I think I am doing something wrong

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Albinoboidsetc

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Well here are the best pics I could get with my back-up cam, my main cam is in the shop, they are big but I didn't want to scale them down so that it would be easier to see. It was actually a nice day outside so they got to spend a few hours out there today. I noticed something else today, their poop seems alot fuller then it normal does, and it didn't look like dried raisins, more like little oval balls of hair algae, is that normal? I only noticed because I check all my animals stool, after 20 years of keeping and breeding I have learned that what comes out is the best indicator of whats going on inside. I will be keeping on top of all the things you guys have told me to do to improve their care. :) Oh I have some of that Mazuri diet coming in the mail, about how much of the diet should that be?

Here is Dott he/she was in no mood to stay still for pictures
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Here is Dipp, much easier to get pics of this one so I got each side
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Annieski

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Again, I'm not as "experienced", but I think the change you see in the stool is perhaps because of the change in diet. I do believe that feeding "spring mix" is far better than offering canned or "processed" turtle foods---- but if your "babies" ate the hay or dried grasses you offered them for a year---I don't see anything wrong with that[you can't get spring mix in the deserts of Africa. You have supplemented with calcium and vitamins and they seem to be thriving. I would still add the suggested changes, just go slow. They are both very beautiful!
 

Albinoboidsetc

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Annieski said:
Again, I'm not as "experienced", but I think the change you see in the stool is perhaps because of the change in diet. I do believe that feeding "spring mix" is far better than offering canned or "processed" turtle foods---- but if your "babies" ate the hay or dried grasses you offered them for a year---I don't see anything wrong with that[you can't get spring mix in the deserts of Africa. You have supplemented with calcium and vitamins and they seem to be thriving. I would still add the suggested changes, just go slow. They are both very beautiful!

I actually found some of the spring mix at Sam's today so I gave them some of that and some chopped up mulberry leafs. I was actually wondering what the stool of a baby is supposed to look like. I know my, psiticines, snakes, and my Lizards, I even know a bit about Common and Alligator Snapping turtles, I just don't know anything about Tortoises. I will learn though :)
 

Tom

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A couple of things. With small tortoises it takes several days for what goes in to come out. I've seen it take weeks on my big sulcatas. Your new diet is great, but I would work it in a little slowly at first. Small amounts mixed in with what they are used to. I'll take some poo pics for you next chance I get. Mine eat all the stuff that has been recommended to you, so it will give you at least some idea of how it should look. It should be formed and look like long slender tootsie rolls with some fiber in there. It will vary in consistency and color depending on what they have been eating. My adults poo looks like elongated horse turds with lots of obvious grass in it. My babies are only eating a little grass and since its always fresh, green and chopped into short pieces, it doesn't usually show up in the poo. Daisy almost always goes potty during her soaks. I never find any poo in her tub. The hatchlings leave little mini tootsie rolls all over for me.

The pyramiding on both of yours is VERY minimal. If I could have had year old torts that smooth even 3 years ago, I would be literally jumping for joy. If you keep them humid, hydrated and sprayed, they will grow smooth for you.

Most of us recommend Mazuri about twice a week. Daisy, my almost 3 year old, gets it 2 or 3 times a week and my big ones get it once or twice a week. None for the babies yet because they are part of a pyramiding experiment and I didn't feed it to my big ones when they were hatchlings. I've only been feeding it to mine for two or three months now and only on the advice of some very experienced and knowledgeable people.
 

Albinoboidsetc

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Awesome, thank you for all the help Tom and I am looking forward to the poop pics lol. My little guy and I thank everyone of you for all the help and for not getting angry at all my questions, Tortoises are a new beast for me. :)
 

tortoisenerd

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I wouldn't be surprised that even if a hatchling was eating the hay, it ate a lot lot more when you started feeding a spring mix type of diet. I'd keep some of the hay in the diet so its easier to switch back over when its older. Many of us wonder what Sulcatas eat in the wild as hatchlings if we can't get them to eat their natural diets in captivity, lol. A lot of people think their tort is eating plenty, and then they make some changes to the care/diet/etc and all of a sudden the tort is eating double, lol. Torts can eat a pile of greens as large as they are in a sitting sometimes. I'd weigh & measure weekly (digital calipers and a kitchen/postage scale are my favorites, as well as a temp gun for quick readings in the enclosure) and you should see some measurable weight gain each week. Good luck!
 

Albinoboidsetc

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I actually stopped weighing them weekly after the first 3 months, I started only weighing them once a month, as they didn't seem to be growing much, I guess now that they are going to be eating properly I will need to start weighing them weekly again :)
 

PeanutbuttER

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Just wanted to say I thought your gatorade hides were a good idea. What a perfect size for hatchlings.
 

Albinoboidsetc

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PeanutbuttER said:
Just wanted to say I thought your gatorade hides were a good idea. What a perfect size for hatchlings.

Lol yeah my fiancé brought home like 20 of them from work because she thought I might be able to find some use for them. The people at her work actually save up there Newspaper for my snake cages and bottle caps for baby snakes and geckos water bowls. They aren't fans of reptiles but I have gotten most of them to not hate them, some of them have actually tried to help stop the pending rule change to ban the big pythons and boas. :)
 
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