Donald's Thread

[Yvonne G]

He sure looks good!

 

[Len B]

He sure looks good!

He has a great personality too. Relaxed, calm, not destructive not a digger just like his daddy, Walker.

 

[Len B]

Donald will be 4 years old in August. I weighed him on the 12 of this month and he is 53 pounds and doing fine and loving our spring weather.Not going to weigh him again until August because he doesn't like to be picked up and he's getting to heavy for me and my old fussed back to comfortably carrying him around anymore.

 

[Fire_bug80]

They thought they were doing everything I told them to do, BUT as you can see they weren't. I still have it here and it is doing fine and is also a good eater. One of the main things was he wasn't soaking because it was setting in it's water bowl a lot and also the uv tube was above a screen or glass top I can't remember which one. He even saw the setup here. I have 2 uv lights that I alternate on and off and 2 che's controlled with separate lamp dimmers, one on each end. One has a wood barrier below it so it doesn't get as hot on that end at ground level. That's the end he sleeps in. The lights and che's are all inside the enclosed area. Yes I feed Mazuri along with a large selection of weeds and leaves when available. With the mild winter we had some weeds available all winter and the leaves are back now. I feed them several times a day, sometimes 4 times a day. They like fresh greens and will consume more than if I put a bunch in for the day in the morning. I either cut or just rip the long leafy greens into smaller pieces and it seems I get less waste by doing that. I keep the temps a little higher than what most people do and it seems to work for them when young.

What store bought food do you use?

 

[Len B]

What store bought food do you use?

For the youngsters my first choice is the prepackaged salad mixes. Then collards, Romain lettuce, kale. Where I'm located there's not a great variety of store bought greens available like there is in other parts of the country. If not snow covered I can usually find enough winter weeds outside to get by with to add to the diet. I also grow several types of opuntia that I can feed all year.

 

[Fire_bug80]

For the youngsters my first choice is the prepackaged salad mixes. Then collards, Romain lettuce, kale. Where I'm located there's not a great variety of store bought greens available like there is in other parts of the country. If not snow covered I can usually find enough winter weeds outside to get by with to add to the diet. I also grow several types of opuntia that I can feed all year.

What kind of salad mixes. No spinach correct?

 

[Len B]

What kind of salad mixes. No spinach correct?

Spinach isn't a no feed, I feed it as part of a varied diet and never saw any ill effects from feeding it. In the store bought salad mixes usually spinach is a small percentage of the total contents.

 

[Fire_bug80]

Spinach isn't a no feed, I feed it as part of a varied diet and never saw any ill effects from feeding it. In the store bought salad mixes usually spinach is a small percentage of the total contents.

Spring mix?

 

[Len B]

Spring mix?

Yes that's a good one. Where you are located there should be plenty of safe edible weeds growing near by. That's if the area is untreated with chemicals. Wild weeds are much better for a tortoise than store bought greens.

 

[Fire_bug80]

Yes that's a good one. Where you are located there should be plenty of safe edible weeds growing near by. That's if the area is untreated with chemicals. Wild weeds are much better for a tortoise than store bought greens.

Arkansas. We have cold winters where the grass and weeds are hard to get. Just now are starting to grow Been using romaine mixed with mazuri and cactus Just now started adding weeds

 

[Len B]

Arkansas. We have cold winters where the grass and weeds are hard to get. Just now are starting to grow Been using romaine mixed with mazuri and cactus Just now started adding weeds

That surprises me I've already cut my weedy lawn twice. I'm located a little southeast of Washington DC on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. How about edible tree leaves (mulberry, rose of Sharon) any of them available for you to feed?

 

[Fire_bug80]

That surprises me I've already cut my weedy lawn twice. I'm located a little southeast of Washington DC on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. How about edible tree leaves (mulberry, rose of Sharon) any of them available for you to feed?

Not that I know of. There are weeds. Not grass yet. He/she hasn’t gained much weight the past 3 weeks. But eats 4x a day. Doesn’t look like yours had that trouble