hiding spot and flipping over

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taurusgi

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Hello, I just got my Hermann's baby Blacky last Thursday and realized I still have lots of questions! I have been removing or moving stuff from her home every time I read some more useful information from this great forum. :p

I have some questions about the hiding spot and her flipping over. Maybe you guys can give me some suggestions about her home. thanks! :)

This is how her home looked like when she arrived last Thursday...

IMG_5077 small-home on Thurs.jpg

On Thursday night, I saw her flipped over twice. The first time she was laying on her back at the corner on the left of the basking rock. She was trying to climb and stand up at the corner, and eventually she flipped over and couldn't flip herself back. I flipped her back and an hour later, found her laying upside down in the pool area! I was gonna show her some "tough love" but 10 mins later she was still struggling and couldn't flip herself bacl. I felt back so I helped her flipped back.

Later on I saw some discussions saying that when they are little, we shouldn't have something too sturdy in the enclosure because they would flip over, also we shouldn't have the see-through walls, so I covered the surrounding with paper, also removed the pool (I was sad because she really liked the pool!) and replaced it with a smaller tray, also put some glasses along the walls so that she doesn't have access to the wall to climb anymore. In the picture, you can see her still trying to climb though... ;) Where the glasses are right now will be the location I'm going to plant weeds and wildflowers.

IMG_5108 small-remove pool.jpg


On the weekend, we found her being upside down at the bottom right corner again... :( so I put another glass there to prevent her from climbing. And later the night, she dug a hole under one of the glass (next to the basking area) and slept in there.

IMG_5109 small-dig hiding spot.jpg

I don't think she likes the big hiding spot I got her...? I was doing some research here on the forum and realized babes they want a smaller hiding spot to feel safe? so I removed the giant hiding spot I got her (again... sad... it looked so cute in her home) and added 2 more small hides for her.

IMG_5127 small-2 more hides.jpg

I put her in front of the brown pot after I finished the new set up. She went in there for 10 sec and she left and went back to the hole she dug.

IMG_5121 small-brown pot.jpg


Would it be ok to leave her in the hole she dug? How are the new hiding spots I set up? I hope she would eventually like the hides I got her...

Thank you very much for reading my long story! Please give me any suggestions you have. I'm wondering what else I can do to prevent her being flipped over again. Would it get better after I have the plants in there?

Also a quick question about Mazuri. I was trying to buy some seeds from this website:

http://www.turtlestuff.com/category/Mazuri-Tortoise-Turtle-Diets-28

and it says Mazuri is not recommended for juvenile grassland tortoises. So how old does my Hermann have to be in order to have Mazuri in their diet?

Thank you so much again. Any advices are welcome!!
 
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Turtledude

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First off great job with everything and for trying to perfect the habitat!

My sulcata is the exact same way as far as flipping itself over. I eventually had to remove anything it could flip over on to lower the chances. You can try placing small smooth stones around the areas most likely to flip so they can right themselves and flip back up. My friend had a lot of success with that. My tortoise though just has too much energy and romps around all the time so I took out everything it could flip on. and kept a few small smooth stones in the corners of the habitat because he still will flip there. I noticed a direct correlation with the food dish being empty and likely hood of flipping lol. as a result my tortoise is a bit porky i hate to admit but i cant leave the house in peace without leaving food in there so he doesnt flip. Now he flips very rarely. this used to be a multiple time a day occurance of flipping. I'm hoping when he gets older/weighs more lol it will be harder for him to flip or he will grow out of it or something.

I like the hides as far as size goes. I would maybe place one hide on the warm end of the habitat so your tortoise has a warm and cool hide. Maybe your tortoise would stop using the burrow then. The burrowing is normal and should be fine. I can't tell how much that glass weighs but thats the only thing i see a potential hazard with about it. what type of mulch is that and is there another layer of something else under it? via sulcatta station: Avoid Cedar shavings, pine shavings, or pine bark -- These substrates contain oils that are toxic to tortoises.

I will leave the Hermann diet questions to someone who can better answer so i dont lead you wrong there.

Again, great job with everything and keep us updated :)
 

egyptiandan

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Everything looks good now :) Blacky isn't used to hides because she never got one here. :p She just got to dig down in the aspen and thats what she's used to.
Personally I wouldn't feed Maruzi to a Hermanns, but if you did I would think it would be after they were a year old.

Danny
 

Isa

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Your little baby is so pretty :) I really like her enclosure!
I do not see a water dish in the enclosure, is there one?
Everytime you see your little one upside down, it is very important for you to put her back on her feet :)
My new Hermann does that too, tonight is the first night he is here and he is in a hole and did not use the hide. (Danny, Now I know why :D lol).
 

taurusgi

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@Turtledude, thank you for your suggestion! Small smooth stones sounds like a good idea. I should go tortoise decoration shopping again! I found myself constantly thinking about what I should get her... haha.
She ditched the hole by the basking area and dug another one last night. Maybe it's because she realized that the light would wake her up too early in the morning! :D (I set the timer for the light from 6:30 am to 7:30 pm. I'm planning to adjust the timer according to real sunrise and sunset..)

@Danny, thanks! that explained everything now! :) no wonder she digs...~ I guess I won't feed her Maruzi since you don't recommend it. I just bought some weeds and wildflower seeds online. and right now I'm just feeding her grocery food and Zoo Med Grassland. She doesn't like the Zoo Med thingy I think. She is so smart that she would finish every other green leaves and completely avoid the Zoo Med thingy! I chopped up the grean leaves and mix it well with the Zoo Med this morning. I'll check to see if she eats them when I get back home! ;)

@Isa, the white dish and 2 little caps are filled with water. Thank you for liking my baby :) I hope she won't flip over again!!!
 
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