Quick update on Elvis... Sorry no pics yet.
After a rather slow start he has acclimated to his new home. He demonstrates a good bit of activity and eats well. I created a "summer" home that consists of a rubber maid sweater box, cypress mulch, two hides (wet and dry) and water dish. I have this on a screened in porch which offers several hours of direct sun a day. He was out there 24x7 up until this week when our night temps started dropping to the low 70's (highs in the lower 90's) so he is now back in the house with higher temps.
Food... He is offered a wide variety of foods and includes;
-Summer squash (once/wk)
-Butternut squash (once/wk)
-Lawn grass (centipede, bermuda and St Augustine)
-cactus (I call tortoise crack)
-dandelion leaves
-wild grape leaves (muscadine)
-hibiscus leaves (5 times/wk) and flowers (once/wk)
-Kudzu
-spring mix(Im not crazy about this - cant find any mixes w/o spinach which I pick out)
-carrots (rarely)
-kale(rarely)
-I sprinkle ALL food with groundup timothy grass. I get the compressed cubes and grind to a coarse powder using a mortal and pestal (sp?)
-I also add powdered Mizuri kibbles 3-4 times week sprinkled on the food
Question... He LOVES to eat everything I would rather he not eat as much, for example the squash and cactus. The grasses (which I have read should make up 70% of his diet) he doesnt care for and why I add Timothy grass to everything to try to increase his intake. Should I be concerned and offer more grass and back-off the others?
After a rather slow start he has acclimated to his new home. He demonstrates a good bit of activity and eats well. I created a "summer" home that consists of a rubber maid sweater box, cypress mulch, two hides (wet and dry) and water dish. I have this on a screened in porch which offers several hours of direct sun a day. He was out there 24x7 up until this week when our night temps started dropping to the low 70's (highs in the lower 90's) so he is now back in the house with higher temps.
Food... He is offered a wide variety of foods and includes;
-Summer squash (once/wk)
-Butternut squash (once/wk)
-Lawn grass (centipede, bermuda and St Augustine)
-cactus (I call tortoise crack)
-dandelion leaves
-wild grape leaves (muscadine)
-hibiscus leaves (5 times/wk) and flowers (once/wk)
-Kudzu
-spring mix(Im not crazy about this - cant find any mixes w/o spinach which I pick out)
-carrots (rarely)
-kale(rarely)
-I sprinkle ALL food with groundup timothy grass. I get the compressed cubes and grind to a coarse powder using a mortal and pestal (sp?)
-I also add powdered Mizuri kibbles 3-4 times week sprinkled on the food
Question... He LOVES to eat everything I would rather he not eat as much, for example the squash and cactus. The grasses (which I have read should make up 70% of his diet) he doesnt care for and why I add Timothy grass to everything to try to increase his intake. Should I be concerned and offer more grass and back-off the others?
