Jessee

[Amanda81]

I would like to introduce Jessee to everyone.


Not the best pic but he is settling in right now and I didn't want to bother him to much.

He was hatched in Dec 2014 so he's around 7 months old, weighs 310 grams (after a bathroom break) and is 41/2" long.

 

[Careym13]

He's gorgeous, congrats!!

 

[mitzi overstreet]

Love Jessee, beautiful, congratulations. I love that they get so big.

 

[ben awes]

awesome, congrats! looking forward to following. do you have other torts? what are his/her living arrangements?

 

[Amanda81]

awesome, congrats! looking forward to following. do you have other torts? what are his/her living arrangements?

Ya I started out with Sulcata and leopards last year, I wanted to make sure I could even do it right before I just jumped in with an Aldabra.
His living arrangements are around the same as my others just adjusted some to meet his temp requirements. I use closed chamber enclosures inside, I started following Toms advise when I first started researching tortoises and it has worked for me so far. We have a daily routine, adjusted for weather of course, but I do about the same with all my torts, I do keep species separate so I do each species one at a time.
Everyone gets a 30 minute warm bath in the morning and while they are soaking I spot clean enclosure and fix whatever they have dug up or torn down the day before. I mist the entire enclosure, I use peat moss,eco earth, and repti bark as a substrate to maintain a high humidity level so the misting is mainly just to wet the top layer of substrate. Then I give them their morning meal, it's usually always 5-7 different weeds and grasses, I try and give them different stuff everyday. Right now I have so much available I try and offer a little of everything so they can get a taste for it. Around mid day we go out for our sunning. I have outside enclosures set up for each species and they hang out in their enclosure, graze, whatever while I do yard work or what not. I let them swim/play in the kiddy pool for about 20-30 minutes before I bring them back in. Then usually a couple hours before lights go off I will give them another meal. Tuesday's and Thursday's it's mazuri nuggets and the other evenings it's more weeds, maybe a flower bloom or two. Once a month, depending on what I have, I might give them a pinch of fruit. I got some real nice cactus fruit at flea market couple weekends ago so right now it's cactus fruit. I supplement twice a week with calcium and a multivitamin too. My larger Sulcata stay outside full time in summer so they graze as they wish but besides that I do the same daily routine with them as I do the others. Now in the winter I have to adjust things cause I don't have such a selection to offer. I'm still learning as I go but it's been ok so far. I do plan on doing a pretty detailed journal with Jessee. I thought it would b neat to have it to pass on with him when I'm gone (hopefully that won't be for another 30+ yrs) and he has a new caregiver. I do weekly weights and measurements and kinda do a little note each day about his activities. So I hope after he settles in and isn't so scared every time he sees me around I can get some better photos of him. Right now I just don't want to stress him out. Here is a few shots of his inside house




He seems to like it. He has made himself a couple different hide outs and I'm training him now to go to his hide at night. Course this is just a temporary housing while we are in baby stage. So I can control humidity and such. Once he gets so big I will start building him his own shed outside.

 

[Amanda81]

1 week update....

Well yesterday was weigh in day. I've had Jessee for a week now. All seems to be going well. He weighted in at 377 before his massive poo and 350 afterwards. He is still measuring 41/2". I have monitored him pretty closely this past week. He won't move a muscle if he knows I'm watching so I had to hook up a video recorder. I have to remind myself that my other torts were shy when they was new and little too. Anyways, he seriously sleeps till noon or 1 and then will go bask for a bit, he explores around until he comes across his food, he eats, tracks through his water dish and eventually digs himself out a spot. I had to adjust my soaking and sunning times because he was still sleeping. He gets a 20-30 minute soak daily and at least 30 minutes of outside time, sometimes more depending on the weather. Not real active right now but I guess that's cause things are still new and he is a baby. He is really starting to take to the various weeds I'm offering now. At first he was having none of it. Mazuri is all he would eat. I went and got some spring mix and started mixing the weeds in that, more weeds and less spring mix each day and he is really doing well with it. His pile of greens consist of about 2/3 varied weeds and a 1/3 spring mix now. I did start adding a small amount of fresh chopped grass today. I will continue to up the amount of grass every couple days and lessen the amount of spring mix. I try not to feed any spring mix during the months I have fresh grass and weeds available since there will be a couple months in the winter they all get spring mix. So all and all he is eating good, gaining weight and pooing normally, all is well.

 

[Amanda81]

2nd week update....

Friday, 8/7/15 was weigh in day. I weight and measure every Friday, just now had a minute to do the update here tho.
So we weighted in at 375 and this was after a hefty poo. We are still measuring 41/2".
He seems to be settling in a bit more. He is doing his daily soaks much calmer now, he doesn't freak out every single time I stick my hand near him now either. He will freeze and stand there till I'm done and then once I'm out of sight he will go back to whatever he was doing. He explores his enclosure more too. He has made himself a little route that he takes from his food area back to his hideout and he uses it faithfully.
He isn't as active in his outdoor enclosure yet. I do his soaks outside a couple times a week so he gets his sun and usually I will put him in his outdoor enclosure for a while after the soak. He mainly stays in the spot I sit him. I'm not going to push the outdoor enclosure to much, mainly because I don't want to stress him and two, it seriously looks like summer is coming to an end. I was hoping we was just having a cold spell but I have noticed the nights are chilly, the night temps this week are down in the 50s already. So if this keeps up he will b inside til spring rolls back around anyhow.
His eating is good. He eats huge amounts and he is really doing well with new items. I have got him completely off the spring mix at this point. He eats pretty much whatever I offer now. I am waiting on some fall weeds to start popping up to offer him some new items. He eats plantain, wide and narrow leaf, clover, sow thistle, dandelions, wild violets, wild rose leaves, hibiscus leaves and blooms, and grape leaves almost daily. He has also started eating grass without a fuss. His greens are mainly grass now with a couple weeds in the mix. I was shocked how easily he took to the grass. It took a year to convince the Sulcata to eat grass and my leopard still refuses. I am pretty happy with his eating habits at this point. I offer him a big pile of greens in the mornings daily, then he gets another pile in the evening, on Tuesdays and Thursdays I offer Mazuri in the evening instead of greens. He's a fan of that too. I use a multivitamin and calcium spray on the greens Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (morning portion only).
His indoor enclosure is staying pretty stable, temps and humidity is really holding up good. His warm side is around 87-90 and then it gradually decreases to his cool side which stays around 82-84. The humidity on the cool side stays around 65-80% and 85-99% on the warm side. I spray it down good every morning and usually spray heavier on the warm side. He sleeps on the warm side and seems to prefer temps around 86-88. His hide is full of the sphagnum moss that I keep damp and warm. He really likes to dig that all up around him at night, some nights I can't even see him in there. I have caught him a couple times self soaking in his water dish and once in his "pond". His basking spot stays a 96-98 but I have only seen him use it once and that was before I got his new heater installed. He has a cuttlebone but doesn't touch it. He seems to be doing just fine so far.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

he will b inside til spring rolls back around

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

He eats huge amounts

~ Caution, sounds like he is not getting near enough exercise levels!

 

[Amanda81]

Unfortunately yes. Winter isn't nice here in Tennessee. I am current working on my last degree and once graduated I plan to move to a much warmer location but until then I'm stuck in Tennessee with the extremely cold winters.

 

[Amanda81]

~ Caution, sounds like he is not getting near enough exercise levels!

I take him outside but he doesn't really motor around like my others do. He does roam around his indoor enclosure during the day now and I am hoping he will start doing the same outside. With cold weather apparently sneaking in I am setting my rep room back up for them. I had it set up last winter so they have a large area to exercise in, so their not cooped up for 5 months. I keep the whole room heated and humidified. I grow large pans of grass and basically use that as their floor. It's not as good as outside year round but until I finish my schooling and I'm able to relocate its what we do. I honestly would be scared for him to be outside all the time anyways, he is little and I worry about him getting to cold, to hot, flipping over, predators somehow getting in his enclosure, with my paranoid way of thinking the possibilities of "bad things that could happen" are endless.
Is there anything I could do to encourage more exercise? I do want him to be as healthily and happy as possible. I have plans to move in the future and by then he should be big enough to stay outside all the time and the weather will be more suited for him but I will do what I need in the meantime to make sure he's healthy and growing like the superstar he is. Any suggestions or advice is very appreciated.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Is there anything I could do to encourage more exercise?

~ Your circumstances are not optimal for encouragement, they usually are very active by thermal regulating and searching for food, etc. If he has no need to move or make efforts to thermal regulate and search for food, etc. he will have no reason or motivation to move (exercise). This is going to result in a lazy inactive tortoise and possibly effect his growth and development.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Any suggestions or advice is very appreciated.

~ We encourage an all natural diet consisting of wild grass, weeds, cactus, etc. with no commercial food sources or supplements. Plenty of fresh water for good hydration, natural sunshine with many shade options for thermal regulation and a large area for ample exercise levels. We have found that ours grow about 1/4 of an inch per month during the first year and are very healthy, strong, active and have a wonderful smooth consistent shell development if these conditions are provided!

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Congrats on a new addition!

Where did this little beauty come from?

I think I've lost track of your tort count! you have sudans too right?

 

[Amanda81]

Congrats on a new addition!

Where did this little beauty come from?

I think I've lost track of your tort count! you have sudans too right?

Thanks! I'm super excited about him.

I do have a few now, including the sudans. Everyone is doing great right now. I am planning to slim down on the numbers tho. My schooling has really picked up and is taking more of my time so I will probably downsize all my Sulcata soon.

I got Jessee from sam at flordiaiguania in Flordia. Every nice man.

 

[Amanda81]

~ Your circumstances are not optimal for encouragement, they usually are very active by thermal regulating and searching for food, etc. If he has no need to move or make efforts to thermal regulate and search for food, etc. he will have no reason or motivation to move (exercise). This is going to result in a lazy inactive tortoise and possibly effect his growth and development.

I didn't think about that. He doesn't really have a reason to do anything if his heats right and his food is served to him. I will start placing food to where he has to search for it. I will also (until weather stops me) encourage more outside time. His enclosure is secure, the sides are 6" underground and I have a top made of fencing on the top, so he could stay out during the day and just come in at night. Once the weather gets cold he will have to stay in but he will have the entire rep room to roam in. I will cut out the mazuri too. I'm growing grasses and weeds so hopefully I can keep em growing inside over the winter, if so I could probably get away without feeding mazuri at all. I will make adjustments today.

 

[Amanda81]

So Jessee has finally decided to decorate his living quarters as he sees fit. I have live plants in his indoor enclosure, he seems to like having them to wonder around and hide in. Everything he can get to is safe to eat and I either started myself in organic soil or if store bought, it was removed from soil, washed, put back in organic soil, cut down to bare minimum and has been regrowing since last fall, so everything's safe if he eats it. I do have a potho in the enclosure but it's up where he can't reach it. Anyways, a couple weeks ago I added some wondering Jew, it was growing great and I was excited cause that stuff will grow into a big pile of plant and make him a great hide out, well I went in this morning to start our day, get him soaked and fed, outside for the day, etc, and that turd destroyed the whole thing. It literally looks like he ate the majority and then pulled what was left out the ground and kicked it around. Lol. I guess I will put the next clippings in a pot, get them up where he can't reach them. At least if I can get it big he can eat on it and have a extra hide out. Lol.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Jessee

~ Pictures

 

[Amanda81]

Pictures, that is my down fall, I am not a picture taker. My mother is always on to me about taking pictures. She has bought me 2 real nice cameras, still don't know how to use them. Lol.

I did however remember today while I was outside and grabbed a few shots of Jessee with my trusty iPhone. Lol.

I had placed a few edible items around his enclosure for him to hunt down. He is getting good at this and he explores and moved around more too.





When he started eating it, it flipped over on him and he just continued eating the petal he was working on.



Once done with his flower he checked to see if I was still watching him. He is still very jumpy about me being around.

Here he found a pile of grape leaves and a pinch of purslane.


He's sniffing it out, deciding if he should get himself a bite.

Yep, killed the purslane first.

Then the grape leaves

He's a real fan of the grape leaves, that's his last bite.

Again, while finishing his last leave, he turned to see if I was still stalking him before he took off to another spot.

 

[Amanda81]

Now i have a few questions

he is very shy, jumpy, pulls up in his shell if there is the slightest movement of anything almost, I know they are prey in the wild at this size but I don't remember my others being this jumpy after they had been here a few weeks, is this typical for the species, is it just his age, and if so at what age do they usually start calming down, is he still getting use to me and the environment?

He has a little white dot of paint on his rear, what would be safe to use to remove this? I tried rubbing it and lightly scraping with my fingernail but it didn't come off at all.