Things I Do

wellington

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I love the oil filled heaters too. Cheap too operate. Safe for animals and children. Not prone to start fires yet effective and lasts for years. I have one that works great and it's probably around 13 years old.
Fingers cross it keeps lasting. The newer ones don't work as well as the older ones.
 

Cathie G

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Fingers cross it keeps lasting. The newer ones don't work as well as the older ones.
🤞 It might be that most of them are digital now. I hate that. I did manage to find a new one that's not quite digital a couple of years ago. It has 2 buttons for low, medium and high with a dial for the between temps like they used to do. I bought it immediately. So far so good.
 

wellington

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🤞 It might be that most of them are digital now. I hate that. I did manage to find a new one that's not quite digital a couple of years ago. It has 2 buttons for low, medium and high with a dial for the between temps like they used to do. I bought it immediately. So far so good.
No mine aren't digital. Not sure what it is but they just dont work like the old ones. When it's really cold here I have to use two. One full on the other half on. I used to only use one full on.
 

Len B

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I got the thermostat Monday afternoon and put it in Thomas's new house last night and started tweeking it in today. It seems to be working fine. I have the 2 chicken brooder heaters with dimmers reducing the wattage running through it. The Stanfield heat mat is running through a dimmer but not on a thermostat. I was able to get the air temp to 84F just above top of his shell when walking and the mat to 84.9. It's been holding those temps since the sun went down. Earlier today I noticed that the mat temperature had dropped on both sending units that I had setting on it to watch the temps change. That actually made me happy because I knew Thomas had ventured into his new home on his own for the first time. He's spending the night in it. The floor temperature away from the heaters was running in the low 70s but should go up some with the constant heat on now.
 

Levi the Leopard

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No mine aren't digital. Not sure what it is but they just dont work like the old ones. When it's really cold here I have to use two. One full on the other half on. I used to only use one full on.
Things aren't made to last these days. They are made to break so you have to keep buying. To start discussing this would need an off topic thread of it's own.

True about the Hydrofarm thermostat I use not being sufficient to run 1500 watts. Something for me to keep in mind if I ever use a large on on a thermostat. I actually run a large one in my parrot/snake room during the winter for ambient heat. Although, it's directly plugged into the wall.
 

Cathie G

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No mine aren't digital. Not sure what it is but they just dont work like the old ones. When it's really cold here I have to use two. One full on the other half on. I used to only use one full on.
I don't like the new ones as well either. Of the older type I've never had one that the controls stopped working. Maybe it's the electronics in the new ones isn't up to par. I don't really trust that after a digital one I bought for my brothers bedroom stopped working. I have one of those I'm keeping for backup but I'll never depend on it to keep working. The one in my brothers room now doesn't have digital gadgets on it but I still don't trust it and check on it. If Joe gets cold he'll tell me also. My tortoise has the old dependable workhorse because hopefully he can't jump out of his enclosure and come and get me 😉. We live in a small house that's really easy to heat so I've never had to use them full on. I have a few other tricks up my sleeve also just in case I don't have electricity 🤗
 

Len B

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It gets cold here in the Northern Neck of Virginia, right now it's 32F. High temperature today was in the low 40s with moderate winds but that didn't keep my sulcatas inside their houses all day. They all come out to eat and wander around for a bit daily. This is Squiggly KIMG1705.JPGThomasKIMG1707.JPGGalloperKIMG1713.JPGDonaldKIMG1716.JPGAnd my old guy Walker KIMG1725.JPGI chop, cut or tare by hand their food up so they can get more volume intake with each bite. I will also wrinkle up some food items that may lay flat on the plate so they can access it easier. I know some here think it's better to feed whole pieces so they have to rip and tare what ever they are eating to help keep their beak from over growing. I don't have a break problem with any of my tortoises since starting doing this.
 

Len B

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For years I've collected leaves and harvested grass and weeds from my yard starting in September for winter feeding. This year it hit me that in the spring there are great weeds growing that aren't around any longer in late summer. So this year I've been harvesting and drying while the early spring weeds are plentiful and there's more out there than I need for summer feedings. This is the area before cutting that is drying now KIMG2222.JPGThis is how I'm drying itKIMG2221.JPGHeres an area of wild violets that I've already cut twice KIMG2225.JPGI wish I'd thought of doing this years ago to give the sulcatas a better more varied winter diet.
 

Yvonne G

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Such ambition! I used to make Dudley eat the brown, dead grass during the summer. I hope your tortoises realize how lucky they are!
 
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Cathie G

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For years I've collected leaves and harvested grass and weeds from my yard starting in September for winter feeding. This year it hit me that in the spring there are great weeds growing that aren't around any longer in late summer. So this year I've been harvesting and drying while the early spring weeds are plentiful and there's more out there than I need for summer feedings. This is the area before cutting that is drying now View attachment 357313This is how I'm drying itView attachment 357314Heres an area of wild violets that I've already cut twice View attachment 357315I wish I'd thought of doing this years ago to give the sulcatas a better more varied winter diet.
What did you use to cut them with?😘 I have several patches of violets. And when so they can keep growing 💗 I hate it when people think they are just weeds and try to pull them in my yard. They are at least a ground cover along a beatin path. With beautiful flowers every spring. The more the merrier.🤗
 

Len B

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What did you use to cut them with?😘 I have several patches of violets. And when so they can keep growing 💗 I hate it when people think they are just weeds and try to pull them in my yard. They are at least a ground cover along a beatin path. With beautiful flowers every spring. The more the merrier.🤗
I use a small sunjoe electric lawn mower with a bag. It's all plastic except the blades and axles. So nothing requires oiling. It has payed for itself several times over the years. I'm not sure what they cost today but I payed $89 shipped.
 

Cathie G

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I use a small sunjoe electric lawn mower with a bag. It's all plastic except the blades and axles. So nothing requires oiling. It has payed for itself several times over the years. I'm not sure what they cost today but I payed $89 shipped.
I won't need a lawn mower. I'll just use an electric weed eater. But I wish I could say I have to use a lawn mower.🤗 I love wild violets.😊 I'll even dig up a healthy looking one and replant it where I need to to help the ground cover along.😊
 

Len B

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Mulberry trees are a great source of food for a varied tortoise diet. I have mentioned in earlier threads that I cut most of mine back to the trunk. By doing this I don't get any berries because new growth doesn't produce berries. But I get very large leaves for feedings. I don't cut branches to feed I remove the large leaves let's just say one at a time. But I have a system to remove more than one at a time that I can't figure out how to explain it right now. The reason for removing the leaves this way without damaging the branches is because at the base of each leaf you remove you get a new branch that will produce new fresh leaves. But this only happens on new growth limbs and branches. So if you don't cut them back you are limited to the smaller leaves and no new limbs that produce many fresh leaves all growing season. I took some pics today to try to show what I'm talking about. The first is before removing the larger leaves. The second is after removal and the third is an old growth branch with no new growth at the starting at the base of the leaves.KIMG2245.JPGKIMG2246.JPGKIMG2248.JPG
 

Blackdog1714

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Mulberry trees are a great source of food for a varied tortoise diet. I have mentioned in earlier threads that I cut most of mine back to the trunk. By doing this I don't get any berries because new growth doesn't produce berries. But I get very large leaves for feedings. I don't cut branches to feed I remove the large leaves let's just say one at a time. But I have a system to remove more than one at a time that I can't figure out how to explain it right now. The reason for removing the leaves this way without damaging the branches is because at the base of each leaf you remove you get a new branch that will produce new fresh leaves. But this only happens on new growth limbs and branches. So if you don't cut them back you are limited to the smaller leaves and no new limbs that produce many fresh leaves all growing season. I took some pics today to try to show what I'm talking about. The first is before removing the larger leaves. The second is after removal and the third is an old growth branch with no new growth at the starting at the base of the leaves.View attachment 357352View attachment 357353View attachment 357354
Basically how some people prune their crape myrtles. Continuing new growth for heavy eaters! 😍
 

Cathie G

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Basically how some people prune their crape myrtles. Continuing new growth for heavy eaters! 😍
It will be nice if crepe myrtle leaves are edible for Sapphire. It was only planted a couple of years ago. We'll see what happens 😜 it's still growing. However, I'm scared to death. I have a true crab apple tree planted on the other side of the front yard that turned into a monster. Hopefully it's not some crazy big tree too. It's from the arbor day foundation too.🧐
 

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