How do I get Charlie to like the humid hide?

[BajatheChickenMan]

You can get the brooder panels from a feed store... or you can get a radiant heat panel for more money on Amazon I think...

I like your style! I use a brooder plate for radiant heat too! Very safe since they're designed for baby chicks!

 

[BajatheChickenMan]

Thank you, I'll look for a feed store near me!

I use this plate because the legs are adjustable and you can regulate the heat very easily including setting it at an angle to get different temps that the animal can choose from!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DLFD6GY/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Also this plate from Tractor Supply works pretty good and can be put on its side easily.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-brooder-and-coop-heater-1299682?store=1542&cid=Shopping-Google-Local_Feed&utm_medium=Google&utm_source=Shopping&utm_campaign=&utm_content=Local_Feed&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnrOtBhDIARIsAFsSe53FuVEzYGMLrhRMx60JtyIlSnj4OEkix3OQ7nvnixXvk_fQevpIFvQaAiYlEALw_wcB

 

[ckiley]

I use this plate because the legs are adjustable and you can regulate the heat very easily including setting it at an angle to get different temps that the animal can choose from!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DLFD6GY/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Also this plate from Tractor Supply works pretty good and can be put on its side easily.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-brooder-and-coop-heater-1299682?store=1542&cid=Shopping-Google-Local_Feed&utm_medium=Google&utm_source=Shopping&utm_campaign=&utm_content=Local_Feed&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAnrOtBhDIARIsAFsSe53FuVEzYGMLrhRMx60JtyIlSnj4OEkix3OQ7nvnixXvk_fQevpIFvQaAiYlEALw_wcB

Thanks so much, I going to check these out!

 

[Cathie G]

We used a beach pail cut in half as the humid hide which is in the smaller side of her enclosure. She hasn't showed an interest in burrowing yet, she loves to climb on rocks! I'll look into adding an additional hide to the larger side of her enclosure.

Hello and welcome. This is just a suggestion to try. I have a Russian also. Face the opening of the hide towards the morning sun coming in the window of the room. Sapphire always goes to his hide in the evenings and is always waiting in the doorway for me to serve him 😜his salad in the morning 🌄

 

[ckiley]

Hello and welcome. This is just a suggestion to try. I have a Russian also. Face the opening of the hide towards the morning sun coming in the window of the room. Sapphire always goes to his hide in the evenings and is always waiting in the doorway for me to serve him 😜his salad in the morning 🌄

Thank you for the suggestion. I moved her to the hide when she fell asleep and blocked the entrance with rocks like others suggested. I felt bad blocking her in but she's asleep right by the rocks and seems content!

 

[Tom]

Good morning All,
Charlie does not like her humid hide. When she fell asleep last night, I put her in and she stayed for a few hours and was sleeping outside of it when I checked on her. I did this two more times before going to bed myself and she was sleeping outside of it this morning. The temp was perfect inside at 80-81( I use an infrared thermometer) and the humidity was 73. I have a humidifier being delivered in the next couple of days to hopefully increase the entire humidity level to the desired 80%. Are there any tricks to getting her used to the humid hide? Also, she gained 5 grams in 1 week, is this normal? I plan on introducing Mazuri tortoise diet this week when it gets delivered, how much should I start with? I'm attaching a couple photos from this morning, does her shell/growth look good?

In Africa, anything that makes a hole in the ground will eat a baby sulcata. They instinctively avoid any sort of dark hole or burrow at this age as if their life depends on it. It takes weeks and sometimes months of putting them in there after dark and several times during the day for them to realize that there is no sulcata eating monsters in there, and that it is their hole in the ground. In the end, some of them like hides more than others.

An open ended pail or flower pot, does not a humid hide make. There is no way to contain humidity in something like that. It just flow right out of the giant opening on the end. I like to use black dishwashing tubs from Walmart. I flip them upside down and cut out a door hole. As you baby gets bigger, you'll need to put some weight on the top of it so that your baby doesn't drag it all over the enclosure. I use bricks or paving stones.

Moss will be eaten and it can cause impaction. I'd remove that ASAP.

Which type of Mazuri did you get? Most of them like the original 5M21. If you got the LS, it will take longer to introduce it. Maybe weeks or months. Start with just a tiny broken piece of one pellet. Soak it until mushy in a bottle cap with a little water. Then mix up the mushy piece of a pellet with the chopped up pile of greens for the day.

Is that grass you are feeding the tortoise? If yes, it needs to be chopped ups into shorter pieces. No more than 1/2 inch to an inch. You'll see why in a few days when your tortoise starts pooping it out.

Food needs to be in a bowl to keep it out of the substrate and keep the substrate out of it. Terra cotta plant saucers sunk into the substrate work best. I like to have at least two of them. When one is soiled, I can quickly replace it and clean the dry one at my leisure. I let cleaned ones bake in the sun between uses for disinfection.

Having the lights and heat outside the enclosure creates a chimney effect that draws the heat and humidity up and out. All the heating and lighting needs to be inside. I've never used those green houses, but people here say they work. I prefer to use a large closed chamber enclosure, ad those have worked very well for me.

 

[ckiley]

In Africa, anything that makes a hole in the ground will eat a baby sulcata. They instinctively avoid any sort of dark hole or burrow at this age as if their life depends on it. It takes weeks and sometimes months of putting them in there after dark and several times during the day for them to realize that there is no sulcata eating monsters in there, and that it is their hole in the ground. In the end, some of them like hides more than others.

An open ended pail or flower pot, does not a humid hide make. There is no way to contain humidity in something like that. It just flow right out of the giant opening on the end. I like to use black dishwashing tubs from Walmart. I flip them upside down and cut out a door hole. As you baby gets bigger, you'll need to put some weight on the top of it so that your baby doesn't drag it all over the enclosure. I use bricks or paving stones.

Moss will be eaten and it can cause impaction. I'd remove that ASAP.

Which type of Mazuri did you get? Most of them like the original 5M21. If you got the LS, it will take longer to introduce it. Maybe weeks or months. Start with just a tiny broken piece of one pellet. Soak it until mushy in a bottle cap with a little water. Then mix up the mushy piece of a pellet with the chopped up pile of greens for the day.

Is that grass you are feeding the tortoise? If yes, it needs to be chopped ups into shorter pieces. No more than 1/2 inch to an inch. You'll see why in a few days when your tortoise starts pooping it out.

Food needs to be in a bowl to keep it out of the substrate and keep the substrate out of it. Terra cotta plant saucers sunk into the substrate work best. I like to have at least two of them. When one is soiled, I can quickly replace it and clean the dry one at my leisure. I let cleaned ones bake in the sun between uses for disinfection.

Having the lights and heat outside the enclosure creates a chimney effect that draws the heat and humidity up and out. All the heating and lighting needs to be inside. I've never used those green houses, but people here say they work. I prefer to use a large closed chamber enclosure, ad those have worked very well for me.

That makes total sense as to why they do not like humid hides at first. I will definitely change out the humid hide this week and will continue to put her in once she falls asleep. I removed the moss yesterday when someone else pointed that out as well.
I did get the LS version of the Mazuri, what's the difference? Hopefully she'll start to like it, should I soak and mix a little everyday?
Yes, it is grass and I did notice her poop yesterday and have cut it up smaller today. She has a food dish and I'll add some to her rock as well, she likes to get inside/on top of her food and then it gets thrown all around. I'll get some terracotta plant saucers and see if that helps.
I do plan on upgrading her enclosure in the near future. Do you have any building plans for a closed chamber enclosure? For the meantime, I'm going to try the most readily available thing-tinfoil around the lights to lock in humidity and increasing humidity in the entire room with a humidifier.
Is her growth looking good? She gained 5 grams in 1 week, is that a normal/good amount?

 

[Tom]

I did get the LS version of the Mazuri, what's the difference? Hopefully she'll start to like it, should I soak and mix a little everyday?

LS is Timothy hay based. Its a good food and worth your time, but it does take a while to get them eating it. The original formula, 5M21, is corn and soy bean hull based and they add molasses. Most tortoises love the original, presumably due to the sweet molasses, and those ingredients are but a delivery vehicle for the good stuff. Either one is a good food in my opinion and experience and I use both to this day. I like to offer Mazuri once or twice a week as a good supplemental food to ensure balanced and complete nutrition. I don't think anything bad would happen if it were fed as part of a mix everyday, but that is not how I like to do it.

Do you have any building plans for a closed chamber enclosure?

I don't recommend building your own. Its a long story, but to summarize, it is cheaper to buy an enclosure already built than to buy all the parts and spend a week or two building it yourself. I prefer the Smart Enclosures made by our own @Markw84 but there are other makers too. Mark's have everything you need already professionally installed and ready to go. Mark's enclosures are also designed and constructed specifically to meet the needs of tortoises, where others are made for reptiles in general and you have to install and mount all of your own heating, lighting, timers, and thermostats. When you add up the cost of other enclosures, then add up the cost of all the equipment you will have to buy and install yourself, Mark's enclosures are both cheaper, and easier since he does all the work for you.

If you still want to build your own @Sterant has made a thread for you:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/building-your-own-expanded-pvc-enclosed-chamber-–-for-beginners.159220/

 

[Tom]

Is her growth looking good? She gained 5 grams in 1 week, is that a normal/good amount?

Yes, that is a good amount. Soon enough it will be 5 grams a day, and then one pound a month, etc...

 

[ckiley]

LS is Timothy hay based. Its a good food and worth your time, but it does take a while to get them eating it. The original formula, 5M21, is corn and soy bean hull based and they add molasses. Most tortoises love the original, presumably due to the sweet molasses, and those ingredients are but a delivery vehicle for the good stuff. Either one is a good food in my opinion and experience and I use both to this day. I like to offer Mazuri once or twice a week as a good supplemental food to ensure balanced and complete nutrition. I don't think anything bad would happen if it were fed as part of a mix everyday, but that is not how I like to do it.


I don't recommend building your own. Its a long story, but to summarize, it is cheaper to buy an enclosure already built than to buy all the parts and spend a week or two building it yourself. I prefer the Smart Enclosures made by our own @Markw84 but there are other makers too. Mark's have everything you need already professionally installed and ready to go. Mark's enclosures are also designed and constructed specifically to meet the needs of tortoises, where others are made for reptiles in general and you have to install and mount all of your own heating, lighting, timers, and thermostats. When you add up the cost of other enclosures, then add up the cost of all the equipment you will have to buy and install yourself, Mark's enclosures are both cheaper, and easier since he does all the work for you.

If you still want to build your own @Sterant has made a thread for you:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/building-your-own-expanded-pvc-enclosed-chamber-–-for-beginners.159220/

Thank you so much for all the information it is greatly appreciated. I'm going to reach out to Mark regarding his enclosures. I'd rather purchase a ready built/ready to go enclosure versus trying to figure it out myself.
It's incredible how fast these little guys grow!