Hello, I just got my Hermann's baby Blacky last Thursday and realized I still have lots of questions! I have been removing or moving stuff from her home every time I read some more useful information from this great forum.
I have some questions about the hiding spot and her flipping over. Maybe you guys can give me some suggestions about her home. thanks!
This is how her home looked like when she arrived last Thursday...
On Thursday night, I saw her flipped over twice. The first time she was laying on her back at the corner on the left of the basking rock. She was trying to climb and stand up at the corner, and eventually she flipped over and couldn't flip herself back. I flipped her back and an hour later, found her laying upside down in the pool area! I was gonna show her some "tough love" but 10 mins later she was still struggling and couldn't flip herself bacl. I felt back so I helped her flipped back.
Later on I saw some discussions saying that when they are little, we shouldn't have something too sturdy in the enclosure because they would flip over, also we shouldn't have the see-through walls, so I covered the surrounding with paper, also removed the pool (I was sad because she really liked the pool!) and replaced it with a smaller tray, also put some glasses along the walls so that she doesn't have access to the wall to climb anymore. In the picture, you can see her still trying to climb though... Where the glasses are right now will be the location I'm going to plant weeds and wildflowers.
On the weekend, we found her being upside down at the bottom right corner again... so I put another glass there to prevent her from climbing. And later the night, she dug a hole under one of the glass (next to the basking area) and slept in there.
I don't think she likes the big hiding spot I got her...? I was doing some research here on the forum and realized babes they want a smaller hiding spot to feel safe? so I removed the giant hiding spot I got her (again... sad... it looked so cute in her home) and added 2 more small hides for her.
I put her in front of the brown pot after I finished the new set up. She went in there for 10 sec and she left and went back to the hole she dug.
Would it be ok to leave her in the hole she dug? How are the new hiding spots I set up? I hope she would eventually like the hides I got her...
Thank you very much for reading my long story! Please give me any suggestions you have. I'm wondering what else I can do to prevent her being flipped over again. Would it get better after I have the plants in there?
Also a quick question about Mazuri. I was trying to buy some seeds from this website:
http://www.turtlestuff.com/category/Mazuri-Tortoise-Turtle-Diets-28
and it says Mazuri is not recommended for juvenile grassland tortoises. So how old does my Hermann have to be in order to have Mazuri in their diet?
Thank you so much again. Any advices are welcome!!
I have some questions about the hiding spot and her flipping over. Maybe you guys can give me some suggestions about her home. thanks!
This is how her home looked like when she arrived last Thursday...
On Thursday night, I saw her flipped over twice. The first time she was laying on her back at the corner on the left of the basking rock. She was trying to climb and stand up at the corner, and eventually she flipped over and couldn't flip herself back. I flipped her back and an hour later, found her laying upside down in the pool area! I was gonna show her some "tough love" but 10 mins later she was still struggling and couldn't flip herself bacl. I felt back so I helped her flipped back.
Later on I saw some discussions saying that when they are little, we shouldn't have something too sturdy in the enclosure because they would flip over, also we shouldn't have the see-through walls, so I covered the surrounding with paper, also removed the pool (I was sad because she really liked the pool!) and replaced it with a smaller tray, also put some glasses along the walls so that she doesn't have access to the wall to climb anymore. In the picture, you can see her still trying to climb though... Where the glasses are right now will be the location I'm going to plant weeds and wildflowers.
On the weekend, we found her being upside down at the bottom right corner again... so I put another glass there to prevent her from climbing. And later the night, she dug a hole under one of the glass (next to the basking area) and slept in there.
I don't think she likes the big hiding spot I got her...? I was doing some research here on the forum and realized babes they want a smaller hiding spot to feel safe? so I removed the giant hiding spot I got her (again... sad... it looked so cute in her home) and added 2 more small hides for her.
I put her in front of the brown pot after I finished the new set up. She went in there for 10 sec and she left and went back to the hole she dug.
Would it be ok to leave her in the hole she dug? How are the new hiding spots I set up? I hope she would eventually like the hides I got her...
Thank you very much for reading my long story! Please give me any suggestions you have. I'm wondering what else I can do to prevent her being flipped over again. Would it get better after I have the plants in there?
Also a quick question about Mazuri. I was trying to buy some seeds from this website:
http://www.turtlestuff.com/category/Mazuri-Tortoise-Turtle-Diets-28
and it says Mazuri is not recommended for juvenile grassland tortoises. So how old does my Hermann have to be in order to have Mazuri in their diet?
Thank you so much again. Any advices are welcome!!
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