Care Sheet Bowsprit Tortoises

CarolM

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Give me a specific post number. I thought we were talking about post 63. In that post the tortoises that are on a sign that indicate a Homopus looks right to me .

If you are asking if the sign is indicating what's in a cage, and the Chersina in that same post (63) then I agree the two are Chersina.
Give me a specific post number. I thought we were talking about post 63. In that post the tortoises that are on a sign that indicate a Homopus looks right to me .

If you are asking if the sign is indicating what's in a cage, and the Chersina in that same post (63) then I agree the two are Chersina.
Hi @Will the ones I am refering to are in post no's: #58, #59, #60 and #61. Really appreciate your input, thank you
 

Sterant

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I have read reports that they have been witnessed eating bugs, snails and mammal feces in the wild. I've seen videos of them eating bones. Would be interesting to see if they would eat meal worms if offered. I wouldn't go crazy but once in a while shouldn't hurt anything. Please take a video when you try!
 

CarolM

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I have read reports that they have been witnessed eating bugs, snails and mammal feces in the wild. I've seen videos of them eating bones. Would be interesting to see if they would eat meal worms if offered. I wouldn't go crazy but once in a while shouldn't hurt anything. Please take a video when you try!
Great will do.
 

CarolM

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Okay the adults were hiding away so haven't given them any yet. Gave three to Little Rue and she loved them first gave them to her whole but then broke them up. She all of them and most of the pellets and left most of the hibiscus flower still on her slate.
 

Sterant

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Okay the adults were hiding away so haven't given them any yet. Gave three to Little Rue and she loved them first gave them to her whole but then broke them up. She all of them and most of the pellets and left most of the hibiscus flower still on her slate.
Well I guess that answers that! Thanks for taking the video and sharing!
 

CarolM

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If the Adults come out today, which they might not, as today is a little bit chilly. I will give them some as well and will see how they respond to them.
 

Sterant

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Hi Dan
How are your torts doing?
Very well Thank you. A friend loaned me a male and they have been mating, so my fingers are crossed for a productive 2018!

How is your baby doing? You had mentioned at one point his feeding was slightly off??
 

CarolM

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Very well Thank you. A friend loaned me a male and they have been mating, so my fingers are crossed for a productive 2018!

How is your baby doing? You had mentioned at one point his feeding was slightly off??
Glad they are doing well. Rue is still not eating as much as before. I had a bit of a scare as Rue had some little black things in her/his poop. So i cleaned out all her substrate on friday and put in completely new substrate. I did find that the old substrate was very very wet. I think her
terracotta water plates don't keep the water in completely so the water I was putting in them was also slowly leaking into the substrate. So this time I put plastic under the terracotta bowl. I will probably need to find a new one which holds the water in better. Anyway today her poop looked much much better. I have also put the CHE inside as it is getting colder at night and her temp was going too low. Which could also be a factor in her change of behaviour. So hopefully these changes will help. I also decided to put some coconut oil on the older torts. 20180311_115530.jpg20180311_151916.jpg
 

CarolM

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Very well Thank you. A friend loaned me a male and they have been mating, so my fingers are crossed for a productive 2018!

How is your baby doing? You had mentioned at one point his feeding was slightly off??
Good luck and I hope the mating is successful. The original egg i had went rotten. So that was unsuccessful. I still have the one that Whity laid on top of the ground on the 17/12/2017. I suspect it is not fertile but waiting and incubating anyway. Maybe we get lucky.
 

Sterant

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Glad they are doing well. Rue is still not eating as much as before. I had a bit of a scare as Rue had some little black things in her/his poop. So i cleaned out all her substrate on friday and put in completely new substrate. I did find that the old substrate was very very wet. I think her
terracotta water plates don't keep the water in completely so the water I was putting in them was also slowly leaking into the substrate. So this time I put plastic under the terracotta bowl. I will probably need to find a new one which holds the water in better. Anyway today her poop looked much much better. I have also put the CHE inside as it is getting colder at night and her temp was going too low. Which could also be a factor in her change of behaviour. So hopefully these changes will help. I also decided to put some coconut oil on the older torts. View attachment 232813View attachment 232814
I have a friend in Europe whose chersina also slowed their eating over the past couple weeks. Interesting.
 

CarolM

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I have a friend in Europe whose chersina also slowed their eating over the past couple weeks. Interesting.
That is strange as Europe should be going into spring. I wonder if that indicates that their time clock runs along african time and not necessarily as per actual weather of where they are. The two Adults have also slowed their eating. Yesterday I put food in front of Whity (which she would normally eat and she completely ignored it). It was quite warm yesterday as well and Blue the male was out basking at the other end of the garden. I decided to soak Rue outside in the sun and sat on the step of my door. My dog came and sat beside me. The funny thing is the Blue started charging across the garden towards where I was sitting. I waited to see what he would do and he just stopped a meter from me and stared. Funny story for you.
Anyway back to their behaviours I have also noticed that Blue and Whity are dissapearing more often. I can search the whole garden (the only place I don't check completely is right in the corner under the Hibiscus tree...I am too scared of the spiders. We have a quite few of the ones in the pic below and there is absolutely noooo way I am going under that tree) I won't find the torts and then will notice them out a couple of hours later. Blue does tend to dissappear in winter so he must be hibernating. Whity still tends to come out when the sun is out though during winter. 20170425_172738.jpg
 

Markw84

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I did find that the old substrate was very very wet. I think her
terracotta water plates don't keep the water in completely so the water I was putting in them was also slowly leaking into the substrate. So this time I put plastic under the terracotta bowl. I will probably need to find a new one which holds the water in better.

Carol, I have found that my star tortoises will go to the water dish and without going all the way into the dish, drink. While they drink, they then release their excess water (pee) into the substrate nearby. I had thought I had a leaky water dish for some time. I replaced it with a large resin dish I know doesn't leak and still had the same really wet substrate in the dish half of the enclosure. Finally caught them sucking water in one end and dumping some out the other!!!!!
 

CarolM

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Carol, I have found that my star tortoises will go to the water dish and without going all the way into the dish, drink. While they drink, they then release their excess water (pee) into the substrate nearby. I had thought I had a leaky water dish for some time. I replaced it with a large resin dish I know doesn't leak and still had the same really wet substrate in the dish half of the enclosure. Finally caught them sucking water in one end and dumping some out the other!!!!!
Oh dear. That means that I will have to change the substrate quite often then. As the other substrate was put in, in December. Oh wait that was 3 months ago. Wow tme flies. How often do you guys change your substrates? And thank you Mark. I didn't even think of that.
 
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