My new tort table on wheels is finally ready.

[elainelim]

 

[newCH]

Very cool !

 

[Yvonne G]

The lid lifts out, right? If you have cats, I would be tempted to turn the lid over so the wire rests on the supporting cross pieces. Cats love to lay on wire.

What a nice job you did. I wish I had carpentry skills. My work always looks like "the house that Jack built."

 

[stojanovski92113]

Really nice Job!! What are the measurements?

 

[elainelim]

The lid lifts out, right? If you have cats, I would be tempted to turn the lid over so the wire rests on the supporting cross pieces. Cats love to lay on wire.

What a nice job you did. I wish I had carpentry skills. My work always looks like "the house that Jack built."

No cats! I wish I had a cat though, I may also install a lock on either sides, just to be sure.

And aha I wish I had done the carpentry myself too, sadly, I only designed it I had commissioned a good friend of mine to make it, he owns a carpentry workshop. Cost about 150 USD including workmanship. Floorspace is 6'x3'. Height is 1.5'.




I may have to add handles to make it easier to roll around.

 

[stojanovski92113]

I can't wait to see it completed with your tort inside

 

[elainelim]

I can't wait to see it completed with your tort inside

Me too! Its arriving tomorrow, I have the cocofiber bricks and lots of weeds and plants Ive been waiting to repot.

Will need to get some landscaping rocks though.

 

[elainelim]

Another question!

I have some plants and weeds ready to go in the tort enclosure, they are;

- Boston ferns
- asplenium nidus
- wheat grass
- zinnias
- peperomias
- fuschia
- thyme
- spider plants

Are these alright choices as the edible landscape? They are for pancakes. There is about 1-2 pots of each.

I will be also supplementing with little of Mazuri and grocery greens. But mostly these plants will be their main feeds. I also have backup plants of the same species growing around the house.

I also have some timothy hay and bermuda grass hay on hand.

Thank you all!

 

[Iochroma]

Another question!

I have some plants and weeds ready to go in the tort enclosure, they are;

- Boston ferns
- asplenium nidus
- wheat grass
- zinnias
- peperomias
- fuschia
- thyme
- spider plants

Are these alright choices as the edible landscape? They are for pancakes. There is about 1-2 pots of each.

I will be also supplementing with little of Mazuri and grocery greens. But mostly these plants will be their main feeds. I also have backup plants of the same species growing around the house.

I also have some timothy hay and bermuda grass hay on hand.

Thank you all!

I would skip the ferns. Ferns contain a group of compounds called glycosides that act as slow poisons. None of the studies on wild tortoise diet I have seen say that they eat ferns. Best avoided.

 

[elainelim]

I would skip the ferns. Ferns contain a group of compounds called glycosides that act as slow poisons. None of the studies on wild tortoise diet I have seen say that they eat ferns. Best avoided.

The list of plants I got are all based of tortoisetable

http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?st=true&mode=main&catID=568

Are you sure that Boston ferns are not safe to feed them? They are listed as safe to feed though

 

[Yvonne G]

I think it would be ok to plant them in the enclosure. I really doubt a tortoise would try to eat them.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

It's your call.... I used ferns in my indoor enclosures and non of the leopards tried to eat them but they sure did like to hide under them.

 

[elainelim]

Thank you for the info.

Also, do tortoises know what are safe to eat and what are not? I mean in the wild, I'm sure there are many toxic wild plants available. How does it work?

 

[Iochroma]

The list of plants I got are all based of tortoisetable

http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?st=true&mode=main&catID=568

Are you sure that Boston ferns are not safe to feed them? They are listed as safe to feed though

One of several serious mistakes on the tortoise table list. All ferns should be kept out of animal enclosures. Sorry to disagree with Yvonne, but this group of plants is not safe. There is a reason they have survived since the time before insects or vertebrates appeared: they're toxic.

 

[elainelim]

One of several serious mistakes on the tortoise table list. All ferns should be kept out of animal enclosures. Sorry to disagree with Yvonne, but this group of plants is not safe. There is a reason they have survived since the time before insects or vertebrates appeared: they're toxic.

Alright better to be safe than sorry Are there any other serious mistakes on the tortoisetable?

 

[tortdad]

Keep them in pots so the roots don't grow into your table and cause a leak.

 

[Iochroma]

Thank you for the info.

Also, do tortoises know what are safe to eat and what are not? I mean in the wild, I'm sure there are many toxic wild plants available. How does it work?

In the natural setting, they do sample some plants that are toxic, and seem to "know" that they should not eat more. They move on to another plant. In the captive environment, with only a few plants to choose from, the danger is that out of boredom or lack of variety, they will continue to sample the toxic plant.

Also, some plants that are toxic to mammals, do not seem to be toxic to certain tortoises. Their organs are different from ours. That said, this phenomenon is not well-studied, so I would avoid known toxic plants out of an abundance of caution.

Another factor to keep in mind, is that wild tortoises eat a varied diet, with many different plants included. They rarely eat a lot of one thing. Variety is the spice of tortoise life too.

 

[Heather H]

In the natural setting, they do sample some plants that are toxic, and seem to "know" that they should not eat more. They move on to another plant. In the captive environment, with only a few plants to choose from, the danger is that out of boredom or lack of variety, they will continue to sample the toxic plant.

Also, some plants that are toxic to mammals, do not seem to be toxic to certain tortoises. Their organs are different from ours. That said, this phenomenon is not well-studied, so I would avoid known toxic plants out of an abundance of caution
Hi can you please point out the other mistakes. I used this list to start my tortoise garden. Thank you

Another factor to keep in mind, is that wild tortoises eat a varied diet, with many different plants included. They rarely eat a lot of one thing. Variety is the spice of tortoise life too.

One of several serious mistakes on the tortoise table list. All ferns should be kept out of animal enclosures. Sorry to disagree with Yvonne, but this group of plants is not safe. There is a reason they have survived since the time before insects or vertebrates appeared: they're toxic.

 

[elainelim]

Here it is all set up!

 

[mini_max]

Gorgeous! Do you have any other heat/light source besides the one bulb?