This is a nice thread. I've thoroughly enjoyed your pictures and commentary.
Thanks, Yvonne! All thanks to the many gardeners on the forum.This is a nice thread. I've thoroughly enjoyed your pictures and commentary.
Awww, thanks! I noticed the Petco by our house has stopped selling Russian tortoises, thankfully. They do a horrible job in maintaining their temps and humidity, there's clearly not enough space for them there, and they feed them some horrible food-dyed pellets that look like dog food (but you wouldn't feed to your dog)! Poor little guys... Maybe someone complained -- I hope so!I love you little Russian and his beautiful garden. Every pet store I go into I see some poor Russian sitting there in such terrible conditions. The are very common here and sold in all the pet stores. I always wish I could rescue one and make a home for him. Your tortoise is so lucky to have such a wonderful garden to live in. You did an amazing job.
I recommend looking into native Vermont plants and cross-referencing that list against what's considered safe tortie food on The Tortoise Table. That was how I determined what plants would work best for my yard. In the process, I learned that we have a couple Michigan native Hibiscus species, and Opuntia cactus!this is beautiful! gives me ideas for next spring
my little guys NEED an outdoor badly
I recommend looking into native Vermont plants and cross-referencing that list against what's considered safe tortie food on The Tortoise Table. That was how I determined what plants would work best for my yard. In the process, I learned that we have a couple Michigan native Hibiscus species, and Opuntia cactus!
Here are a couple sources to get you started:
Gardening with Vermont Native Plants: http://vcgn.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/nativeplantgardeningsummarylistfinal.pdf
Native Plant List for New Hampahire, Maine & Vermont: http://www.plantnative.org/rpl-nen.htm
Here's a photo of our new outdoor enclosure and garden for Steve. It's 8 feet x 12 feet. As a tip: I did find that the wood was much cheaper from the outdoor gardening section rather than the lumber section of the hardware store (they're fencing planks from Lowe's). As of now, we have the walls up and some of the dirt put in. I'll have to get a bit more dirt, and then I have a couple bags of manure that can go in when I start planting. I have a small list of plants that I know Steve loves, but feel free to add any suggestions! Cheers to a new growing season (at least here in Michigan)!
View attachment 79616
My amazing boyfriend put together the walls so he got me the best tortoise Mother's Day gift!!! I will post more photos as our garden grows!
Hibiscus buds about to open! I will get another photo tonight!
Very cool! The flower didn't quite open all the way, but it was still about the size of my Russian tort! ;DAwesome!
I've had one open about once a week these past couple of weeks.
Boy, do our guys LOVE them!! It is so fun to watch them "dig in"!