Meet Ernest T./Ernestine
- Thread starter manmythlegend
- Start date
Thanks @Neal! I'm gonna measure his plastron today, once he comes out of his humid hide and will post its length later.
3.25 inches
This was Ernest T way back in September right after he arrived.
This is Ernest T this morning right after his soak. What a difference 5 months makes!
Thanks Neal! I tried to use every trick I could think of to keep him growing smooth and so far it appears to be working! I'm so stoked!!!
Wow beautiful!!
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2012
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bright eyed and beautiful,,,,,,,,,job well done
Ernest T's weight this morning after his soak... 170gms! That's a 41gm gain since last month!
Just measured Ernest T after his soak and he's a smidgen over 3.5 inches (8.9cm) from head to tail, measured on his plastron.
I've kept him in his indoor enclosure exclusively since September and we can all see how well he's done with that! @Neal you'd said something about putting them outside more when they reach 4 inches and I think with the way he's going, that's gonna be sometime real soon! How long do you recommend leaving him outside and do you suggest an acclimation period or just put him out for however long from day one?
We still have that tortoise enclosure set up outside. We made it with concrete blocks à la something I'd seen @Tom do and haven't mowed or weeded in there since we set it up so it's nice and overgrown with Bermuda grass. I know that we're going to move it so that it is hit in it's entirety by one sprinkler head when the irrigation kicks on but I'm unsure exactly how much shade he should have because he's going to be partially shaded constantly by the tall grass and weeds that we'll encourage to grow. Where would be the best place to relocate it? Closer to the house's northeast corner so that the entire thing gets more afternoon shade from the house or should it be more out in the open with regards to sunlight?
Oh yeah, before anyone asks... those are Ch-ch-ch-chia seeds on his head that got on him during his soak. They aren't mites or ticks. In one of the pics it looks like he's COVERED in ticks but they're seeds, trust me.
Ernest's weight this morning- 190 grams.
Don't let those seeds get outside! They are a PITA to get rid of once established...
They are kept in the enclosure only, don't worry about that! They usually sprout, grow for a few days while he ignores them and then I go to check on him one morning and he has mowed them all down to the substrate.
Ernest T's weight after his soak this morning- 202 grams with an unchanged 3.5 inch plastron.
It's funny that this is how Ernest T spends most of his time outside. He's still inside his indoor enclosure but it's sitting outside with 1" mesh wire over the nonglassed end these days. Soon he will go full time into the outdoor enclosure for the summer.
We're still soaking him 30 minutes every day that we can. Some days we don't catch him out to grab him for a soak but for the most part it's as daily as possible.
Ernest T's weight this month: 223 grams! His diet is mainly sow thistle greens with moistened mazuri pellets fed a couple of times a week. There're still hibiscus, portulaca, gazania and thistle flower buds being offered regularly. Every weekend he gets a sprinkle of vitamin D and calcium on his food. I guess now that he's outside I can switch over to just plain calcium.
It's been a bit since I posted pics of Ernest T so you guys can see his carapace's progress. He's now reached 4 inches measured on his plastron, just as I predicted he would.
I'm keeping the sow thistle chopped back so that it's constantly making tender new leaves for me to feed. He still gets soaked Mazuri pellets weekly and I'm starting to chop up grass clippings into his feed so he gets used to eating grass. Speaking of sow thistle, here's the nutritional info on it:
30 – 40 mg of vitamin C per 100g, 1.2% protein, 0.3% fat, 2.4% carbohydrate. Leaf dry weight analysis per 100g (likely to vary with growing conditions) shows: 45g Carbohydrate, 28g protein, 22g ash, 5.9g fibre, 4.5g fat; in all, providing 265 calories.
Minerals
Calcium: 1500 mg
Phosphorus: 500 mg
Iron: 45.6 mg
Magnesium: 0 mg
Sodium: 0 mg
Potassium: 0 mg
Zinc: 0 mg;
Vitamins
A: 35 mg
Thiamine (B1): 1.5 mg
Riboflavin (B2): 5 mg
Niacin: 5 mg
B6: 0 mg
C: 60 mg
Here's the link for reference-
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonchus_oleraceus#
Got some okay pics of Ernest T today.
Ernest T's weight this morning after soak was 229 grams! That's only a 6 gram weight gain compared to the usual 20ish. I think it's due to the stress of living on the patio full time and once he gets adjusted, the weight gains will resume. We'll have to keep an eye on this. The enclosure is not quite so enclosed anymore and has hardware cloth over one end where the plywood used to be. We also took out his humid hide and put in a regular enclosed hide and we see him burrowed into the substrate underneath it quite a bit. Let's give him time to adjust before we pass judgement.
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