Update on Mango! Garden state tortoise

zovick

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Mango is getting so big! So proud of my baby ☺️
You tortoise looks very good so far.

Just a heads up, here, The substrate is overly dry, though, for long term conditions. When I kept my 50 Western Hermann's, I kept the coco coir much more wet than yours is in the photo.
 

TaylorTortoise

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i soak his substrate every single day right when I feed him. Do you keep it damp all day long?
 

zovick

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i soak his substrate every single day right when I feed him. Do you keep it damp all day long?
Yes, I kept it very wet all day and all night. I bought 50 W. Hermann's as babies and grew them to baby-producing adults in three to four years on very wet coco coir. None of them ever got shell rot, either. They seem pretty immune to getting it, so I don't see extreme dampness of their substrate as a concern.
 

Tom

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Spraying the surface does't do it. You have to dump water into the substrate. How much water and how often varies tremendously from enclosure to enclosure, and seasonally too. When the weather is warm and you are using less desiccating electric heat, it tends to not dry out as fast. When it is hot and dry in summer, it can dry out as fast as it does in the winter electric heat.

If there is no poop in it, I usually dump my water bowl into the substrate, rinse, and then sloppily refill it. That might be enough for yours, or you might need more. Or it could be too much. You have to go by feel, but coir should be damp all the time as Zovick explained. I also like to hand pack it down to reduce the mess and improve it as a walking surface.

And your baby looks beautiful. Thank you for the pics.
 

TaylorTortoise

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Thanks Tom, as for my russian tortoise he has the same substrate. Should I be doing the same thing for him?
 

TaylorTortoise

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Thanks tom. Who knew! I thought they only needed a spray bottle over the substrate every few hours.
 

zovick

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Thanks tom. Who knew! I thought they only needed a spray bottle over the substrate every few hours.
For a substrate comparison, here is a photo of 5 of my Corsican W. Hermann's Tortoises in their enclosure. The substrate in this photo has almost dried out to the point where I would add more water and mix it all together again. Note the tortoises in this photo all hatched in the late summer of 2013 so they are not quite a year old. The high humidity has produced excellent growth in the group.
 

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TaylorTortoise

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For a substrate comparison, here is a photo of 5 of my Corsican W. Hermann's Tortoises in their enclosure. The substrate in this photo has almost dried out to the point where I would add more water and mix it all together again. Note the tortoises in this photo all hatched in the late summer of 2013 so they are not quite a year old. The high humidity has produced excellent growth in the group.
Wow. Thanks for the share! Beautiful.
 
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