Outside time!!

[lisser]

Just took the babies outside!! Here are some photos. I took one video as well, I'll see if I can figure out how to upload that.

Our school nurse peeked out her office window into the courtyard where I had them at and asked me if she could hold the big one. I said sure but he will probably pee on you and sure enough he let lose on her and peed about as much as my 7 year old would pee!! Amazing how much pee they have!!!! I felt bad though, she's soaked!!!

Our school principal has given me permission to build an enclosure for them in the courtyard so I can take them outside during the work day several times. I'm so happy!!

Also, I've got 3 piles of some sort of toothpaste looking poop (?) in the enclosure now...is this ok? I can take a picture of it if it would help. Do I scoop it out or leave it for them to eat? (EWWW!!)

I took some of the pictures upside down again. I can't get used to this iPhone!! Sorry

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Here is the video I took of the largest guy cruising!! The other two just chilled in the grass and ate.

 

[Tom]

Ahh... that last pic looks like sulcatas as they should be. In the sun surrounded by graze.

Okay, by all means clean up any and all poo. If they eat a tootsie roll before you see it, no big deal, but you don't need to let them eat it. They usually won't eat the urates (white stuff) anyway.

Slumpstone or cinderblocks would make a nice easily moved or expanded enclosure for them. Just make it as big as you can and make sure there is some shade at all times of the day.

I just smile from ear to ear every time I read one of your posts. What an amazingly fortunate turn of events for these three little ones! Just heartwarming I tell you. How is the one with the sniffles doing? All better now?

 

[lisser]

Aww Tom, I wish I could hug you Honestly I would be lost without all of you teaching me how to treat these guys. I'm not the perfect tortoise mom yet but I will be there with this forum's help!! I made a promise to my student that I would take care of them and that I intend to do.

I'm so glad you mentioned the sniffles bc I had all but forgotten about them since they are gone!! I don't see them at all anymore. I guess I'm doing something right?

Just after I posted the thread about the white stuff you should have seen the HUGE turds that I found when I walked back in my office!! OMG! I should have never prayed to the poop Gods bc the Gods came through and then some!! All in the water dish and all over back legs! They are getting baths right now!!! The timing was good bc I had only done one soak today so far.

Did my video post? I can't tell.

I've just emailed one of our district carpenters and he's going to help me contruct an enclosure. Maybe I should go concrete blocks though instead of wood? I'll search the forum to see if I can print off a nice picture of one to show him. I'll make sure I get some chickenwire to go over top but I plan on being outside with them at all times but you never know. Over the summer, it is very quiet around here so I'll be able to go hang out with them very often. I will also make sure there is a shaded part, some hideys and fresh water.

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Ok, video is not posting for some reason....not sure why?

 

[Angi]

I am so glad things are working out for you and your torts

 

[Fernando]

That's awesome! I'm glad your doing so well, I know the feeling...it's like "leveling up" in a video game as I like to refer to it as. =P that's just the nerd in me.

Do the landscapers for the school spray any kind of chemicals in the grass or pesticides? You might want to check. I'm just asking because I would see our school gardeners put manure and stuff in our grass when I was in school.

I didn't know it was bad for our torts until recently. I'm not taking mine to any public park anytime soon.

 

[lisser]

We don't have landscapers in my district or at my school. Our custodians just use riding lawnmowers to cut the grass. No chemicals, no sprays, nothing except cutting the grass. We have tons of weeds, it's paradise for them it seems to me. I do get my lawn treated though for crabgrass and weeds so they can't lounge in my yard at home. I'm at work 5 days a week so hopefully they can get enough outside time there throughout the spring and summer. I bring them home with me at night and take them to work with me everyday. I am pathetic.

I am struggling to find the weed ID section on here. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I wish I could figure out how to post the video on here so I could show you guys how fast they move!! It's just not showing up though.

 

[Fernando]

Where did you upload your video to?

Youtube and photobucket are probably the easiest to upload to.

You then take your (http://) code and

add

[video=youtube]******[/video]

Your HTML code goes between the *****

if that makes sense.

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And I found this list for you...maybe someone has a better list

1. Grasses

Grasses should make up at least 75% of your sulcata tortoise's diet. You should try to supply as many different grasses as you can from the following list:

Buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides)
Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon -- which actually originated in Africa!)
Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata)
Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
Little Bluestem (Andropogon scoparious)
Western wheatgrass (Agropyron smithii)
Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis)
Arizona Fescue (Festuca arizonica)
Lawn Fescue (Festuca arundinacea)
Sheep Fescue (Festuca ovina)
Creeping Red Fescue (Festuca rubra)


The best way to provide the grass-based diet that a sulcata requires is to have a large, safely-enclosed outdoor yard in which you can plant various types of grasses for your sulcata to graze on. This will allow your tortoise to graze at will, while he gets exercise and exposure to sunlight. Owners who can provide a tortoise yard don't have to worry about overfeeding, or whether the tortoise is getting enough UV exposure.

2. Edible Weeds, Leaves, and Flowers

These items should make up the remaining 25% of the diet, if possible. Make sure that any plants you feed to your tortoise have not been treated with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. If you buy a plant from a large chain store like Lowe's, Home Depot, Do-It-All, etc., re-pot the plant in organic potting soil and wait a couple of months to feed the plant to your tortoises -- it will take a while for all the fertilizers and/or pesticides used by the store to leach out of the plant. Here are some recommended plants for sulcata tortoises:

Dandelion -- both the yellow flowers and the leaves
Prickly Pear Cactus pads (Opuntia species) -- You can scrape off the needles with a sharp knife or burn them off by holding the pad over the flame of a gas or propane camp stove.
Broadleaf Plaintain or Buckhorn Plantain (Plantago major or Plantago lanceola)
Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea grossulariaefolia) -- flowers and leaves
London Rocket or Tumble Mustard -- leaves only; they tend to reject the flowers
Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) -- flowers and leaves
Hollyhock (Alcea rosea) -- flowers and leaves
Roses (Rosa species) -- flowers only
Sowthistle
Chickweed
Hibiscus (Hibiscus species) -- flowers and leaves
Mulberry (Morus species) -- leaves only; give the mulberry fruit to box turtles.
Geranium (Pelargonium species) -- leaves and flowers
Grape -- leaves only; give the fruit to box turtles or make wine!


3. (OPTIONAL) Vegetables

Use these only as special treats for your tortoise. This means you can feed these items in SMALL quantities, and only once per week at most. These items are NOT necessary, but they can serve as a nice treat for your tortoise, or a way to get them to eat calcium and vitamin supplements:

Dark leafy greens such as:

Romaine Lettuce
Arugula
Mustard Greens
Collard Greens
Turnip Greens
Dandelion Greens
Chicory

 

[Tom]

When you come to TFO on your computer, you start at the "Portal" screen. Near the upper left corner are several Boldface words. Click on "Forums". Scroll down to "Tortoise Diet and Food". Then there is a smaller sub forum called "Plant Identification". Click on that and you will been in the weed/plant ID section. There is a long running thread up at the top called "Pictures of Common Plants...", by emysemys. You should see a bunch of familiar ones in there along with whether or not they are toxic.

 

[lisser]

When you come to TFO on your computer, you start at the "Portal" screen. Near the upper left corner are several Boldface words. Click on "Forums". Scroll down to "Tortoise Diet and Food". Then there is a smaller sub forum called "Plant Identification". Click on that and you will been in the weed/plant ID section. There is a long running thread up at the top called "Pictures of Common Plants...", by emysemys. You should see a bunch of familiar ones in there along with whether or not they are toxic.

I just took the phote on my iPhone, saved it to my computer and am trying to upload it like a picture I guess? I don't have a youtube account or a photobucket account.

I think I found a forever home for the babies. A social worker friend of mine has 50 acres in Petersburg, a nearby town to me. She has horses and two red foot tortoises she says? The tortoises have their own room in her basement with a doggy type door to the outside where they come and go in and out as they please. Her husband teaches biology at a nearby University. She said he "lives for tortoises." She is so excited. She's sending her husband to my office right now to see them!!!

I'm a little sad though. I don't want to let them go but how can I deprive them of this opportunity? She told me I can visit whenever I want and tortise sit for them if they ever go out of town.

It's bittersweet. I do want what's best for them though, man 50 acres....I am going to make sure though that they aren't allowed to go out on their own until they are huge. We have lots of turkey buzzards here. They would gobble these little guys up. These babies need to be kept indoors I think until they are larger. Maybe I'm just being overprotective though.

I'll update everyone after I meet her husband, the professor LOL!

 

[Yvonne G]

Please also tell them that different species of tortoise shouldn't be kept together. The redfoots, from South America, shouldn't be kept with the sulcatas, from Africa. Different pathogens. Might make each other sick or even dead.

 

[lisser]

I was afraid of that. Does that mean they can't be outside together either while they graze? I don't think they will be kept inside in the same enclosure or room but I wonder about being outside. I'm sure a pen or something can be constructed for the two different species?

 

[Yvonne G]

They should be kept in two separate pens, never allowed onto the grass that the other has been on.

 

[lisser]

I just met my friend's husband. The first thing he said to me (after how good the tortoises look) is that he needs time to build a 2nd enclosure for the sulcatas bc he can't keep them with the red foots. He said red foots like to submerge themselves in water, they eat a lot of fruits, sulcatas don't and they do best on grass and weeds. I'm impressed!!

He has a 10x10 room that his red foots are in and he says he has an 8x8 room that the sulcatas can go in when they need to be inside. He said when the ground temps are at least 70 outside for a period of time, they will be outside 24/7.

I am thinking about keeping the baby though for a few years just to make sure he/she gets the nourishment she/he needs and gets bigger to live in the real world. (I know you all can tell already that I'm being stingy and don't want to let them go).

I told him to do what he needed to do as far as a 2nd enclosure and that the babies were fine here until he was ready for them.

 

[Fernando]

That's awesome! I'm glad you found great parents for them. Im sure they'll do just fine.

 

[Tom]

Well that's great news. I thought you'd be keeping them after seeing your enthusiasm. There are lots of them around if you ever decide you want one. I've got babies due to hatch in May, if you're just dying to have one after your experience with these.

 

[lisser]

I wholeheartedly want to keep them but when I have a pet it's forever and I know I can't care for them once they reach a certain size. I can't let them out in my yard, I won't be able to lift them if I needed to. I live in a cookie cutter neighborhood, I don't have a large lot. I just don't see how I could provide them with the life they deserve. Of course if the alternative was giving them to someone that was not qualified or able to care for them as well I am, then I would keep them but I can't see how fair it would be to them to deprive them of what my friend can offer them

Tom you would trust me with one of your babies!! I'm honored!!

 

[Laura]

keeping one is more realistic in your situation. And good for the kids in class too!
I hope you can.
lucky torts!!

 

[lisser]

I don't actually have my own classroom. I am the school social worker but I often have groups of students in my office for therapy or interviews for the Cabinet. The kids really love the guys/gals though!!