I was wondering if any diet-savvy tortoise owners could tell me if Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) is safe for tortoises? It grows *everywhere* here as an introduced species. I know it is supposed to be safe for human consumption, all parts, but I'm not sure if the same holds true for tortoises...
I posted back in May of 2010 about a stray sulcata tortoise that I found roaming around a state park in NY. I'm happy to say that I have since moved to Alabama, and my new home came pre-equipped with tortoise yards! So, Morla has become a permenant addition to my family :)
She does need to...
Their natural habitat isn't sand though, which is an unfortunate misconception that's caused a good deal of these little guys to die of impactions. Their biome involves arid grasslands with packed clay-like soil and plenty of rocky outcrops, which they occupy. They hide among rock crevases and...
I've always been one to either relocate wildlife and when possible, create deterrents to keep them from coming back. But I'm not a mother and haven't had to deal much with animals that could potentially kill my companion animals (The only time I've ever had a snake hassle my animals, it was non...
emy, I agree with your analysis of what happened. The pond he was dumped in has a history of people releasing non-natives including goldfish, koi, turtles of all sorts, exotic ducks and geese, etc. because the land it is on is owned by a monastary. I guess everyone assumes the monks will look...
Close to a month ago, I found a red eared slider on death's door by a local pond. Dehydrated and emaciated, the little fellow had terrible skin lessions, shell rot to the bone, an upper respiratory infection, and massively infected eyes. I am a wildlife rehabber & exotics rescuer, and couldn't...
You may be able to find a wildlife center or individual licensed to keep the lil fellow if it is illegal in your state and you fear taking the risk. If you want to PM me your location, I could possibly help you locate one; I'm a wildlife rehabber and member of the NWRA so I have a lot of...
Thanks folks!
dmmj, been to much of the US and New York has the nastiest people I've ever met, hands down. But it's not all of us!
Stephanie, a little bit of both? I don't have a telescopic lens, but I have a decent enough zoom lens. However, I am generally not further than 5-10 feet from...
Out of curiosity, how do YOU guys make a humid hide? My thought was to buy a large-ish square storage bin, and cut a nice big door about halfway up, then fill the whole bottom with nice damp coco coir. I do a mini-version of this for my lizards for their humid hides. Would that work well for a...
Since my intro post had some folks surprised that NY isn't one big sprawling mass of concrete ( ;) ) I thought I'd share some of my photos of our beautiful wildlife! I'll add 3-5 new pics to the thread daily. Here's a few to start off:
Common Snapper
Water Snake (and some sunnies)...
Have you tried any "natural" fertilizers? Old fish tank water, herbivore dung, etc. seems to really help when I have plants that are otherwise well cared for (ie. watering schedule, lighting, etc.) but are still failing a bit.
TBH, I often wonder just how dangerous oxalic acid ACTUALLY is to herbivores. Many wild weeds, grasses, and leafy greens have a decent ammount of the acid in it naturally. Wouldn't it make sense that herbivorous species may have evolved mechanisms to deal with the stuff reasonably well? I ponder...
I'm planning on re-vamping the little lady's enclosure tomorrow to make it more suitable; apparently some of the info I'd read on humidity was MISinformation. Thank goodness I joined this forum!
BTW: Ever since her initial soak she's been poopin' like a champ. Not nearly as much as from that...
Message recieved loud and clear! I will definitely change her substrate to something more appropriate.
Do you suggest a humidity gradient, ie. one "dry" end and one "moist" end with a damp hide? Or the whole thing fairly humid?
Thanks for the feedback - I appreciate it. It is relatively humid here but the enclosure is very dry due to the substrate and heating. Since soaking can't actively harm her, I'll probably do it daily or thereabouts just to make sure she doesn't get dehydrated.