My care sheet for Ernie..how does all this look so far?

[sammi]

Okay, so since I've gotten Ernie [exactly a month ago yesterday] I've been researching and reading like crazy. Here's what I've come up with so far. I need any pointers possible, because I've been freaking out lately about Pyramiding [I don't know why] and MBD..I guess I've just been reading a lot of scary articles lately. Anyway, here goes..

Diet - Mainly grocery store greens until I move and can grow my own food. Consisting of [all these are varied from time to time]: Radacchio, kale, mustard greens, collard greens, dandelion greens, aloe plant, endive [both kinds], escarole, carrot [occassionally], apple [occassionally], jade plant, parsley, and dandelion flowers and leaves. I've been told to get spring mix too, so that's on my shopping list. Eventually I plan on buying seeds from Carolina Pet Supply too. Oh, and he gets fed for 20 minutes a day..then an occasional snack for dinner [sometimes]. I also sprinkle TNT every 2-3 days on his food as well. He has a cuttlebone in his enclosure too, but he has never touched it.

Substrate - Just changed from Cypress Mulch to a Bed-a-Beast/Sand [70/30] mix. He seems to really like it, hes already burrowed deep down in it. Its slightly moist, doesn't drip water when I squeeze it, and holds its form [kind of]. How often do I need to re-wet it? Just as often as needed? Unfortuantely I don't have a way of reading humidity right now..Would you recommend buying one of those dual-reading gauges for temp./humid.?

Lighting - I have a combo terrarium hood [it was the only thing I could afford at the time] which has 2 procelain sockets for bulbs, and a place for an 18" florescent light. I only have the two bulbs in it right now...75W ZooMed Repti Basking Spot Lamp, and also a 20W Zilla Desert Series 50 Florescent Coil Bulb [which he hardly ever goes under]. The hood sits on top of the side of his enclosure right now, we're in the process of building a mount for it. I already know that this sits much too close to him.

Temperatures - Finally got a thermometer today, and read the cool side of his enclosure at 75 degrees, and his warm side at 100 degrees..I know this is way too warm for him =[ I promise it's in the process of being fixed!

Water - He has a water dish in his enclosure, but he never drinks or sits in it, only passes through it when going from here to there. I soak him every 2-3 days for about 20-30 minutes.

Enclosure - He's currently in a rubbermaid under the bed box, which is about 2' X 3'. He doesn't try to climb out the sides anymore, but he did in the beginning [first week or so]. He's got a terra cotta pot hide, and a couple fake plants which I just picked up today. He also has a couple rocks he likes climbing over, and some grapewood. He has a couple pieces of slate in there too for his nails, and his food plate is slate as well. Now that he can burrow in his substrate, he has completely abandoned his terra cotta pot so we're going to Lowe's tomorrow to try and find something different, and smaller to free up some space. We're gonna save the terra cotta pot for his larger enclosure.

He eats, poops, and pees everyday as normal [sometimes his urine contains no urates, just clear liquid], and he runs around our bedroom [which is carpeted, and gets vacuumed frequently] for his exercise. I am also going to start taking him on "walks" outside where he can get some natural sunlight.

Sound good? Bad? Opinions, comments, questions, critiques, anything is welcome please!

 

[Crazy1]

Hi sammi, glad to hear your doing your research on Ernie. Try not to stress on pyramiding and MBD. Luckly Russians don’t have the problem with pyramiding that some other torts do. They seem to be pretty forgiving in that area.

I want to preference this by saying I don't own Russians I own Greeks but I have fostered one or two. Here are my suggestions.

Diet – If you can get organic greens they are better, sometimes you can’t, I know. I like to use Trader Joes also for things like Frisee which they really like (it is a lacy looking curly endive). Your variety sounds OK but I would limit kale, mustard greens, collard greens and dandelion leaves along with aloe & parsley to occasionally (monthly). If you know of someone who has a mulberry tree get some of the leaves now or some grape leaves you can feed now and when dry you can grind them and sprinkle it on their greens too. I would not use Belgian endive as it has very little nutrients in it. Dandelion flowers, pansies, geranium flowers and leaves (don’t use Ivy geranium) wandering jew, hibiscus flowers and leaves and cactus (Nopales) are some of the things you can add.
Ask neighbors if you see some in their yards if they fertilize or use pesticides and if it’s ok before picking it if they are chemical free. Spring mix is a good base during the winter if you add additional things to it like the ones listed above. You can also add zucchini, yellow squash, any squash really lightly cooked or grated, store bought mushrooms. And some young grass like wheat grass tips, Most won’t eat it if it’s older grasses. Sometimes the food they are getting has enough calcium and sometimes the cuttlebone smells too much like fish so it has to sit for quite a while before they will eat it.

Substrate – Yes just re-wet as needed. I would get a humidity gauge from www.eggcarton.com. They have good prices and the gauges are accurate.

Lighting – If your enclosure is too hot you can raise the hood. You said it sits on his enclosure now? I would not use the coiled bulbs they have had some problems with reptiles eyes with those bulbs. You might want to get a 18 inch florescent 8 or 10 uvb bulb. You want your lights about 12 inches above his substrate. But if you have the hood and a spot light and a florescent uvb then you can put in a night time heat lamp like a black light for night temps when it really begins to get cold.

Temperatures – Don’t wait too long to get the temps fixed. This is one thing that can cause real problems. Between the high temps and dehydration and the coil bulb being so close it could effect his eyes and mood.

Water - Sounds like you are doing fine with the soaks.

Enclosure –You can get small logs in the gerbil section of Wal-Mart that are made out of alfalfa and honey (they are OK)the torts won’t eat it and it works great if it is big enough. They actually have two sizes and they are between 4 & 6 dollars.

Careful on letting him on the carpet even carpet fiber ingested can cause problems, let alone a slip and fall or misplaced foot from you. Please just make sure where ever you walk him they have not use chemicals.

All in all you are off to a great start. Keep up the good work.

 

[sammi]

Thank you SO much for responding. I was getting worried since a lot of people were looking at it..but no one was saying anything But I do have a couple questions..

So when you say "..you might want to get a 18 inch florescent 8 or 10 uvb bulb.." do you mean an 8 or 10 watt? And what brand would you recommend? So then in my hood, I would have the heat basking bulb, and an 18 in. florescent, but as for the nighttime bulb, do I still need it if he sleeps on the opposite side of his enclosure [farthest away from the lights]?

He has only tried to eat carpet once [unsucessfully] because I grabbed him up as soon as he attempted. He knows now that it isn't edible, and travels from corner to corner in the bedroom. And I always keep an eye on him wherever he goes.

Also researching lightbulbs right now..

Thanks!

 

[tortoisenerd]

I would worry about the free reign in the house because of temperatures, lack of safe hiding spots, and access to a large area and not wanting to then be penned up in the enclosure. I believe in very large enclosures, increased as a tort grows if applicable, without free runs of large areas. I also agree with everything Robyn said! I wouldn't even bother to measure humidity. Just keep the substrate the proper moistness and you shouldn't have any problems. Many people even raise Russians on dry substrates (like me) with no pyramiding. I think it is much more important to incest in a good thermometer (such as an infrared one, like the PE1 for $25) and check temperatures in multiple locations in the enclosure daily. Then, adjust the light/heat up or down as needed to maintain a good gradient. I would try out a variety of cheap hides like cardboard boxes and fake plants to see what he likes best. Have some available in each temperature. MBD shouldn't be on your radar at all with your care, nor should pyramiding. Best wishes.

 

[sammi]

Thank you thank you! I actually picked up a few fake plants on suggestion from you Kate, and he loves them so far! The past day he's been hiding underneath them, while coming out periodically for basking and to explore. I took out a couple rocks and am saving them for his bigger enclosure, and also found some piping from Lowe's that works as a hide, and isn't as big as the terra cotta pot. He's asleep inside of it right now, so I think he likes it Oh and as for the humidity, the reason I began to worry about it is because he began to look REALLY dry. Scales were coming off his face and flaking in the folds of his skin. I've increased his soaking temporarily, so between that and the new substrate he looks a little better, but its only been 2 days. And as for letting him run free, I think I'm just going to limit it to the time when I take him outside [which I will thoroughly check to make sure no chemicals/dog poop around]. I'll take some updated pictures of his enclosure tomorrow.

 

[tortoisenerd]

It is normal for torts to shed as they grow (you should see peeling skin), but yes you are correct they should not appear overly dry. Soaking can help with this as can humidity. I'm surprised you see this though if you do keep the substrate moist as you stated. Are you adding water on a regular basis and mixing it up to maintain moist but not wet (holds shape when you pick up a handful, but doesn't let out water when you squeeze it)? Glad the new furnishings are working well! A good owner will realize that enclosures are always a work in progress. Remodeling can help keep a tort entertained too.

 

[sammi]

Well I only recently [as of 2 days ago] changed his substrate to the Bed-A-Beast mix..before that we had Cypress Mulch and I was having a hard time keeping it moist. I guess I just have to be patient and wait longer to see results.