Feeding mushroom/green bean?

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Wow that was quick! I can see that your tortoises will be well taken care of. On a side note I like all the plants that you have growing there, do you use any of them for food?
 

sorciere

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Wow that was quick! I can see that your tortoises will be well taken care of. On a side note I like all the plants that you have growing there, do you use any of them for food?
My mom used to plant some veggies but they were not growing well, cos the house is surrounded by high-ríse buildings, we only have sunlight for 2-3 hours per day. Now there are only chili, moringa and Malabar spinach left. The rest are flowering plant, like hoya, orchid... but no flower blooming :p I have bought some some edible plants for my torts, like dandelion, cactus. Hope they grow fast enough to survive :D
I haven't got time to set up the enclosure. And the cypress mulch is out of stock, plus it would be too costly to cover 6m2 with cypress much (the price is double compare to the US). So I use coconut fiber mattress. I'm planning to cover half with the coco fiber and half with soil. Will it be a good idea if I cover the soil with cypress mulch or pine/fir bark for clean surface?

I wanna post some pictures but it said Something is wrong. :(
 

sorciere

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Hi sorciere,

It looks like you have a beautiful, healthy creature -- congratulations.

I have been keeping elongata in their native range for the last five years. I keep them outside in a natural setting (except when they are very tiny). Here’s a few observations from my experience:

Snails
Garden snails are probably their favorite food. I have some tortoises that are more picky than others, but they all go crazy for snails. The tortoises will hunt for them right at dusk, even digging under logs and rocks, or waiting by a crack in the wall for the snails to come out. I go out on rainy nights and collect 100s of snails to release in their pens.

Mushrooms
They all agree on mushrooms too. Fungi are available year round in their natural habitat and they eat all kinds. I use mushrooms as a staple and they all eat it readily -- even hatchlings only a few days old.

Greens
I offer a wide variety of greens. Two staples that grow in their enclosures are Asystasia gangetica micrantha and ipomoea aquatica. They graze on the leaves and stems whenever they want. These are both common weeds in SE Asia.

Monsoon
Obviously, during monsoon season, there are a lot more mushrooms and a lot more snails. This is often when I see more new shell growth and weight gain. This is also the breeding season for elongs. They are much more active in the rain, and spend a lot of time eating, mating, and laying eggs. I provide cuttlebone year round and will give some powdered calcium during monsoon as the females are producing eggs. I can usually tell if a female is getting ready to lay eggs by how much time she spends eating cuttlebones.

Sorry for writing so much here. I hope it isn’t overload. It looks like you are mixing foods which is a great way to ‘trick’ them into eating new things.

I hope you will breed them -- we need more of these beautiful tortoises in the world!
Hi,
They can feed on snails by themselves? Should crack the shell of the snails? I live in the city so there are no garden snails here but I can buy from the market.
I did try to feed them. It took me an hour to crack the shell and remove the broken shell pieces. ?
 

Cleopatra 2020

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here's an awesome link I got from Randy it's on his website at tort stork. Com it has all the weeds plants and basically foods that Turtles can eat what they can't eat and ones that shouldn't eat very often..copy and paste in your browser
 

Cleopatra 2020

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here's an awesome link I got from Randy it's on his website at tort stork. Com it has all the weeds plants and basically foods that Turtles can eat what they can't eat and ones that shouldn't eat very often..copy and paste in your browser
it's actually a link you click on that's an app for what to feed tortoises it's on the page there somewhere and is listed as that
 
L

LasTortugasNinja

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Sometimes, you gotta read the label. My local plant nursery never heard of Cyprus mulch, and he's been in the nursery business for over 15 years. He had bags of "White pine mulch" … looked at the composition in the corner "100% naturally farmed mulch from Cyprus species" then a list of species. So read the bags. I've used various pine chips for years, as long as the bag doesn't smell like pine, and the chips aren't sticky. I mix my own substrate out of wood mulch, blended spagnum moss, coco coir, topsoil, and playground sand -- all in different amounts depending on the species I'm putting in the enclosure. Desert species: more sand and topsoil. Rainforest: more mulch, and coir. It's all a balancing act. There are so many types of pine that to blanketly say "no pine" may not be valid for everyone. I totally agree with no cedar and no sticky or stinky pine (spruce, juniper, etc).
 
L

LasTortugasNinja

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Hi,
They can feed on snails by themselves? Should crack the shell of the snails? I live in the city so there are no garden snails here but I can buy from the market.
I did try to feed them. It took me an hour to crack the shell and remove the broken shell pieces. ?
Snail eaters are quite capable of getting their meat. Tortoises with their beaks should have no problem. I had a savannah monitor that LOVED native glass snails. Smaller ones were swallowed whole. Larger ones were crushed in two bites. All reptiles seem to subscribe to "Where there's a meal, there's a way". :)
 

sorciere

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@ParkourMexican, @LasTortugasNinja
Wow. And here I was panic that the hard and thin shell might cut their tongue or stomach. Thank you for the advice.
Meanwhile, for the substrate, my dad brought home new cut grass from the garden of his workplace. I spread it around the new enclosure.
198A780E-FF93-48AC-A3A5-FDF5D67489D1.jpeg
I can’t wait for the legit substrate from pet store because stores are closed due to lockdown, and my female tort, Zeni, has her plastron damaged. I’m afraid it’s shell-rot caused by hard floor. I have asked for help in Tortoise Health forum.
 

sorciere

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Oh and I forgot to update the whole enclosure view. (I did try but don’t know why I can’t post picture on laptop browser, have to use mobile fone)
At first I try coco coir mat, but if it get wet (when we water plants), it’ll never dry out. So I’ve moved the mat to the empty area.
B228587C-D190-4FBD-8C2B-362BEB23C468.jpegB49A9F45-C05A-46E2-BC5F-ECD7DB490A77.jpeg
 

sorciere

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here's an awesome link I got from Randy it's on his website at tort stork. Com it has all the weeds plants and basically foods that Turtles can eat what they can't eat and ones that shouldn't eat very often..copy and paste in your browser
Thank you for your sugget. But the link took me to a guide for hatchlings (which I found super interesting!), not the recommend food list. Can you check it again?
 

Cleopatra 2020

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Thank you for your sugget. But the link took me to a guide for hatchlings (which I found super interesting!), not the recommend food list. Can you check it again?
when you see the hatchling page come up scroll to the very bottom it's under what to eat and not to eat which takes you to another page and then there's a button for an app to download The Tortoise food app
 

Cleopatra 2020

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Thank you for your sugget. But the link took me to a guide for hatchlings (which I found super interesting!), not the recommend food list. Can you check it again?
actually it's listed as safe and non safe plants that link will take you to the page for the tortoise app which has a wide variety of plants and weeds flowers and fruits veggies and so on listed that they can and can't have
 

sorciere

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actually it's listed as safe and non safe plants that link will take you to the page for the tortoise app which has a wide variety of plants and weeds flowers and fruits veggies and so on listed that they can and can't have
Thank you! I got that yesterday. It’s the famous Tortoise table which I’ve have for a while. Super helpful indeed. However most of the plants are in cold climate and much different from the ones in our tropical area. But thanks to this TFO I’ve know how to do reseach and feed my torts good food.
 

sorciere

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Howdy! This is my latest setup, but it’s just temporary though.
F60BD4C4-3658-4374-A446-6340548327A8.jpeg

The couple seem enjoying the set up, they roam around a lot. But poor little Zeni, she’s suffering shell rot. ?

9F0D6A86-71FC-4893-A8FF-C0E6125FD714.jpeg
I’m waiting for grass carpet (the real grass) to replace the cut grass. I’ll have soil first, then the grass on top. It’s gonna take a while because of the quarantine.
 

sorciere

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Are you able to get athelete's foot cream anywhere? THat will clear it up in ajiffy.
Hope this helps. Love your progress!
Thank you!
Would any brand work out? I can only find this brand in my country. 61szfxIMh5L.jpg
Edit: I see they both contain clotrimazole. I think it's fine. I'll order it right now.
 
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