Some of my tortoises

[lovelyrosepetal]

I, also love the white leopards. You have some very beautiful tortoises. I, personally, love leprocattas. They are beautiful. I hope you post more pictures of your tortoises in the future. They are beautiful and a great treasure!!!

 

[Baoh]

I said I would take some Aldabra photos, so here are some shots of an Aldabra being grown according to my keeping habits (not laws by any means).

Tortoise Thanksgiving. OMG! Mixed species! I guess I will have to burn the house down. Relax, folks. Just a little ribbing. In case anyone is wondering, I decided to try out Rapid Micro testing for the new hypo. Nothing concerning, so group interaction has been allowed to make sure social behavior is agreeable.

 

[mightymizz]

Not sure if this thread would be the ideal spot, or the other one, but is there any way you could discuss your methods and approach to feeding? Here and in the other thread you do mention the rich diet and I would love to hear your thoughts.

Also if you don't mind your enclosure set ups, and if you happen to live in Florida. I only mention Florida due to many people being able to get their torts a lot of outside sun and nice humidity usually.

I personally only have redfoots currently, but love to hear other people's ideas to glean what I can.

Thanks!!

 

[l0velesly]

Wow, you have a lot of rare and unique tortoises!

 

[DesertGrandma]

nice torts. I want the little leo in the grass, sooooo pretty.

 

[Baoh]

Colder months:

In terms of feeding, I allow and encourage energy dense foods such as Mazuri. Some animals will take to rabbit or alfalfa pellets. I feed a variety of non-processed foods, too. I feed a lot of string beans when they are cheap. I allow many types of fruit (avocado, papaya, mango, tomato, strawberry, squash, bell pepper, opuntia tuna, banana, and so on), but this is in addition to fibrous vegetable matter and not as a substitute for it. I will feed spring mix to young animals. I feed turnip greens, collard greens, romaine lettuce heads, endive, escarole, and the like. Sometimes cactus pads. I sprinkle Miner-all on the food at least a few times a week for young animals.

I never intentionally restrict food.

Warmer months:

Outside, they eat what grows on the ground or falls upon it. Grass primarily. Some weeds. Some garden plants. Fallen blooms and sweet gum leaves. Feces of all sorts (dogs, rabbits, various tortoise species, birds, and deer). Animals (snakes, birds, worms, slugs, and insects). Animal corpses (birds and squirrels). Eggs that have fallen from nests. Remains that the hawks drop when they pick apart their prey on the posts of my fence. Some leftover food if it falls into what I consider an appropriate category.

The smaller young have a separate outdoor enclosure that has weeds, grasses, lots of chia, lots of turnip greens, and more.

I add minerals, especially dolomite flour, to the ground each year to try and boost calcium levels in the yard graze.

Certain animals are given the rich diet of things like Mazuri and avocado year-'round. These are typically animals with high growth demands (giants) or animals who I am seeing if I can bring to maturity faster since it is a matter of size more than anything. If there was anything other than quality growth resulting, I would reevaluate, but all evidence here points to "just fine".

I produce some animals myself and some I acquire in order to improve my projects. I also acquire some for pets, observational insight, and some simply to grow out to sell to others as future breeders. I will eventually produce some for brumation experiments, but I cannot financially justify that just yet. Some of the animals I acquire come to me with significant pyramiding (like a recent ivory pair). The rich diet does not seem to exacerbate the issue and new growth is typically smooth. My high energy density versus low energy density diet phases are essentially the opposite of nature. I do not think it matters, really. I think much of nature is what the animals may simply endure. A portion of nature is what they may need. I think it is up to each individual keeper to decide what they consider to be reasonable for care and I have seen many different practices produce positive and negative results.

If something works for you, I say use it. If something works for me but something else works for you, I see no reason why you should switch to mine or I should switch to yours. If your animals are doing well, I should be happy for you and that is that as far as I am concerned.

---

Whoops. Forgot to mention it, but I live in the Midwest and deal with a real winter. This makes things much more complicated for me, but I seem to manage okay. It would be a ton easier for me in terms of feeding and housing if I still lived on one of my FL properties.

 

[mightymizz]

Fabulous!! Thanks for sharing that, I appreciate it. Gives me some ideas as well to enhance my routine!

Thanks again!

 

[N2TORTS]

Very Very Nice ................

 

[bigred]

Colder months:

In terms of feeding, I allow and encourage energy dense foods such as Mazuri. Some animals will take to rabbit or alfalfa pellets. I feed a variety of non-processed foods, too. I feed a lot of string beans when they are cheap. I allow many types of fruit (avocado, papaya, mango, tomato, strawberry, squash, bell pepper, opuntia tuna, banana, and so on), but this is in addition to fibrous vegetable matter and not as a substitute for it. I will feed spring mix to young animals. I feed turnip greens, collard greens, romaine lettuce heads, endive, escarole, and the like. Sometimes cactus pads. I sprinkle Miner-all on the food at least a few times a week for young animals.

I never intentionally restrict food.

Warmer months:

Outside, they eat what grows on the ground or falls upon it. Grass primarily. Some weeds. Some garden plants. Fallen blooms and sweet gum leaves. Feces of all sorts (dogs, rabbits, various tortoise species, birds, and deer). Animals (snakes, birds, worms, slugs, and insects). Animal corpses (birds and squirrels). Eggs that have fallen from nests. Remains that the hawks drop when they pick apart their prey on the posts of my fence. Some leftover food if it falls into what I consider an appropriate category.

The smaller young have a separate outdoor enclosure that has weeds, grasses, lots of chia, lots of turnip greens, and more.

I add minerals, especially dolomite flour, to the ground each year to try and boost calcium levels in the yard graze.

Certain animals are given the rich diet of things like Mazuri and avocado year-'round. These are typically animals with high growth demands (giants) or animals who I am seeing if I can bring to maturity faster since it is a matter of size more than anything. If there was anything other than quality growth resulting, I would reevaluate, but all evidence here points to "just fine".

I produce some animals myself and some I acquire in order to improve my projects. I also acquire some for pets, observational insight, and some simply to grow out to sell to others as future breeders. I will eventually produce some for brumation experiments, but I cannot financially justify that just yet. Some of the animals I acquire come to me with significant pyramiding (like a recent ivory pair). The rich diet does not seem to exacerbate the issue and new growth is typically smooth. My high energy density versus low energy density diet phases are essentially the opposite of nature. I do not think it matters, really. I think much of nature is what the animals may simply endure. A portion of nature is what they may need. I think it is up to each individual keeper to decide what they consider to be reasonable for care and I have seen many different practices produce positive and negative results.

If something works for you, I say use it. If something works for me but something else works for you, I see no reason why you should switch to mine or I should switch to yours. If your animals are doing well, I should be happy for you and that is that as far as I am concerned.

---

Whoops. Forgot to mention it, but I live in the Midwest and deal with a real winter. This makes things much more complicated for me, but I seem to manage okay. It would be a ton easier for me in terms of feeding and housing if I still lived on one of my FL properties.

---

Never heard of Dolomite flour before

 

[Baoh]

I make it a point to use the flour/powder over granules for two reasons. The first is the smaller particle size should get into the ground easier. The second is that, if I cast the granules poorly, I am concerned that a smaller animal could consume a group of them that could bind together in the digestive tract, creating a stone like calcium sand can in some lizards. It is probably not something that has a high chance of occurring, but I avoid it by using the flour.

 

[bigred]

I make it a point to use the flour/powder over granules for two reasons. The first is the smaller particle size should get into the ground easier. The second is that, if I cast the granules poorly, I am concerned that a smaller animal could consume a group of them that could bind together in the digestive tract, creating a stone like calcium sand can in some lizards. It is probably not something that has a high chance of occurring, but I avoid it by using the flour.

Thanks for the info, Im going to do just that

 

[jesst]

You have an amazing collection there.....

 

[Yvonne G]

Never heard of Dolomite flour before

Another name for it is lime, but don't use hydrated lime. It should say dolomite lime flour.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Another name for it is lime, but don't use hydrated lime. It should say dolomite lime flour.

Limestone flour. (Ground up limestone$

---

I'm not sure why this is in this thread but let me hazard some thoughts on using limestone flour…first off, let me qualify this by saying, I use it regularly and freely. It's 99.9% pure and organic and really inexpensive.
Agriculturally it is a soil enhancer. It binds with clay soils making them looser and it helps loose soils firm up and hold more water. Another property is that it makes available nitrogen for plant use. Put it in your lawn in the spring and you will be rewarded with a green lawn.
Now I freely broadcast this in my tortoise enclosures early morning when the morning dew makes it stick to the grazing. My concern that maybe more inquisitive members may investigate has to do with the freeing up of nitrogen. I have read somewhere that nitrogen buildup is something we need to concern ourselves with as tortoise caretakers. In that the plants the tortoises are grazing on have access to freer nitrogen that might be a health issue. I have no idea what those problems are or how they would manifest themselves but maybe some one out there could help.

 

[jaizei]

I add minerals, especially dolomite flour, to the ground each year to try and boost calcium levels in the yard graze.

Do you/have you done any type of testing or analysis to see how effective this is? I've made similar efforts, but without any actual data it has always been more of a theoretical, "couldn't hurt" kinda thing.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

One of the “fun" aspects of calcium is that the rain washes it away. That is why the soils in my neck of the woods, Pacific Northwest, have a low mineral content compared to just 200 miles east in eastern Oregon where they get less rain and the soils and forage grown has a higher mineral content. I pay dearly to have my eastern Oregon orchard grass for my horses. Even buying it by the ton.

 

[Baoh]

Another name for it is lime, but don't use hydrated lime. It should say dolomite lime flour.

Limestone flour. (Ground up limestone$

---

I'm not sure why this is in this thread but let me hazard some thoughts on using limestone flour…first off, let me qualify this by saying, I use it regularly and freely. It's 99.9% pure and organic and really inexpensive.
Agriculturally it is a soil enhancer. It binds with clay soils making them looser and it helps loose soils firm up and hold more water. Another property is that it makes available nitrogen for plant use. Put it in your lawn in the spring and you will be rewarded with a green lawn.
Now I freely broadcast this in my tortoise enclosures early morning when the morning dew makes it stick to the grazing. My concern that maybe more inquisitive members may investigate has to do with the freeing up of nitrogen. I have read somewhere that nitrogen buildup is something we need to concern ourselves with as tortoise caretakers. In that the plants the tortoises are grazing on have access to freer nitrogen that might be a health issue. I have no idea what those problems are or how they would manifest themselves but maybe some one out there could help.

---

Nitrogen is incorporated as amino acids. It is the most key differentiating nutrient between lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. It is beneficial to tortoises as it is to all living things.

---

I add minerals, especially dolomite flour, to the ground each year to try and boost calcium levels in the yard graze.

Do you/have you done any type of testing or analysis to see how effective this is? I've made similar efforts, but without any actual data it has always been more of a theoretical, "couldn't hurt" kinda thing.

No. Your reasons are on point, but I am not that worried that fortification is not taking place and it costs little. I want to make it available, but I do not believe that it, for example, presses incorporation to a greater level than whatever the plants normally would. I just want to make sure that, by providing it, the plants are not lacking in available supply from which to incorporate to the best of their normal ability.

 

[yagyujubei]

Fantastic pics...

 

[Baoh]

My little Burmese star and my smallest Gpp het sunset hypo eating greens.

The Burmese star wanted something a bit more dense.

A quick shot of my Western Hermann's babies.

 

[mightymizz]

Great pictures!

Is that coconut coir that you are using for your indoor substrate?

Any other tips you might share on how you like to keep higher humidity indoors for your setups?

Thanks for sharing!