I recieved my marginated Ricky about 4 months ago and he is doing great! I have had aquatic turtles for over 10 years but decided it was time for "one of them walkin' turtles" as my family would say.
I have done a LOT of research to try and find out everything I can about my lil' guy... but some things I have read have conflicting things and I still have some questions,
1. He has been living off a variety of outdoor weeds (that I know he can eat and won't be poisonous such as dandelions, plantains, clovers, grass) that I handpick everyday as well as some green veggies and carrots on occasion. I have been sprinkling a calcium supplement on his every meal for the past month and a vitamin supplement twice a week, I read that it was very important for young tortoises to have this supplement everyday. However, I read today that marginateds are only supposed to have a limited calcium supplement due to their slow growth rate.
Calcium everyday? 2-3 times a week? once a week? what do you do?
2. I have been experimenting with bedding recently as well. The first bedding I bough him was the reptile bark from petsmart. This seemed ok but after a while I felt like he was a little too small to burrow nicely with those 'big' wood chips. So I bought one of those blocks you soak in water and its a very fine shredded wood that is also a lot more humid and allows him to burrow easier.. even though it is sticking to him a little more than I would like and I have to bathe him daily almost.
Is there any bedding that is harmful to our marginateds? Or just some better than others. You know, if it is more humid than he needs will it be a health problem, or too dry? I have heard that walnut shells are a no-no but other than that nothing.
3. I have read that marginateds are one of the bigger than average species, and I have read they are one of the smaller... how big do they get?
4. During the day I let him munch on grass and 'roam' for about an hour, then keep him inside where I run a UVB and a heat lamp in the day and just a red bulb for heat at night and I monitor the temperature throughout the day to make sure the basking area stays below 100. Is this a correct/ good for him? anything else?
5. What about hibernating? I do not plan to breed this turtle, can he stay awake during the winter months? Is it easier to let him hibernate?
6. Anything else that is sometimes unclear on 'marginated care sheets' you can find online that might be good to know?
any other wisdom?
I have done a LOT of research to try and find out everything I can about my lil' guy... but some things I have read have conflicting things and I still have some questions,
1. He has been living off a variety of outdoor weeds (that I know he can eat and won't be poisonous such as dandelions, plantains, clovers, grass) that I handpick everyday as well as some green veggies and carrots on occasion. I have been sprinkling a calcium supplement on his every meal for the past month and a vitamin supplement twice a week, I read that it was very important for young tortoises to have this supplement everyday. However, I read today that marginateds are only supposed to have a limited calcium supplement due to their slow growth rate.
Calcium everyday? 2-3 times a week? once a week? what do you do?
2. I have been experimenting with bedding recently as well. The first bedding I bough him was the reptile bark from petsmart. This seemed ok but after a while I felt like he was a little too small to burrow nicely with those 'big' wood chips. So I bought one of those blocks you soak in water and its a very fine shredded wood that is also a lot more humid and allows him to burrow easier.. even though it is sticking to him a little more than I would like and I have to bathe him daily almost.
Is there any bedding that is harmful to our marginateds? Or just some better than others. You know, if it is more humid than he needs will it be a health problem, or too dry? I have heard that walnut shells are a no-no but other than that nothing.
3. I have read that marginateds are one of the bigger than average species, and I have read they are one of the smaller... how big do they get?
4. During the day I let him munch on grass and 'roam' for about an hour, then keep him inside where I run a UVB and a heat lamp in the day and just a red bulb for heat at night and I monitor the temperature throughout the day to make sure the basking area stays below 100. Is this a correct/ good for him? anything else?
5. What about hibernating? I do not plan to breed this turtle, can he stay awake during the winter months? Is it easier to let him hibernate?
6. Anything else that is sometimes unclear on 'marginated care sheets' you can find online that might be good to know?
any other wisdom?
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