Russians and cactus

[Cheryl Hills]

Well, I thought I would be nice today. I redid my Russian tort habitat, indoor one, added a lot of new substrate and plants. I put some cactus plants in there. Well, that didn’t work, they ate it! Little buggers. I was trying to make it nice and they devoured one of the plants. Now I have to take the rest out so they will grow. They were only one pad in a pot, trying to get them to spread. Now, I have to rethink this idea.

 

[Cheryl Hills]

Well, I thought I would be nice today. I redid my Russian tort habitat, indoor one, added a lot of new substrate and plants. I put some cactus plants in there. Well, that didn’t work, they ate it! Little buggers. I was trying to make it nice and they devoured one of the plants. Now I have to take the rest out so they will grow. They were only one pad in a pot, trying to get them to spread. Now, I have to rethink this idea.

I have a tank, think I will put the cactus in the tank instead.

 

[Jodie]

I have made this mistake with aloe and hens and chicks. Stinkers!

 

[Ernie Johnson]

They will eat almost everything live you plant in the enclosure. In the wild they eat a high portion of vegetation that would kill other species of tortoise, which is why these guys bullet-proof when you get their husbandry correct. Here's a pick of our 6x16 foot outdoor pen when we lived in Minnesota (where they spent 4-5 months of the year) and how best to "plant" the enclosure. You can see one of my males heading into the man made 3 foot deep burrow entrance.

The aloe plant lasted 2 days, the Artemisia and ornamental grass about 3 months. They eat everything.