Hmmm. Still seems 3 pounds might be a bit light weight for that size tort but I don't have a Greek so maybe they aren't as tall as leopards....@tom may be able to answer your question...
Rethinking hibernation
- Thread starter Sheldon.B
- Start date
@Sheldon.B are you sure he is a male Greek (10" is quite large for a male) and did you measure him correctly (in a straight line, not over the curve of the carapace)?
If that's the case I would be interested to see a picture of Sheldon.
If that's the case I would be interested to see a picture of Sheldon.
Will try to upload some pics, not to good at this have made a number of unsuccessful attempts at uploading a video from my iPad. But will try again. Keep trying to upload pictures and a video but just keep getting an error message. Measures of underside are actually on 8 inches or 21 cm
His tortoise table is 4ft by 4 ft with a bed compartment. I use finely shredded paper for the base, it seems okay, and he seem rather comfortable in this. He is a bit on the active side today walking around the house a lot, exploring.
Tom would really value your opinion. Got the measurements wrong but posted some moe information on this thread, not sure I am posting things in the right p,aces, but put some pictures of Sheldon up. He's only 8 inches / 21 cm an
Yvonne I've posted some pictures on this thread. Would value your opinion. Thanks. Marie
Hi Marie:
Ok, here's my opinion...
The habitat you have Sheldon in seems an ok size. If it were mine, I would remove all the paper and line it with a sheet of plastic, then add back a substrate he can dig into and you can moisten just a bit. If the sides are tall enough, I'd like about 4" of substrate.
The tortoise looks on the small side, but that's probably due to the care he had before you got him. And he looks thin. There's hardly any meat on his bones.
If this were my tortoise, I would not allow him to hibernate this year, but rather I'd try to fatten him up so he'll be ready to hibernate next winter.
He also looks like he may have suffered MBD at one time or another in his past. To this end, I would make sure he got some real sunshine along with his calcium-rich diet.
Since you're in Ireland, you probably don't have access to Mazuri. Quite a few of our UK members use Komodo Dragon food for fattening up their tortoises. I understand it comes in different types. I'll start a thread in the Food and Diet section asking UK members to help us choose which type to feed tortoises.
Ok, here's my opinion...
The habitat you have Sheldon in seems an ok size. If it were mine, I would remove all the paper and line it with a sheet of plastic, then add back a substrate he can dig into and you can moisten just a bit. If the sides are tall enough, I'd like about 4" of substrate.
The tortoise looks on the small side, but that's probably due to the care he had before you got him. And he looks thin. There's hardly any meat on his bones.
If this were my tortoise, I would not allow him to hibernate this year, but rather I'd try to fatten him up so he'll be ready to hibernate next winter.
He also looks like he may have suffered MBD at one time or another in his past. To this end, I would make sure he got some real sunshine along with his calcium-rich diet.
Since you're in Ireland, you probably don't have access to Mazuri. Quite a few of our UK members use Komodo Dragon food for fattening up their tortoises. I understand it comes in different types. I'll start a thread in the Food and Diet section asking UK members to help us choose which type to feed tortoises.
Coco coir works well as substrate. It comes in real dry and you have to add a bunch of water which takes a bit of mixing and adding more water and mixing...etc. It'll keep drying out unless you cover your enclosed some. But if so just keep adding water to rehydrate.
Cypress mulch may work better for you. I'm not sure what type people get. Seems pretty shredded to me. Idea is the moisture is locked in the lower couple inches and dry on top. Just add a couple cups of water in the corners now and then when it dries out.
I would add another inch or too to the bath water as well. Let the water cover Sheldon's extremities. Maybe cover his shell 'skirt'. Kilt? Lol
Cypress mulch may work better for you. I'm not sure what type people get. Seems pretty shredded to me. Idea is the moisture is locked in the lower couple inches and dry on top. Just add a couple cups of water in the corners now and then when it dries out.
I would add another inch or too to the bath water as well. Let the water cover Sheldon's extremities. Maybe cover his shell 'skirt'. Kilt? Lol
Thanks for the advice will act on that.
Marie
Don't ,mean to sound silly but what is MBD. Sheldon didn't seem to be well looked after in the shop that my sister got him from, she more or less bought him cuts she felt sorry for him, he was in a 1ft by 2 ft box. So I am only learning. Will work on finding out about Komodo Dragon food to fatten him up. thanks. Marie
Sorry...I forget that not everyone understands shortcuts. MBD - metabolic bone disease. It's when a tortoise hasn't been fed enough calcium, or he wasn't given the proper sunshine/vitamin d3 to make the calcium work, and the bones and shell were depleted of their calcium.
Thanks, have additional victims and Calcium, also growing some watercress which has a good source of Calcium so should improve.
