saleena.lewis
Active Member
So cute!!!
My tortoise, cheese!
- Thread starter Hamiltondood
- Start date
Hamiltondood
Active Member
Soaked him, gave him a teaspoon of durian (he only ate about 1/4 teaspoon), soaked him again since he had durian everywhere ?? . He currently weighs 69g, he once gained 11 grams in 5 days.
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Hamiltondood
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Also, when I brought him inside, I saw ants everywhere ? (probably from bringing his enclosure outside). So I moved his enclosure (greenhouse and lamp) and sprayed the area. Might buy Diatomaceous Earth (food grade) to avoid ants. Didn’t see if they were fire ants but there are a ton of fire ants in Texas and it had been raining recently. Haven’t seen any ants by his enclosure yet.
Hamiltondood
Active Member
dried some hibiscus leaves, flowers, and a few rose of sharon leaves. i have 2 more flowers in the oven right now. i prefer using an oven or dehydrater instead of waiting a few days. i found mold when i was cutting the hibiscus flowers (not using oven). might be because it was wet..oven/dehydrater method -
1. set oven to the lowest setting, i used the "warm" setting
2. wash leaves and flowers, you can dry but its not needed
3. line leaves ad flowers on a tray with parchment paper (optional)
4. place into oven and wait
5. cut/shred and store in a cool, dry area
leaves usually take 30 minutes-1 hour (depends on how wet the leaves are)
flowers take a while longer, hibiscus flowers usually take 1.5-4 hours
i was orginally going to use a food processer but realize it'd basically be "cut" into a powder, you may pulse it into a powder and add water (like mazuri pellets) if you'd like to. i just roll up the leaves and cut if theyre not as "crunchy". for "crunchy" leaves, i just crumble them with my hands.
I am going with dehydrator - I use it a lot for drying wild mushrooms. And I will vacuum seal so no air, moisture can get in. My mom froze dandelions for my Russians before. They loved it. Might try it too.
Hamiltondood
Active Member
that's a good idea, i prefer an oven since it may be a bit quicker and i also dont have a dehydrator lol.
Hamiltondood
Active Member
rose petals? i'd love to dry some petals but im almost certain my local grocery store (where id get them) uses fertilizer and pesticides
I know.?. But thank god I corrected myself ASAP. I can’t figure out how to copy and paste the “sulcata” sheet (or any others) to people very well. It always shows crazy numbers and letters all over the place and I feel like I have done it wrong.
My HEAD tells me... wait for Tom or your sister to post one to the person. But then my heart takes over and I just want to help the person any way I can. And fast . They always say “HELP!!!!!”
Thanks for having my back Maggie.
I should just shut up and wait for the experts to chime in..
all that aside...
How you doin’?
Did you get my last message?
It’s up in here somewhere..?
Oh noooo. See there is a good thing to my husband and I being a lazy gardeners- we just let anything that wants to grow - grow.
Worse that happens - dog will pee on the bush (no stress they don’t go there and flowers I picked from about 2 meters high).
Everything that grows around did not have anything added, sprayed on for years.
I am all about saving bees etc.
ps. Where do you live ?
Hamiltondood
Active Member
I live in richmond texas, my grandparents have a rose bush but im not sure if they spray pesticides either.
Hamiltondood
Active Member
removed his old substrate with some cleaner substrate yesterday. today, i bought aloe vera, a terracotta saucer, and planted more dandelions. the aloe vera had no fertilizer, i still removed the soil from the roots though. today he ate dried hibiscus, hibiscus leaves, sunflower leaves, a few pieces of lettuce (box of fresh herb salad), and mazuri. mushed it up and added a splash of water.
Hamiltondood
Active Member
Hamiltondood
Active Member
just bought two 8 qt bags of orchid bark, just learned that he need 3 inches of substrate. i also replaced his log hide with a plastic tub and a hole cut into it.
Hamiltondood
Active Member
got some wheat grass (organic, no soil) at the grocery store. cheese seemed to LOVE the wheat grass, he usually doesnt like huge blades of grass from outside so i'm glad he likes the wheat grass. after he ate food, i put him into his terracotta saucer and saw him take a long sip of the water ? i also vacuumed the floor and put some wheat grass on the floor for him to eat for a minute or two (also for photos haha) 
Herbie spits it out. I grew a lot of grasses no dirt so easy.
Hamiltondood
Active Member
Just prepared some mazuri for cheese tate. just found out that boiling water makes the pellets absorb liquid quicker ?. He's currently 72 grams. I'd say he's 4-5 months right now so he might be a tiny bit small..? Sometimes he'll get some wheatgrass, and sometimes he'll get a bunch of hibiscus. His enclosure size is about 3x2 feet so i'm DEFINITELY upgrading soon. I haven't given him any aloe vera YET since i keep forgetting ? It's getting colder here in Richmond and could drop to high 60s-70s and is usually 80-90 degrees outside. Hope you guys are doing just fine 
Hamiltondood
Active Member
just found some mold in cheese tate's enclosure, mustve been a piece of old food
completely changed out his substrate and moved some stuff around. i also got rid of his "playground" since it was just taking up space.
he finally slept in his hide for the first time !! ?
he never uses the hide, even when i put him inside, so that's great.
i added some plants (fake) too, checked up on him every 30 minutes or so to see if there were any missing plant-bits ?
the cuttle bone i had gotten him also got moldy..?
bought him a new one today.
his CHE bulb blew out for some reason so i bought him another on amazon, too.
(it says 74 degrees because i just turned on his light haha)
the cool side is pretty empty so i might add a plant or two.
OH, forgot to mention that he might've come in contact with the mold so i soaked him for 45 minutes. thinking of doing a carrot soak just in case..
no harm in doing a carrot soak (even if he doesn't need it, right?)
his food dish is a small tubberware lid (unused). sometimes i'll use a paper plate if i NEED to, but i usually don't.
i'll be making a post about the mold just in case..
completely changed out his substrate and moved some stuff around. i also got rid of his "playground" since it was just taking up space.
he finally slept in his hide for the first time !! ?
he never uses the hide, even when i put him inside, so that's great.
i added some plants (fake) too, checked up on him every 30 minutes or so to see if there were any missing plant-bits ?
the cuttle bone i had gotten him also got moldy..?
bought him a new one today.
his CHE bulb blew out for some reason so i bought him another on amazon, too.
(it says 74 degrees because i just turned on his light haha)
the cool side is pretty empty so i might add a plant or two.
OH, forgot to mention that he might've come in contact with the mold so i soaked him for 45 minutes. thinking of doing a carrot soak just in case..
no harm in doing a carrot soak (even if he doesn't need it, right?)
his food dish is a small tubberware lid (unused). sometimes i'll use a paper plate if i NEED to, but i usually don't.
i'll be making a post about the mold just in case..
Hamiltondood
Active Member
just made a separate post about the mold btw
Hamiltondood
Active Member
fed him some aloe today, only two thin slices. i tried some myself ?
it was a bit bitter but once you rinse the "slime" off, it doesnt taste like anything.
it was a bit bitter but once you rinse the "slime" off, it doesnt taste like anything.
