Cucumber/little bugs and flipped over...

[tanker]

Well I was happy to off of this forum for a while....
Im back with more ?s and problems...
1) My tort seems to be picky
When I put calcium on his food(very small amount sprinkled) he wont eat it. What can I do?
2)There are VERY little bugs in his substrate which is peat moss and coconut shavings. What are they? Could they have come off the plants from the store? Some seem to fly a little and some only seem to crawl. they are light cream coloured and more of a oval shape then round.
Are they harmful to my tort.
3) I came home from work today and tort was flipped over right under the heat lamp. I thought he was dead, I misted and he moved! So I put him in his drinking dish and he ate a lot of cucumber. Is he going to be OK?
4)HUMIDITY... Humidity is a problem. I cant keep it up. It is VERY dry in Calgary and I cant ALWAYS be checking it. He is in a 2.5 x 2.5 and 1.5 deep enclosure. Half is covered by plexy glass and the other half is mesh top and half of that is covered by foil then the heat lamp and UVB are on the other side of that. He seems to have slowed down A LOT in the last 2 weeks. not moving much and not eating unless there is his favourites(cucumber/mushroom). I have to admit the humidity has been in the 50s most days. Could this be his problem? I will do my VERY best for upping the humidity, any tips would be great!

 

[Marty333]

Well I can answer number one. For Nova I give her organic sugar free apple sauce with the calcium sprinkled on top and it sinks in so she doesnt notice it and eats it all up!

 

[tanker]

Thanks! I will have to make up some of my own apple sauce and stir in some calcium, hehehe.

 

[Scirish]

Hey! I am fairly new but heres my best advice.

1) Mine was the same way. I started by sprinkling it on his favourite foods first which he would still eat and then I was to slowly introduce it to his other food.

2)I have not experienced bugs but I am sure someone else will be around to help with this one.

3) I have had this happen too. I watched my redfoot attempt to scale the wall and then ended up flipping over. I flipped him over right away. And he has only done it once since and seems fine. I would assume your tort is probably doing the same thing or falling from something? Again someone else may have some other ideas.

4)Assuming you are meaning Calgary Alberta I am just north of you in Edmonton. So I hear you on the humidity. I recently got a misting system from mistkings. It works really well. I have it set on a seconds timer. It mists in the morning when the lights go on and a few times during the day. My tort also loves it he always comes out to feel the mist. If you don't have money for that I have heard good things about heating cables. Also try putting some plants in as that is sure to help with humidity.Good Luck!

 

[heyprettyrave]

i had the same problem when i offered Ophelia calcium powder at first, thing is you have to mix it up with something they like for a while, after that Ophelia has no problem with eating with the calcium on there. As for the bug problem, i havent had to deal with bugs, but maybe you should change out the dirt and see if that helps any, could be coming in on your plants. And for flipping over, make the terrarium child proof if anything looks like it could lead to him flipping over then id change it

 

[Madkins007]

Well I was happy to off of this forum for a while....

Welcome back!

Im back with more ?s and problems...
1) My tort seems to be picky
When I put calcium on his food(very small amount sprinkled) he wont eat it. What can I do?

Calcium powder is bitter and tastes bad to most tortoises. First, make sure you are not using too much. One decent pinch is about a week's worth of calcium for a medium-small tortoise. If you add it to a sweet food, like fruit, it will mask the taste. Personally, I grind up Timothy hay blocks to a coarse powder for fiber, and mix up some calcium and multivitamins in this. The calcium sticks to the hay and the hay taste seems to help hide it.

2)There are VERY little bugs in his substrate which is peat moss and coconut shavings. What are they? Could they have come off the plants from the store? Some seem to fly a little and some only seem to crawl. they are light cream coloured and more of a oval shape then round.
Are they harmful to my tort.

These are probably Springtails (Snow Fleas), a common bug in decomposing, damp substrates. Tiny, grey, and fast. No real risk to anything. You can control them with a drier substrate or adding predators to the substrate, like Sowbugs (Wood Lice)

3) I came home from work today and tort was flipped over right under the heat lamp. I thought he was dead, I misted and he moved! So I put him in his drinking dish and he ate a lot of cucumber. Is he going to be OK?

Probably. You'll want to try to figure out why he flipped and correct it.

4)HUMIDITY... Humidity is a problem. I cant keep it up. It is VERY dry in Calgary and I cant ALWAYS be checking it. He is in a 2.5 x 2.5 and 1.5 deep enclosure. Half is covered by plexy glass and the other half is mesh top and half of that is covered by foil then the heat lamp and UVB are on the other side of that. He seems to have slowed down A LOT in the last 2 weeks. not moving much and not eating unless there is his favourites(cucumber/mushroom). I have to admit the humidity has been in the 50s most days. Could this be his problem? I will do my VERY best for upping the humidity, any tips would be great!

This is actually a couple issues.

1. Cover most of the tank. Cut out holes for the lighting and heat, or rig it up so they are inside the cover. Make sure to allow some airflow at all times, but the slower the air flows, the warmer and more humid it will be. For us in the snow belt, enclosing the tank somehow is about the only way to really get the humidity where we want it.

2. Many Red-foots slow down this time of year. There ARE seasonal variations where they come from and they respond to the period of reduced food in the wild by sleeping more and eating less. Temps should still be in the 80's (ideally a range from low to high), and humidity should still be high, especially in a hide area- but you can back off both compared to what you might offer in a nice, humid, warm summer time.

Many keepers who mention the slowdowns also mention that their torts get at least some natural sunlight, which leads to speculations that sunlight somehow helps trigger it as it seems to in Box Turtles, but it might just as well be changes in barometric pressure, etc.

Don't worry about slowdowns as long as it is eating, well-hydrated, and active once in a while.

 

[kit-e-kat]

Here in So. Calif, we had a cold spell, (for us) in the 40's. My RF Shelly, really slowed down, wasn't eating, and stayed in her shell most of the day. We had a large Rubbermaid tub, I put in some coconut substata, a house made from a kitty litter bucket cut in half, and some peat moss. I made a plywood top for the tub, with a opening in the middle with a screen attached. The light fixture fits in the screened opening, and there is some room for air, with a 150 watt infared bulb. Since I set this up, Shelly appears to feel much better. She's been eating, alert, and just looks better. Also the weather has been better, in the 70's-80's. With the moss and the cover, it even smells tropical. I keep her in this tub overnight in the garage, and let her roam the backyard during the day. Apparently the high sides of the tub, the cover and the damp moss really helps with humidity and heat.

 

[Balboa]

What!?!?!?!?! You mean a few squirts with a mister a couple times a day doesn't cut it? gosh darn.

(sarcasm intended)

As much trouble as I have with humidity, I can't imagine how other people cope.

From what little I know you will probably have to cover most of the top (as Madkins and others suggested)

Another thing to consider is you may want to look at your household humidity. Being overly dry isn't good for you or your house either. If your humidity is down to 30% or less in the home you may want to bring it up a bit. Not only does this have health benefits for you, but it makes keeping the tort humid easier as well. Just don't go nuts, anything much over 50% can start to cause problems in a house.