Parasitic Prevention/Treatment?

[PollyAda]

Hopefully these are okay, he was very alert again today and so sociable. Looks at you when you're talking like a polite gentleman.

Such a lovely tortoise, thanks for the photos. Dante looks to be an Eastern Hermann's - does the tip of the tail have a small horn? I think I can make one out from the photo.

There are many subspecies of Greek tortoises (Mediterranean Spur Thigh) but they do not have horns on their tails. They do have a small spur on each inner thigh, so you can double check to see if these are present. These features help to tell the two species apart.

None of the Mediterranean species should consume fruit as they're not made to process the high sugar content. He may have loose stools, but they'll firm up with the right high fibre low protein diet.

It's all a learning curve - welcome to the forum!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I feel awful asking a million questions.

Can you recommend a good grass seed? I'd like to grow some indoors for him that way I know it's safe.

We use Timothy hay for our small pets. I've read it's idea but since a lot of the research I did prior seems incorrect, I'd like to confirm.

He had a small slice of kiwi today during soaking as I had thought he a Greek and read small amounts of fruit were okay as a treat. What should I watch for now that he's already had some?

Fruit is not healthy for the species.
Not even as a treat.
There is an absolute JUNGLE of information out there.
Please consider only getting your information off of this forum and it's huge content. This information is literally updated daily. And is all free.

 

[rosavonbarron]

Such a lovely tortoise, thanks for the photos. Dante looks to be an Eastern Hermann's - does the tip of the tail have a small horn? I think I can make one out from the photo.

There are many subspecies of Greek tortoises (Mediterranean Spur Thigh) but they do not have horns on their tails. They do have a small spur on each inner thigh, so you can double check to see if these are present. These features help to tell the two species apart.

None of the Mediterranean species should consume fruit as they're not made to process the high sugar content. He may have loose stools, but they'll firm up with the right high fibre low protein diet.

It's all a learning curve - welcome to the forum!

Excellent! What about pellets, I'm seeing conflicting information.

Also, I read you can use cuttlebone? I've done this for snails, is that safe?

 

[PollyAda]

Cuttle bone in the enclosure for additional calcium is good, although they may only use it occasionally. That being said, most of mine like their cuttlebone and use it regularly, so it depends on the tortoise! I find changing the cuttlebone out every little while if not eaten helps as they seem attracted to the smell.

Pellets - it depends what's in them. Most are tortoise junk food. Many keepers use Mazuri/Nutrazu which is a good addition to a fresh broadleaf weed diet. They should be soaked before being fed.

 

[rosavonbarron]

Cuttle bone in the enclosure for additional calcium is good, although they may only use it occasionally. That being said, most of mine like their cuttlebone and use it regularly, so it depends on the tortoise! I find changing the cuttlebone out every little while if not eaten helps as they seem attracted to the smell.

Pellets - it depends what's in them. Most are tortoise junk food. Many keepers use Mazuri/Nutrazu which is a good addition to a fresh broadleaf weed diet. They should be soaked before being fed.

Excellent thank you so much! I'll look into some different pellets to have as well as fresh veg.

Since fruits are a no go, are there any special tortie treats that yours like? I know carrots can be fed a few times a week but not often like leaf veg.

I'd like to grow our own weeds and grass. Any suggestions on easy and fast growing stuff? I've got plant lights for my succulents already

 

[zolasmum]

Zola, who is a Hermanns, absolutely loves radicchio. I have trouble getting it here in the UK, but have found a sort of warehouse, where I can get 3 or 4 heads at a time, and keep them in the fridge. They last for weeks -he gets a couple of leaves off the head every day, and always chooses to eat it first ! It isn't easy to grow yourself, but it's worth the 25 mile journey to get it for him, and I think it is pretty good for him.
Angie -

 

[rosavonbarron]

Daily soaks as long as he allows, we aim for 20-30 but sometimes it gets broken into two as he wants out. Appetite seems good though he prefers to eat in the afternoon. We soak in late morning/early afternoon.

Very socialable, comes to you when you talk. Just a sweet dude. I ordered dandelion and parsley seeds so I'll plants those inside. Next year we will do raised garden bed on our patio for him.

Here's his first big bowel movement after today's soak. Wanting to ensure it looked okay after the kiwi.

We've found the recommended lights and ceramic heating and put all four temperature and humidity gauges into the enclosure. The lights and heating will be acquired just as soon as possible. I'll post once we are about to purchase and have finalized the exact items.

 

[zolasmum]

Dante soonds like he is settling in very well ! Zola's bowel movements are always darkish brown, no doubt because of his diet - pretty much all greenery plus radicchio,but I don't think you need worry too much about the kiwi. Also, food moves slowly through a tortoises gut, and it takes several days to reappear, so to speak ! Letting him spend some time scrabbling around in his soak helps his bowels move.
We offered Zola parsley, once, and he gave it a disgusted look aas though to say "This is a garnish, not food !",and threw it aside. But Dante may love it, of course.
Angie

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Excellent! What about pellets, I'm seeing conflicting information.

Also, I read you can use cuttlebone? I've done this for snails, is that safe?

Cuttlebone is very good.
So is Mazuri 5M21 available on AMAZON and most livestock feed stores

 

[wellington]

Pellets are good to add as a small portion of the diet. Orchard grass hay is the preferred hay, Timothy is too much sticks/hard.
No fruit and make the diet as varied as possible.
If you can find a seed mix of weed seeds, that would be great to plant. Not sure what you can find over there.

 

[rosavonbarron]

This is a T5 HO UVB Linear tube light.
You want a 10.0

Hi! You seem knowledgeable so I hope it's okay. As we prep to buy new lighting, does this seem right? Does this also produce UVA?

https://a.co/d/g8OleFT

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hi! You seem knowledgeable so I hope it's okay. As we prep to buy new lighting, does this seem right? Does this also produce UVA?

https://a.co/d/g8OleFT

That will work.
UVB is what you're looking for.
As you can see. The wattage differs depending on the tube length. Don't let the wattage confuse you.

 

[rosavonbarron]

That will work.
UVB is what you're looking for.
As you can see. The wattage differs depending on the tube length. Don't let the wattage confuse you.

Perfect thank you so much! We'll be picking up ceramic heating as well.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Perfect thank you so much! We'll be picking up ceramic heating as well.

Make sure you purchase a dome fixture rated for high continuous heat. They're usually ceramic based.

 

[rosavonbarron]

Make sure you purchase a dome fixture rated for high continuous heat. They're usually ceramic based.

Oh! Thank you! We have this one for the infrared bulbs and I see it states ceramics may be used but now I'm uncertain.

https://a.co/d/fvBAsDs

 

[Tom]

I saw some things in your pics that are concerning, but I think you said that it was at the pet store, so maybe its fixed...

-Moss and plastic plants will be eaten and can cause impaction. Those should be removed ASAP.
-Leave the tortoise in the soak even when it wants out. We call this the tortoise treadmill and all that locomotion helps to keep the GI tract moving. This is especially important since your tortoise is in a too small enclosure temporarily.
-No carrot. Too high in sugar, just like the fruit. A little bit won't kill a tortoises, but its not "good" for them either.
-This is not a grass eating species. No point in growing grass, unless it is outside and intended to be sed as cover. Likewise, blended up and soaked grass hay can be used to add fiber to grocery store greens, but hay by itself isn't an appropriate food item for this species.
-Humidity in the 60s is beneficial. Not too high.
-Ramped water bowls are a tortoise death trap. Maybe that was just at the pet store? Use terra cotta saucers sunk into the substrate for food and water.

Much more here and look for the temperate species care sheet near the bottom:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[rosavonbarron]

I saw some things in your pics that are concerning, but I think you said that it was at the pet store, so maybe its fixed...

-Moss and plastic plants will be eaten and can cause impaction. Those should be removed ASAP.
-Leave the tortoise in the soak even when it wants out. We call this the tortoise treadmill and all that locomotion helps to keep the GI tract moving. This is especially important since your tortoise is in a too small enclosure temporarily.
-No carrot. Too high in sugar, just like the fruit. A little bit won't kill a tortoises, but its not "good" for them either.
-This is not a grass eating species. No point in growing grass, unless it is outside and intended to be sed as cover. Likewise, blended up and soaked grass hay can be used to add fiber to grocery store greens, but hay by itself isn't an appropriate food item for this species.
-Humidity in the 60s is beneficial. Not too high.
-Ramped water bowls are a tortoise death trap. Maybe that was just at the pet store? Use terra cotta saucers sunk into the substrate for food and water.

Much more here and look for the temperate species care sheet near the bottom:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Thank you so much! I wish I had found this place when I'd done my initial research. I feel so unprepared and I HATE learning as I go with animals, but I have learned sooooo much here.

We'll be upgrading light and heating first and looking at enclosure upgrades.

I'm planning on raised garden beds next year for food as we will still have our bunny and she's going to benefit as well.

Today my husband and I will go get small amounts of veg to try and rotate for Dante to see what he does like. This far, we know we enjoys raddiccio.

His enclosure has coco coir that I soaked. I do have a ramped water bowl but I sunk it down so he can get in and out easily, but I do like the terracotta idea and will be looking into it.

There will be no moss or anything else on the Coco. I want to do suction cups for the fake plants and make them as out of reach decor.

The photo was of the tiny enclosure at the pet store. My husband suggested a decor kit that included moss and my gut said not to get it, very glad I did not.

We've got four temperature/humidity combos, one temperature gauge and one humidity gauge. We own a dehumidifier and humidifier as well and have used the dehumidifier as needed.

Definitely doing my best, though I know it's not quite as fast as it should be.

I took screen shots of the food suggestions from your temperate tortoise post and will be taking it with us today. I've always wanted a tortoise and I'm so happy to have one, I want to keep him with me as long as possible.

 

[zolasmum]

Thank you so much! I wish I had found this place when I'd done my initial research. I feel so unprepared and I HATE learning as I go with animals, but I have learned sooooo much here.

We'll be upgrading light and heating first and looking at enclosure upgrades.

I'm planning on raised garden beds next year for food as we will still have our bunny and she's going to benefit as well.

Today my husband and I will go get small amounts of veg to try and rotate for Dante to see what he does like. This far, we know we enjoys raddiccio.

His enclosure has coco coir that I soaked. I do have a ramped water bowl but I sunk it down so he can get in and out easily, but I do like the terracotta idea and will be looking into it.

There will be no moss or anything else on the Coco. I want to do suction cups for the fake plants and make them as out of reach decor.

The photo was of the tiny enclosure at the pet store. My husband suggested a decor kit that included moss and my gut said not to get it, very glad I did not.

We've got four temperature/humidity combos, one temperature gauge and one humidity gauge. We own a dehumidifier and humidifier as well and have used the dehumidifier as needed.

Definitely doing my best, though I know it's not quite as fast as it should be.

I took screen shots of the food suggestions from your temperate tortoise post and will be taking it with us today. I've always wanted a tortoise and I'm so happy to have one, I want to keep him with me as long as possible.

Dante is going to have a lovely time trying out different foods, I'm sure. If he doesn't appear to like something straight away that you would like him to have, offer it again a few times - tortoises can be very suspicious. When we want Zola to have a bit of a treat, we hand-feed him cucumber or romaine lettuce - neither are particularly nourishing, but also we can put his vitamins on them, and know that he will be sure to eat them! And it is so endearing seeing his little pink tongue too.!
Angie