Jenna524
Member
This is Toki. He’s about 15 pounds. Length about 13 inches (shell only). We weren’t told an exact age, but we think he’s between 2-10 years old. We adopted him in July this year. It’s been about a month and a half, and things seem to be going well so far. We love this guy!
We have plenty of grazing opportunities for Toki—Tesudo mix on the side yard, huge amounts of grass and weeds, and also I’ve planted hibiscus, optunia cactus, and we have various leaves from our veggie garden to share. He seems to graze on all of it, with some breaks to rest under a rose bush routinely throughout the day. He hasn’t dug any huge burrows yet, but he makes some 2-3 inch deep impressions in the ground under shaded areas to rest. He has a heated night box available, but prefers outside right now (assuming because it’s summer heat outside). It’s gotten a bit cooler at night (60 degrees), so we’ve put him in his house at night with the door open for now, and he will stay there all night. But if we don’t put him in the house, he’ll stay asleep under the rose bush all night. I’ve tried to soak him about once a week. He has a water dish, but I’ve never seen him show any interest in it.
Our feeding routine seems to be letting him graze on grass and weeds all week, then once a week I’ll give him cactus, hibiscus, and any other leaves or plants available. He’ll eat the hibiscus and cactus and some leaf types really well. But I cannot get him to eat the orchard grass or Timothy hay at all. He also won’t eat the cuttle bone I gave him. I do not add calcium to his food, since he mostly gazes—when I make a pile of food for him, he only eats the cactus or flowers—for example, the pile of food in the picture was left untouched, while the cactus was gobbled up quickly.
Questions:
1. While right now Toki seems to be grazing and eating fine, I worry about what to do for him in the winter when our plants and grass start to die off. He won’t eat hay. What can I do to help this guy be prepared for eating when he doesn’t have as much to graze on in the winter?
2. Is there anything else in his diet or hygiene that I should consider to help him stay healthy?
3. How do I add powder calcium to his diet if he won’t eat a pile of plants/hay? (And he doesn’t really eat the cuttlebone).
4. Also, are there any other hygiene/health things that I should be doing for him? (Like I heard something about trimming beaks? I don’t know anything about it!).
5. How often should I check the underside of his shell? And does it bother/hurt him to turn him upside down?
If you have any suggestions I’d like to hear! Thanks!
We have plenty of grazing opportunities for Toki—Tesudo mix on the side yard, huge amounts of grass and weeds, and also I’ve planted hibiscus, optunia cactus, and we have various leaves from our veggie garden to share. He seems to graze on all of it, with some breaks to rest under a rose bush routinely throughout the day. He hasn’t dug any huge burrows yet, but he makes some 2-3 inch deep impressions in the ground under shaded areas to rest. He has a heated night box available, but prefers outside right now (assuming because it’s summer heat outside). It’s gotten a bit cooler at night (60 degrees), so we’ve put him in his house at night with the door open for now, and he will stay there all night. But if we don’t put him in the house, he’ll stay asleep under the rose bush all night. I’ve tried to soak him about once a week. He has a water dish, but I’ve never seen him show any interest in it.
Our feeding routine seems to be letting him graze on grass and weeds all week, then once a week I’ll give him cactus, hibiscus, and any other leaves or plants available. He’ll eat the hibiscus and cactus and some leaf types really well. But I cannot get him to eat the orchard grass or Timothy hay at all. He also won’t eat the cuttle bone I gave him. I do not add calcium to his food, since he mostly gazes—when I make a pile of food for him, he only eats the cactus or flowers—for example, the pile of food in the picture was left untouched, while the cactus was gobbled up quickly.
Questions:
1. While right now Toki seems to be grazing and eating fine, I worry about what to do for him in the winter when our plants and grass start to die off. He won’t eat hay. What can I do to help this guy be prepared for eating when he doesn’t have as much to graze on in the winter?
2. Is there anything else in his diet or hygiene that I should consider to help him stay healthy?
3. How do I add powder calcium to his diet if he won’t eat a pile of plants/hay? (And he doesn’t really eat the cuttlebone).
4. Also, are there any other hygiene/health things that I should be doing for him? (Like I heard something about trimming beaks? I don’t know anything about it!).
5. How often should I check the underside of his shell? And does it bother/hurt him to turn him upside down?
If you have any suggestions I’d like to hear! Thanks!