Introducing my babies

jackmeggers

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Dec 27, 2013
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I've already posted a fare few topics and responses, but never introduced myself. I'm Meggin, a new tortoise mom to an almost yearling Greek named Archimedes, he was a gift for my boyfriend but I claim him as mine as well. I know it may not be a he but we are associating him as such for now.
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We also just adopted a 2 year old juvenile Redfoot tortoise that we renamed Itzl Roja. She maybe too young/small to tell, but we are associating her as a girl for now. She was in a 40 gal tank with no hides, no soaking dish, no humidity and was fed dry ZooMed, green beans and corn for the last 2 years. They weren't mean people, just educated on what she needed.
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They both live with us and my other 4 legged babies, 2 cats Ipo & Oscosh.
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Both of my shelled babies live in custom tables. Archimedes in a cabinet that had the doors and shelves removed. We used organic top soil and planted zinnia, violas and coleus for him to munch on and hide under. Mostly he just does his Godzilla impression and tramples them.
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Itzl Roja is in a 54 inch x 24 inch enclosure found on Craigslist right before I came across her ad. I planned on getting it as a step up when Archimedes got bigger, but when I saw her it all clicked. We haven't planted her enclosure yet, I plan on ordering some organic plants or starting them in the window first. So much has changed for her that I want to go slowly with anything else. She has been receiving daily soaks and has had a buffet available daily with moist ZooMed, tomatoes, zucchini, mango and especially dark leafy greens. Since taking the picture of her enclosure we have started putting her ZooMed in the reptile pool and put her water in the large dish she used to have as a food dish. She never uses the basking rocks so they have become secondary plates for her veggies and her greens.
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We are wintering fairly well but I'm itching to get them out in the southern Virginia sun! If there a any other members in the Hampton Roads area please give me a shout! I'd love to know I'm not alone or here lol. Well that's about it, all my babies... Well almost all. I forgot the biggest one, taking a nap with his little Archimedes, my boyfriend Joe. ;-)
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pfara

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I like how you threw your bf under the bus by posting a pic of him and the tort (which is pretty adorable) but you failed to add yourself in the mix :p

My bad, the topic of this was of your babies and not you. Fine, you get a "get out of jail free" card.
 

jackmeggers

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I have one fuzzy front facing camera shot of me and Itzl Roja, but it's really bad lol. I mean her hair is a mess and she doesn't have any makeup on, she was still in her jammies... I looked great but she was a hot mess, so out of respect I didn't post it :p I'll get the bf to take a good one of her and I snuggling :)
 

pfara

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jackmeggers said:
I have one fuzzy front facing camera shot of me and Itzl Roja, but it's really bad lol. I mean her hair is a mess and she doesn't have any makeup on, she was still in her jammies... I looked great but she was a hot mess, so out of respect I didn't post it :p I'll get the bf to take a good one of her and I snuggling :)

Lol. Makes sense and is totally understandable. Hey.. go to sleep, it's late.
 

jackmeggers

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I probably should, but this is my normal bedtime anyway and I'm off this weekend for once. The torts are tucked in and the other babies are watching the last late night with Jimmy Fallon. Bed shortly after.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

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Hello Meggin welcome you have some great looking torts have great torts


Hello Meggin welcome you have some great looking torts have great night
 

Yvonne G

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...and a very belated, "Welcome to the Forum!!" Meggin.
 

jackmeggers

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We made some changes to the tort's enclosures today. We added a balcony to Archimedes's log, he was a little sleepy but seemed to like it:
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And we completely redid Itzl's enclosure, 2 hides, a ceramic heat emitter and planted some seeds (lavender, cat grass and coleus):
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We built a corner hide out of chicken wire and used hanging basket liner to line it and some greenery to block the light. Then used the rest to line her terracotta pot and block the light there as well. We lined her pool with rocks that she inspectedand confirmed were not food. Hopefully they will keep some of the dirt out. She seems to like both hides and couldn't decide which to sleep in tonight. :-D

P.S. She decided that she, loves mushrooms ;-)
 
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pfara

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Nice! I'm guessing you had tons of fun redecorating. I like it. Just one question: are you particularly fond of that red light? I probably would rather use a CHE over a red light. Oh and I toldja she'd love mushrooms :p
 

jackmeggers

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She inhales them lol! And the CHE is on the other side. I'm not a fan of the red light, but until next paycheck the one CHE will have to do. It was kinda fun, minus the chicken wire melt downs XD lol.
 

pfara

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jackmeggers said:
She inhales them lol! And the CHE is on the other side. I'm not a fan of the red light, but until next paycheck the one CHE will have to do. It was kinda fun, minus the chicken wire melt downs XD lol.

I hear ya. Just watch her behavior under the red light. Red things to a tortoise should be eaten (in their minds, at least). Plus, red glows in general creep me out.
 

jackmeggers

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That was one of the lights she came with, she is used to it and it's over her food so that shouldn't be a problem lol. But thanks for the tip. :)
 

Pittrock

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Your setup is AMAZING!!! So jealous! I feel like a failure as a tort parent!!!
 

jackmeggers

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Haha! Thank you, but don't feel that way! If you had been here for the chicken wire melt down you wouldn't think that lol. I spend a lot of time online looking at enclosures and getting ideas before do anything. And I can tell you that compared to some enclosures, mine looks like a 20 gal tank :)
 

jackmeggers

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I don't have any pictures, because the fog doesn't photograph well and I hadn't had time to break out my DSLR, but I added some major humidity to Itzl's enclosure this week. I found one of the huge (2 gal) frog shaped humidifiers by crane at a thrift store for $6.25 then bought some tubing for another $7 and voila!! Humidity up the wazooh! She loves it and so do the cat grass seeds which have begun sprouting like crazy and are already up to 2 inches easily. I haven't heard her wheezing once since we added it. I think she is very happy between that and her discovery of the ever tasty mushrooms :D I have a happy Red foot on my hands and that makes me a happy momma.
 

amanda0883

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Wow I really like how creative you are with your enclosures! I feel like I have some living up to do with Frankie's. I am still new to all this.
 

jackmeggers

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It's all a matter of researching the stuffing out of it :) I adopted our baby Greek tortoise, Archimedes, in December of 2013. I had no clue! but I joined the forum and I googled, and pintrested and youtubed until I had some idea of what to do and how I wanted to do it. Then about a month ago we adopted our Red-foot, Itzl Roja. I had already done a fair share of research on tortoise diets and needs in general so I just needed to focus on Red-foots. I looked up DIY humidity on youtube and was planning on ordering a sonic humidifier to put in a separate water dish in order to create the humidity. The ones I saw didn't last as long as I wanted and cost more than I ended up paying for the humidifier. There are tons of videos on youtube on how to make your own. You just have to figure out what works for you with your tortoise and your space. I'm sure there are some on here who would criticize my set ups. But I know I have done well for both of my babies. Especially considering what they both lived in when I adopted them. Am I finished? Nope. as I learn more and as they grow, I know I will continue adapting and altering. AND Spring is just around the corner so I have outdoor enclosures to plan :D You can do it!! Craig's list is a great source btw ;)
 
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