Grass length and nightbox

[TheLastGreen]

The grass in my leopards enclosure is tall, so she often wades through it, is it better if it is tall or short?

@Tom I finally built it! It's a wooden box (ottoman). The inside is insulated with corex plastic and the outside door is made with 3 layers of plastic, it should be able to keep Zvezda nice and warm here. (I'll get the heatmat later this week, also are heatpads bad?)

 

[wellington]

I was told by a forum member years ago that the tortoises dont like the grass/weeds once they get too tall as it's not as tasty to them.
I have no idea how true it is, the member is a very reliable one
I have noticed over the years that my leopards do graze better after I have mowed their yard.
I also notice they like being in the tall grass, although they do walk the same path.
So when I do mow, I leave certain big patches of grass/weeds tall.

 

[Tom]

The grass in my leopards enclosure is tall, so she often wades through it, is it better if it is tall or short?
View attachment 337552
@Tom I finally built it! It's a wooden box (ottoman). The inside is insulated with corex plastic and the outside door is made with 3 layers of plastic, it should be able to keep Zvezda nice and warm here. (I'll get the heatmat later this week, also are heatpads bad?)
View attachment 337551

A hungry tortoise will mow down tall grass. My herd of sulcatas would take down grass of any type or height. A well fed leopard might be less greedy about it if there is plenty else to eat and there is lots of it.

I like Barb's way of doing it where you mow or weed whack some sections to make open areas where new grass can sprout, but also leave some areas overgrown and tall for hiding and grazing.

Human heat pads are not safe for tortoises. Get a Kane mat for that. A Kane mat alone won't be enough. I have to run a radiant heat panel over them too. Both the RHP and the Kane mat are connected to the same thermostat and the probe is low in the box and away from the heat sources. I can't tell how tall your box is, but the RHP needs to be no more than 10-12 inches (25-30cm) over the tortoise. I made 2x4 frames to mount them too on the inside ceiling of my boxes. Don't use a CHE or heat lamp over a larger tortoise in an outdoor box like this. It will slow-burn the carapace.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I was told by a forum member years ago that the tortoises dont like the grass/weeds once they get too tall as it's not as tasty to them.
I have no idea how true it is, the member is a very reliable one
I have noticed over the years that my leopards do graze better after I have mowed their yard.
I also notice they like being in the tall grass, although they do walk the same path.
So when I do mow, I leave certain big patches of grass/weeds tall.

@wellington I wonder if your reliable person is the same as my reliable person and that reliable person told me that when the grass gets too long it gets starchy and it doesn't taste good. I really don't mow it. Mary Knobbins eats certain parts of it short and yet others that grow up and over so she can get under them in hide sorta so I really don't know what the answer is here. I've always believed about that starchy thing, but I also believe that if you keep your bigger tortoises hungry...they eat what's available...

 

[TheLastGreen]

These are the two reptile heatpads I found

 

[TheLastGreen]

I've always believed about that starchy thing, but I also believe that if you keep your bigger tortoises hungry...they eat what's available...

I think I should take that leap with Zvezda, she eats the endive, rocket etc. (mixed with grass), but I think I should leave her with the grass, what do you guys think? I have all this grass and she doesn't want to eat it

 

[Tom]

@wellington I wonder if your reliable person is the same as my reliable person and that reliable person told me that when the grass gets too long it gets starchy and it doesn't taste good. I really don't mow it. Mary Knobbins eats certain parts of it short and yet others that grow up and over so she can get under them in hide sorta so I really don't know what the answer is here. I've always believed about that starchy thing, but I also believe that if you keep your bigger tortoises hungry...they eat what's available...

The answer is that a hungry tortoise is not a picky tortoise. If there is an over abundance of fast growing grass in a large enclosure, and/or if the tortoise is fed a lot of other stuff, the grass can outpace the tortoise and it will grow tall. This happens in winter with our colder weather, shorter days, and rain in my large enclosures. The grass and weeds will grow tall and abundant. When the rain stops and the days get warmer and longer (appetite picks up), they mow it all down. By June, my lush green pen looks like a desert wasteland again.

In a large pasture the summer fast growing grass can outpace the tortoises depending on precipitation, how large the area is, and how many tortoises there are grazing. In a small back yard with one or more large grazers, you will be looking at bare dirt real quick, starch or no starch.

 

[Tom]

These are the two reptile heatpads I foundView attachment 337558View attachment 337559

Neither of those are suitable for tortoises.

 

[Tom]

I think I should take that leap with Zvezda, she eats the endive, rocket etc. (mixed with grass), but I think I should leave her with the grass, what do you guys think? I have all this grass and she doesn't want to eat itView attachment 337560

It does not have to be one or the other. I like a mix of grass and other stuff. As the SA leopards grow, I lean more and more on grass hay or grass to feed them, but I still mix in opuntia pads, mulberry leaves, grape leaves, and a wide assortment of other weeds and flowers in small quantities as they are available.

 

[TheLastGreen]

I have been looking around for kane mats but I haven't found anything here in SA, any substitutes?

 

[wellington]

@wellington I wonder if your reliable person is the same as my reliable person and that reliable person told me that when the grass gets too long it gets starchy and it doesn't taste good. I really don't mow it. Mary Knobbins eats certain parts of it short and yet others that grow up and over so she can get under them in hide sorta so I really don't know what the answer is here. I've always believed about that starchy thing, but I also believe that if you keep your bigger tortoises hungry...they eat what's available...

My reliable source is really really close to you and you visit her once in awhile lol.

 

[wellington]

I have been looking around for kane mats but I haven't found anything here in SA, any substitutes?

Stanfield mats or Repti Therm by Zoo Med.

 

[wellington]

The answer is that a hungry tortoise is not a picky tortoise. If there is an over abundance of fast growing grass in a large enclosure, and/or if the tortoise is fed a lot of other stuff, the grass can outpace the tortoise and it will grow tall. This happens in winter with our colder weather, shorter days, and rain in my large enclosures. The grass and weeds will grow tall and abundant. When the rain stops and the days get warmer and longer (appetite picks up), they mow it all down. By June, my lush green pen looks like a desert wasteland again.

In a large pasture the summer fast growing grass can outpace the tortoises depending on precipitation, how large the area is, and how many tortoises there are grazing. In a small back yard with one or more large grazers, you will be looking at bare dirt real quick, starch or no starch.

May be true with sulcatas but not my leopards. They seem to stick with the shorter stuff and in summer they only get food from me about once a month. The longer stuff goes mostly untouched. More the grand then some of the weeds.

 

[TheLastGreen]

Stanfield mats or Repti Therm by Zoo Med.

Neither can be found here... perhaps something like this? (For piglets)
The hight of the nightbox is about 35-40cm, so I could perhaps mount a lamp etc, while my tort is still small (about 10 cm vertically)

 

[wellington]

Neither can be found here... perhaps something like this? (For piglets)View attachment 337567
The hight of the nightbox is about 35-40cm, so I could perhaps mount a lamp etc, while my tort is still small (about 10 cm vertically)

Is that a hard plastic or soft material? Can not be soft.
Can you do just a portable radiator space heater?

 

[Maggie3fan]

I think I should take that leap with Zvezda, she eats the endive, rocket etc. (mixed with grass), but I think I should leave her with the grass, what do you guys think?

If it's readily available why in the heck would you pay money at the grocery store? Eating out in the yard for my tortoises also means I'm picking Rose of Sharon blooms and throw them in her pen, picking grape leaves finding great bags full of dandelion flowers and leaves, so they're all day long they're eating a main menu of grass and graze on weeds and stuff also other things that grown to feed them makes it kind of a pretty good varied diet however... during the winter my bigger tortoises have to stay out in the shed and in side for days and they are supposed to eat the locally grown grass hay during the winter... Mary K...nope she won't eat it, The 3 Russians even laughed at me (I heard them as I walked away) and as usual AB eats whatever is given...lol

Sometimes I use the audio text to create my posts, but then I have to go back and spell check and text check etc, I don't use it very often so I am not very good at it... I often laugh and say to myself I should post that...so...this is the last line in comment to TheLastGreen I made using the audio text

I'm very patient and she has not she would drive and go out and Grace a little bit in the ice or snow or mud then eat hay inside

My reliable source is really really close to you and you visit her once in awhile lol.

yep mine too...lol...

 

[Maggie3fan]

I just used my sisters friend google to find Osbourn Industries because that's where I got my Stansfield mat and controller. So I got the number and I called them and I talked to their customer service for a bit and I told them why they say they do not ship to South Africa they don't know any of the rules or any thing like that and they suggested that one of us in the United States by the stuff package it up and send it to TheLastGreen and so there's that...I'm just posing that out I couldn't find the Stanfield Mat anyplace else and I'm not a good researcher it takes too much brainpower for me hth

 

[Maggie3fan]

Look at what I found...exactly what we were talking about.
This was done by Mary K...

 

[wellington]

I wonder if @TylerStewart of Tortoisesupply.com will ship to Africa?
He sells the kane mats.

 

[Yvonne G]

Being that 'close friend' they were talking about, I'll explain why I said what I said.

Years ago I had a very small herd of Limousine cattle on 5 acres. I researched pasture management (before the web) and found an article that said one should occasionally mow their pastures because the cattle don't eat it if it grows too tall. Reason being it turns to cellulose and becomes unpalateable. And I believed the article because my own cows left the taller grass alone.

When I posted that on the Forum smart alec Ed Pirog (I think I'm remembering his name correctly), said grass IS cellulose long or short. And he shot me down.

But regardless of what it's called when it grows tall grass is unpalatable when it gets tall. I stand by my statement.