dandelion heads that he DOES eat, he won't crawl to.

Phew, sorry that was a lot! I'll put some pictures of Ray in too. Unfortunately he uses to live on my parents kitchen floor which was far too cold and had no grip so his claws were all overgrown and pointing the wrong direction and he's not very good at walking, more like swimming on the ground. His pyramiding isn't great either but I'm working on that with calcium powder or maybe some liquid calcium for his soaks if he's got MBD.

Oh wonderful I remember you now! (Sorry I get new user names mixed up lol)

For the basking spot directly under your flood bulb, you want a reading around 36-37c(95-100f) as he’s got a RI, I’d have the warmer end in the 85f range, cooler end 80, once he’s recovered a cooler end of 75f will be fine during the day
You’ll definitely have more accurate readings once you’re monitoring is sorted

Yeah unfortunately when they’ve been fed fruit so many years like him, they can become incredibly picky eaters, don’t let that discourage you though! In his case, I’d try squeezing the juice of different fruits over his leaves to hopefully help them appeal to him more, if for the time being, to get him eating, you have to smush the odd bit in with it that’s ok, just slowly wean him over time, they’re very stubborn creatures! A lot like children with sweets!

He’s probably not currently feeling his best with the RI and other infection, so I’d try hand feeding until he’s feeling better, they tend to have a bit of an appetite after a soak too!

You’re taking all the right steps so far and should be very proud of yourself for taking his care on, he’s very lucky to have you

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Oh I forgot to mention, basking light should work better off of a thermostat, though it’ll probably be easier to do this once you have a temp gun, but usually just hang it a reasonable height and have your digital monitoring under it for a few hours and do temp gun checks, if it’s reaching desired temperature directly underneath and not going over, it’s a good height and won’t need the thermostat, if it’s still too cool, try lowering it, if it’s still too cool, try raising it back with a higher watt.
The che will always need running on one though

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Sorry to chime in againbut relating to the original post here, if you’re wanting to have a look for some plants&flowers that are safe to feed right away, the tortoise hut have loads!it’s definitely more expensive doing it that way, but I’m so impatient when it comes to quarantining plantsyou could also look into seeds online, theres so many that grow perfectly in our climate here under the ‘wildflowers’ section

The Tortoise Table - Home

The Tortoise Table plant database and resource site for Tortoise owners

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

 

[Sienna'sHermanns]

Sorry to chime in againbut relating to the original post here, if you’re wanting to have a look for some plants&flowers that are safe to feed right away, the tortoise hut have loads!it’s definitely more expensive doing it that way, but I’m so impatient when it comes to quarantining plantsyou could also look into seeds online, theres so many that grow perfectly in our climate here under the ‘wildflowers’ section

The Tortoise Table - Home

The Tortoise Table plant database and resource site for Tortoise owners

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

Thank you so much for all your help, it's honestly going to be a lot easier knowing this forum is here!

Are you able to recommend any temp gun brands? All I can find in the UK are for like building sites and stuff that have really bad reviews for accuracy.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you so much for all your help, it's honestly going to be a lot easier knowing this forum is here!

Are you able to recommend any temp gun brands? All I can find in the UK are for like building sites and stuff that have really bad reviews for accuracy.

No problem at all I love the community on this forum, it’s definitely reassuring knowing there’s people happy to help advise with all sorts of aspects on care

I can’t remember which brand gun it is we have(I’d have to check when there) but these all look to have decent reviews and will do the job

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Infrared-Thermometer-Non-Contact-Temperature-50%E2%84%83-600%E2%84%83/dp/B0CSP3NQ8C/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BENETECH-Thermometer-Non-Contact-Temperature-Measuring/dp/B0CQFVSB2R/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermoPro-Thermometer-Non-Contact-Temperature-58%C2%B0F-1022%C2%B0F/dp/B0BGGJH3G2/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermometer-SOVARCATE-Temperature-58%C2%B0F-1112%C2%B0F-Adjustable/dp/B08CB8FL3P/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20