destortoise
Member
This is an amazing build! What I aspire for someday for Squash kudos to you
Squash? That might be the best tort name ever!This is an amazing build! What I aspire for someday for Squash kudos to you
Yep. That's exactly what I'm looking for. What is that in the 7th photo?Everything's coming up roses in the greenhouse!
(see any ideas @Anyfoot ?)
View attachment 155650 View attachment 155651 View attachment 155652 View attachment 155653 View attachment 155654
View attachment 155655 View attachment 155656
I know it still looks pretty sad to the untrained eye, but there is hope budding all over the place, despite "someones" constant destructive stomping and biting!
"Are you talking about me?"
View attachment 155657
"I don't think I like your tone, human."
That is the opuntia that I put in his "dry" box! Despite him chomping them constantly and trying to push and claw them to the ground, the two remaining plants (he ate the third down to the soil) both have new growth.Yep. That's exactly what I'm looking for. What is that in the 7th photo?
Just fantastic. Love it.Still tweaking temps and trying to keep food growing. The temps in the room still dip as low as 75 on occasion, but in the enclosure all areas are up by about 2 degrees on average. I added a CHE to the greenhouse which is on a thermostat, and in that area it is holding a pretty steady 84-88 degrees with 70-90% humidity
View attachment 157823 View attachment 157834
and his new burrow (behind the hibiscus) stays a couple degrees warmer because it is the closest to the oil heater.
Basking areas are a balmy 98-104 when those lights are on, and in the low 90's when the lights are off (they are both dual fixtures with CHEs and lights) but at least one of the lights is on at a time between 6:30am and 7pm, with the light in the greenhouse on from 6am-8pm.
We are considering options for enclosing his self dug burrow behind the hibiscus somewhat so he feels more hidden, and he has abandoned the cooler areas under the ramp and in his old hide. I think it's is partly because he is just getting too darn big! He still fits in the concrete igloo, (but just barely) and even having dug out underneath the ramp, his shell was scraping on the underside when he was coming in and out. It's hinged, so it wasn't doing any damage, but it was pretty funny watching him lift it as he did his digging.
Well, I thought it was funny, but apparently he does not agree.
View attachment 157828
I think today I will put in a couple more opuntia, as we are now down to one in the enclosure, and it is riddled with beak and claw marks.
View attachment 157832
Oh! And with his new super-sized body, he is also having super sized poop! When he was tiny I would just bury them and let them compost naturally to feed the plants, but that no longer seemed to be enough to keep the joint clean, so we are trying DIY in home composting
Just a simple empty cat litter bin with few holes drilled around the top and bottom
View attachment 157829
We are adding any uneaten food, poo, plant bits that I have to pull or trim around the house or enclosure (only Odin-safe ones), some dirt and torn bits of paper towels that I use to clean things up around his place and old newspapers and paper bags that are biodegradable. I set the bin in one of the gardening trays for the inevitable leakage of moisture or dirt. I will toss it every few days or whatever is necessary and I guess we will see what happens. I have never done bin style composting, always just a pile in the corner of the yard, but if I can get a little tort-only compost for his enclosure it will be pretty cool.
(BTW, The sprayer in the above pic is absolutely GLORIOUS for misting his enclosure!- highly recommend!)View attachment 157830 View attachment 157831
Another fun thing; I got him a pumpkin a while back that I occasionally give a chunk of for tasty beak sharpening, and of course include the seeds, well>>>
View attachment 157836 View attachment 157835
Of course as soon as he sees one he nibbles it down to the ground, but they are popping up all over!
And I certainly can't argue the results of this endeavor. Look at that growth!
I swear he just gets prettier and smoother every day.
View attachment 157833
Odin's Happy Land!
View attachment 157824
Thanks! So does the pooper! Er...I mean Odin.Just fantastic. Love it.
Made me laugh again, your posts are just such good readingThanks! How could you not love that grumpy face?
S, I am not thrilled with the growth in the greenhouse. For weeks I have chalked it up to him being a hungry and destructive little grouch, I am slowly beginning to think I have either lighting or humidity issues. Everything sprouts well but nothing seems to get too far beyond that point. It does not appear to be damping off, but could it be that much of what I am growing cannot handle the extreme humidity?
Frankly, I think the lights are more likely, and I would rather adjust the lighting than mess with the humidity, so I am now shopping for actual grow lights (the red/blue ones) to augment the daylight spectrum fluorescents I have.
Odin did not appreciate me talking about making changes
View attachment 159165
And politely told me to kiss his rear shellView attachment 159166
But this is what I am looking at. At a glance there seems to be a lot of green, but that is almost all new growth from regular seeding, most everything else has died or is dying (the hibiscus is completely Odin's fault and he has no problem admitting it)View attachment 159167
And in the small box the spider plant and aloe vera are still growing very well, but they are darn near impossible to kill. The grass in that box has been reseeded multiple times.View attachment 159168
So, back to the drawing board as soon as I find lights that will work with what I have. Wish me luck!
Maybe Odin just brings out my cheeky side?Made me laugh again, your posts are just such good reading
You said all the plants are not growing in the greenhouse part, do you open that zip cover daily to allow air circulation?
Your spider plant is getting air circulation through the gaps near the lights.
Would a spider plant grow healthy in the greenhouse part? If not it would suggest to me air circulation.
Blue/red lights sound a good idea and should improve plant growth vastly. The faster you circulate the air flow the more it dries everything up, then humidity drops. Essentially this is what wind is doing, drying the land.After turning up the fan a bit late yesterday I awoke to humidity of 69%. It hopped right back up to 77% after I refreshed his water bowl and misted and i'm sure it will climb higher now that it is closed up again, but I can live with lows of 69% as long as the temps remain in the mid 80's, which they are (86 right now). I still have a bit more range on the fan to increase airflow, but once again, it's a waiting game. I will give it a week or so to see if it helps the plants perk up any, but I believe I already found a workable red/blue LED light set-up to order and have some ideas for installation.
I just wish I had brought my camera down for his wake-up and breakfast! His first stop this morning was his water dish. He put his foot and his face in the water and drank deeply for nearly a minute! Not something I usually get to see unless he is in the bath, and it is ADORABLE!
I also added a bit of grated pumpkin (with guts and seeds) to his salad, and he was pretty fired up about that. He hasn't had any in over a week and he loves it.
Pro-tip: Now that fresh pumpkin is no longer readily available I keep big chunks of it in the freezer. It grates up beautifully even when frozen solid, and so does opuntia fruit.
The good thing about the fan I ordered is that it has an adjustable dial. It can be set all the way down to barely moving or high enough that I can see the hibiscus leaves moving ever so slightly in the breeze. I have it mounted on top of the light frame and angled up towards the peak for a convection current, moving the rising hotter air down and around the greenhouse lengthwise. Hopefully it's just a matter of getting the right setting on the fan, the room temps can drop as low as 76 degrees so I would prefer to keep the greenhouse closed.Blue/red lights sound a good idea and should improve plant growth vastly. The faster you circulate the air flow the more it dries everything up, then humidity drops. Essentially this is what wind is doing, drying the land.
If you have no success and humidity drops too low, try turning fan off but some how have a small air hole at each end of your greenhouse so you get a slower air flow.
Just thoughts.