Good Morning all - Angulata Chersina

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
It seems to me that her shell is starting to pyramid. Are you keeping her indoors? If so what do you have for lighting?
Hi there.

I use the following lights. And I also use a 50watt CHE. I will take a pic of the daylight bulbs later as for the life of me I cannot remember the name of it now. There are two of them and they are day lights in the 5000k to 6500k range. But Rue also goes outside in the sun everyday as well. Here are some recent photos for you. Last night she weighed 104g. So she has at last reached the three digit weight. 1515178678315.jpg20180222_184539.jpg20180222_184307.jpg20180222_184357.jpg
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
Hi there.

I use the following lights. And I also use a 50watt CHE. I will take a pic of the daylight bulbs later as for the life of me I cannot remember the name of it now. There are two of them and they are day lights in the 5000k to 6500k range. But Rue also goes outside in the sun everyday as well. Here are some recent photos for you. Last night she weighed 104g. So she has at last reached the three digit weight. View attachment 231564View attachment 231566View attachment 231567View attachment 231568
The other two lights are this. 20180226_172643.jpg20180226_172650.jpg20180226_172703.jpg
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
@William Lee Kohler thank you for the heads up that I should get a bigger UVB light. I am not sure if you answered my reply to your pm. But what Brand would you recommend? For now I don't know if we can get arcadia. I am presuming we don't have it but will need to check on the weekend when I can get to the pet shop. Other than that is the brand that I am currently using okay?
 

Markw84

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
5,041
Location (City and/or State)
Sacramento, CA (Central Valley)
@William Lee Kohler thank you for the heads up that I should get a bigger UVB light. I am not sure if you answered my reply to your pm. But what Brand would you recommend? For now I don't know if we can get arcadia. I am presuming we don't have it but will need to check on the weekend when I can get to the pet shop. Other than that is the brand that I am currently using okay?
Carol

Your little guy looks great. In fact a great example of how a younger tortoise looks that WAS pyramiding a bit to start and now has reversed that and is growing quite smooth. I don't think you need to change anything. UVB won't effect pyramiding anyway.
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
Carol

Your little guy looks great. In fact a great example of how a younger tortoise looks that WAS pyramiding a bit to start and now has reversed that and is growing quite smooth. I don't think you need to change anything. UVB won't effect pyramiding anyway.
Okay great. Was stressing a bit about it. But i need to ask a further question about Rue. Saturday evening she did not eat her food. So I didn't stress about it too much. But then Sunday she did not eat either. And was a little lethargic. She even slept in her soak for most of the time. (It has started getting slightly colder at night.) So yesterday I soaked her for a hour instead of her normal 30 minutes. On the off chance that she might be constipated. She did poop. And upped her temperature to 34c. It normally is 30c on hot side and 28 c on cool side. Anyway I watched her carefully again today when soaking and she was a lot more lively but as soon as I put her back into her enclosure instead of going to eat she went straight to her spot to sleep. When I checked her 10 minutes later to see if she had eaten all she had done was change her spot. Sorry for long post. But my question is this... Could she be getting ready to brumate as young as she is or could it be something else. (The only thing that has been different has been that I gave her three mealworms the other day - she loved it. Today I read a post on a different site where the person was advising someone about their bearded dragon and to not feed mealworms because it is mainly fat and shell and little nutrients). I cannot see anything else and her weight yesterday was 104g. So she has picked up 15g over the last month.
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
Carol

Your little guy looks great. In fact a great example of how a younger tortoise looks that WAS pyramiding a bit to start and now has reversed that and is growing quite smooth. I don't think you need to change anything. UVB won't effect pyramiding anyway.
And thank you Mark.
 

Markw84

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
5,041
Location (City and/or State)
Sacramento, CA (Central Valley)
Okay great. Was stressing a bit about it. But i need to ask a further question about Rue. Saturday evening she did not eat her food. So I didn't stress about it too much. But then Sunday she did not eat either. And was a little lethargic. She even slept in her soak for most of the time. (It has started getting slightly colder at night.) So yesterday I soaked her for a hour instead of her normal 30 minutes. On the off chance that she might be constipated. She did poop. And upped her temperature to 34c. It normally is 30c on hot side and 28 c on cool side. Anyway I watched her carefully again today when soaking and she was a lot more lively but as soon as I put her back into her enclosure instead of going to eat she went straight to her spot to sleep. When I checked her 10 minutes later to see if she had eaten all she had done was change her spot. Sorry for long post. But my question is this... Could she be getting ready to brumate as young as she is or could it be something else. (The only thing that has been different has been that I gave her three mealworms the other day - she loved it. Today I read a post on a different site where the person was advising someone about their bearded dragon and to not feed mealworms because it is mainly fat and shell and little nutrients). I cannot see anything else and her weight yesterday was 104g. So she has picked up 15g over the last month.
A loss of appetite with a tortoise that was eating well is always something I take note of. You're right to be alert to this. I would check temperatures to be sure there wasn't a substantial drop in ambient or night temps from what she was used to. Also photoperiod. Were the lights off more than usual, or a particularly stormy few days where room light was down considerably? Tortoises seem to be very aware of these things and even perhaps barometric pressure. Although your days are starting to shorten, it is too early for brumation cycles. But, even young tortoises will naturally want to brumate.

I doubt the mealworms would be an issue, though I think we are all learning about Chersina diets.

I would certainly watch her and be sure all the light and temps are correct, but she has definately been doing well recently with her at 104g now and lots of good, new growth.
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
A loss of appetite with a tortoise that was eating well is always something I take note of. You're right to be alert to this. I would check temperatures to be sure there wasn't a substantial drop in ambient or night temps from what she was used to. Also photoperiod. Were the lights off more than usual, or a particularly stormy few days where room light was down considerably? Tortoises seem to be very aware of these things and even perhaps barometric pressure. Although your days are starting to shorten, it is too early for brumation cycles. But, even young tortoises will naturally want to brumate.

I doubt the mealworms would be an issue, though I think we are all learning about Chersina diets.

I would certainly watch her and be sure all the light and temps are correct, but she has definately been doing well recently with her at 104g now and lots of good, new growth.
Okay. Thank you. We did have a few overcast days. Infact friday was quite foggy. But definitly keeping an eye on her. And will weigh her a little more just to keep an eye on her. Hopefully it is just a temperory lapse. Her lights are on a timer. Goes on at 6am and off at 9pm. BUT her enclosure is near a window. Although the blinds are always down she would still be getting some of the natural light from outside. The fact that she was alot more lively in her soak tonight does give me hope. Her Che I have changed to stay on at night as on friday I noticed that night temp dropped to 22c. Her CHE however is on top of the strip of mesh. I must change that and put it inside rather. Temporarily I have put tinfoil (as there was a small bit that was uncovered but the days and nights were still hot enough to not make a difference) and covered the mesh completely now. I need to figure out how I am going to hang the CHE inside. I am really hoping that it is just the temperature drop at night which is the problem.
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
Okay. Thank you. We did have a few overcast days. Infact friday was quite foggy. But definitly keeping an eye on her. And will weigh her a little more just to keep an eye on her. Hopefully it is just a temperory lapse. Her lights are on a timer. Goes on at 6am and off at 9pm. BUT her enclosure is near a window. Although the blinds are always down she would still be getting some of the natural light from outside. The fact that she was alot more lively in her soak tonight does give me hope. Her Che I have changed to stay on at night as on friday I noticed that night temp dropped to 22c. Her CHE however is on top of the strip of mesh. I must change that and put it inside rather. Temporarily I have put tinfoil (as there was a small bit that was uncovered but the days and nights were still hot enough to not make a difference) and covered the mesh completely now. I need to figure out how I am going to hang the CHE inside. I am really hoping that it is just the temperature drop at night which is the problem.
Okay Checked her temps last night at 12pm. The side where the CHE is - was 29c and cool side was 26c. Rue was up and about early this morning. I put new food in, and will see if she has eaten when I get home later this afternoon.
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
Rue did not eat the food that I put out for her this morning. So she had an hours soak outside in the sunlight and I handfed her while she was soaking. She ate half a grape vine leaf. And some spekboom leaf as well. It was actually so cute as she had her foot on my finger to stabalize herself while she took bites out of the two leaves. When I put her back into her enclosure she went to her spot to sleep. And I had put a hisbiscus flower in for her to eat. A little later I put her back in front of her food and she took a few bites out of the anther of the flower and then went back to her spot. If I remember correctly when she was alot younger she would sometimes not eat unless I put her back in front of her food a couple of times. So I am continuing to monitor her. And will persevere in getting her to eat. At least she did eat some food. Oh I also put some of her multivitamin powder into her soaking water, in the hope that she will absorb some of it while soaking.
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
Okay. Some updates. First little Rue. He ( because i have a funny feeling that she is a he - tail is long and curves to the side) is still not eating very much. For a couple if days his weight remained at 104g but yesterday it was 106g. Soooo he must be eating and I am just not seeing it. I am still keeping a very close eye on him and panic at least once a day. Lol.

Then unfortunately the very first egg that I was incubatiing ( was laid in June 2017) went rotten and stopped growing. In fact when I picked it up the inside was liquidy. That was quite sad. The second egg which I found on top of the ground on the 17th December is still doing fine however I have not seen any veins as yet. However I continue to hope and will carry on incubating until I am sure there is no hope left.

Thirdly I have put a liitle bit of coconut oil onto Rue's shell last Friday and then Monday again. It does make it look beautiful and glossy however I worry that it will prevent the benefits of the humid enclosure from penetrating his shell. I noticed that once I put it on his shell that water, that I pour over him just runs off (that water on oil effect that you get) so I am reserving judgement on this and will be applying a little bit maybe only once every week or two weeks.

Rue is definitely getting more character because when he baths he will often stop walking around in the water give me a look as if to say " Yes and what are you staring at? Or Anddddd?" With an accusing eye. Lol I love it when he does that. I will then ask him what the problem is and he will then look away and carry on walking around in his water bowl. Yes I talk to Rue all the time, my kids think I am crazy too.
Anyway all have a fantastic day and I will post some new pics a little later on once I get home.
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
I need help. I saw this in Rue's poop today. Does anybody know what it is and what do I do to get rid of it? Let me know if you need a clearer picture as i put it in a little container. I am also going to need to clean out her enclosure and put new substrate in etc. 20180308_185120.jpg
@Sterant. @Tom. @HermanniChris.
 

Sterant

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
693
Location (City and/or State)
Albany, NY
I need help. I saw this in Rue's poop today. Does anybody know what it is and what do I do to get rid of it? Let me know if you need a clearer picture as i put it in a little container. I am also going to need to clean out her enclosure and put new substrate in etc. View attachment 232549
@Sterant. @Tom. @HermanniChris.
Carole. From what I can see it looks like an in-tact insect. Is that right? Maybe it got into the poop outside of Rue? Seems if it had gone through her digestive system it wouldn’t look so complete.
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
Carole. From what I can see it looks like an in-tact insect. Is that right? Maybe it got into the poop outside of Rue? Seems if it had gone through her digestive system it wouldn’t look so complete.
All i know is that at the time she was soaking in clean water. I went away for a second and then that was there in the poop she deposited in the water. But the poop was the second lot she has deposited into her bath water and was not as firm as she usually poops. There was also other bits and pieces of black. However as soon as I cleaned her enclosure completely out and put in new substrate she improved considerably and her poop is now back to normal. Unkown to me (and this comes from what Mark told me about how his torts would drink water from their water bowl and then pee right into the substrate) I have figured out that is exactly what Rue does as well (I was thinking her waterbowl was perhaps leaking). So the top was looking relatively dry but it was soaking wet underneath . This is something I have to keep an eye on and will be controlling much better in future.
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
I swear little Rue likes to tease me. She will move her tail and as soon as I get out my phone to take a photo she tucks it back in. Anyway after much patience I managed to get a photo where you can see it slightly. I actually think she is a he but the habit is hard to break. You can just see the point peaking to the right in the second photo 20180318_204407.jpg20180318_204635.jpg
 

CarolM

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2017
Messages
19,492
Location (City and/or State)
South Africa - Cape Town
Okay. Low and behold. I go outside and l find this little guy on my doorstep. Our new dog found it. It has not been hurt by the dog. I am just very glad I saw it before it could be hurt. I have immediatly put it in water to soak. With a little bit of calcium and multivitamin.
I could not find where it came / hatched from. This little guy does not have its egg sack like Rue did and weighs 34g comoared to Rue weighing 10g when I found Rue. I put Rue quickly next to it for size comparison only. 20180325_133230.jpg20180325_133239.jpg20180325_133246.jpg20180325_133254.jpg20180325_133307.jpg20180325_134324.jpg20180325_134852.jpg20180325_141242.jpg
 

Sterant

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
Messages
693
Location (City and/or State)
Albany, NY
That's really great Carol. Glad you found it before the dog had too much fun! Watch for more....I have recently learned that in South Africa, nearly all angulate eggs hatch in a 3 or 4 week period in late March through early April regardless of when oviposition took place. Another amazing detail about these animals. I would suspect you will see more in the coming weeks.
 

New Posts

Top