Our new baby, Ducky T.

Chefdenoel10

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Awww sleeping Ducky is adorable!! My tortoise rarely ever stays asleep long enough for me to get cute pictures like this. He wakes up the second I poke my head into his bedroom, no matter how quiet I am. Today is Mazuri day for Dozer and he is currently in what I call a Mazuri coma. I had to settle for a screenshot from his camera, because he would have woken up if I went in his room.

View attachment 331913

Oh my God!!!
Stop the cuteness or I will explode!!!!
He is adorable! ?
I have my Arlo camera for when I escape..
I mean … Go to work..
Does yours have sound?
Looking for an inside camera with sound so I know what these neighbors are doing to my children when I esca….. I mean have to go out… ??
I hope all is well for the rest of the day guys! ?
See you tonight?
If I’m not bulldozed over first. ?
 

Chefdenoel10

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Awww sleeping Ducky is adorable!! My tortoise rarely ever stays asleep long enough for me to get cute pictures like this. He wakes up the second I poke my head into his bedroom, no matter how quiet I am. Today is Mazuri day for Dozer and he is currently in what I call a Mazuri coma. I had to settle for a screenshot from his camera, because he would have woken up if I went in his room.

View attachment 331913

And his little legs are all sprouted out!! ?
Sally does that too!
When she was little all the way till now.
But now it’s not as cute…
Gary tries.. but he gets as stretched out as he can and when he can stretch no further you’ll hear a …”toot!” ?
Guess he’s just lettin’ off some steam? ?
 

Casie A

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He is so handsome! ? he is OUT!

Is the Mazuri day a reference to the Mazuri tortoise diet pellets? Is that something you recommend? Ducky doesn't seem to like the calcium powder so she ignores her food bowl.
 

Krista S

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Oh my God!!!
Stop the cuteness or I will explode!!!!
He is adorable! ?
I have my Arlo camera for when I escape..
I mean … Go to work..
Does yours have sound?
Looking for an inside camera with sound so I know what these neighbors are doing to my children when I esca….. I mean have to go out… ??
I hope all is well for the rest of the day guys! ?
See you tonight?
If I’m not bulldozed over first. ?
Yeah, it’s the Wyze cam pan and it has sound. I can even yell at Dozer remotely through the camera when he’s being bad. I love it!
 

Krista S

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He is so handsome! ? he is OUT!

Is the Mazuri day a reference to the Mazuri tortoise diet pellets? Is that something you recommend? Ducky doesn't seem to like the calcium powder so she ignores her food bowl.
I feed Dozer the Mazuri 5M21 pellets twice per week. A lot of the year I have to rely on grocery store greens, so I use the Mazuri pellets to round out his diet. Dozer also hates any of the powders I use…reptivite, calcium and Minera-All. So when I make his Mazuri mixture I add whatever supplements are needed into it and he doesn’t even notice. I tried for the longest time to get him to eat the ZooMed grassland tortoise diet because the fibre ratio is so high but he wouldn’t touch it. I’ve since been able to start blending 1 whole grassland pellet in with the Mazuri pellets and he accepts that now. I had to start really slow though, with just a quarter of a grassland pellet to 6 Mazuri pellets. In addition I also have dried dandelion greens and other dried things I mix into the Mazuri as well. It works well for getting him all the nutrients he needs and he LOVES it SO much!!
 

Casie A

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I feed Dozer the Mazuri 5M21 pellets twice per week. A lot of the year I have to rely on grocery store greens, so I use the Mazuri pellets to round out his diet. Dozer also hates any of the powders I use…reptivite, calcium and Minera-All. So when I make his Mazuri mixture I add whatever supplements are needed into it and he doesn’t even notice. I tried for the longest time to get him to eat the ZooMed grassland tortoise diet because the fibre ratio is so high but he wouldn’t touch it. I’ve since been able to start blending 1 whole grassland pellet in with the Mazuri pellets and he accepts that now. I had to start really slow though, with just a quarter of a grassland pellet to 6 Mazuri pellets. In addition I also have dried dandelion greens and other dried things I mix into the Mazuri as well. It works well for getting him all the nutrients he needs and he LOVES it SO much!!
I will definitely try that for her. Thank you!!
 

Chefdenoel10

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I feed Dozer the Mazuri 5M21 pellets twice per week. A lot of the year I have to rely on grocery store greens, so I use the Mazuri pellets to round out his diet. Dozer also hates any of the powders I use…reptivite, calcium and Minera-All. So when I make his Mazuri mixture I add whatever supplements are needed into it and he doesn’t even notice. I tried for the longest time to get him to eat the ZooMed grassland tortoise diet because the fibre ratio is so high but he wouldn’t touch it. I’ve since been able to start blending 1 whole grassland pellet in with the Mazuri pellets and he accepts that now. I had to start really slow though, with just a quarter of a grassland pellet to 6 Mazuri pellets. In addition I also have dried dandelion greens and other dried things I mix into the Mazuri as well. It works well for getting him all the nutrients he needs and he LOVES it SO much!!

Wow! Sounds like you are doing everything right for food. I heard that of you have the correct uvb and give dark leafy greens that there is no need for supplements?
Maybe once in a while , but not every day?
Just me outrun’ my two cents in.
You do what you feel is right.❤️
 

Krista S

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Wow! Sounds like you are doing everything right for food. I heard that of you have the correct uvb and give dark leafy greens that there is no need for supplements?
Maybe once in a while , but not every day?
Just me outrun’ my two cents in.
You do what you feel is right.❤️
That’s the thing, I don’t feed the right greens. :confused: It’s not for a lack of trying, it’s because a lot of the recommended “staples” I just can’t get here. I have read how bad it can be if you overdo the supplements, so I am very careful. I just put a very light tiny tiny bit (can’t even call it a pinch) of the miner-all and an even less amount of the reptivite twice per week. Sometimes I leave out the reptivite. I’ve seen positive results from the Miner-all, so I feel that it’s an important key to rounding out his diet even though I give such a small amount. The one thing I do have, is good UV. I invested in all the recommended fixtures and bulbs for the new enclosure and even got the Solarmeter to make sure the UV output is spot on. With that said, I’m grateful that you gave me your two cents. I appreciate your knowledge and that you’re looking out for Dozer. Please never hesitate to bring something up if you think I’m doing something wrong. I know it’s just out of the kindness of your heart. You’re the best ☺️
 

Chefdenoel10

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That’s the thing, I don’t feed the right greens. :confused: It’s not for a lack of trying, it’s because a lot of the recommended “staples” I just can’t get here. I have read how bad it can be if you overdo the supplements, so I am very careful. I just put a very light tiny tiny bit (can’t even call it a pinch) of the miner-all and an even less amount of the reptivite twice per week. Sometimes I leave out the reptivite. I’ve seen positive results from the Miner-all, so I feel that it’s an important key to rounding out his diet even though I give such a small amount. The one thing I do have, is good UV. I invested in all the recommended fixtures and bulbs for the new enclosure and even got the Solarmeter to make sure the UV output is spot on. With that said, I’m grateful that you gave me your two cents. I appreciate your knowledge and that you’re looking out for Dozer. Please never hesitate to bring something up if you think I’m doing something wrong. I know it’s just out of the kindness of your heart. You’re the best ☺️

?????????!!!!

Yes, I’m so glad you know it’s out of the kindness of my heart.
I honestly would never tell someone to do something I wasn’t sure of.
Look at all of MY mistakes!?!
I think I gave @YvonneG a headache…
And poor @Tom…. I think he quit talking to me all together! ???
But pleeeeeaaassseeeeee always…. ALWAYS give me tips, correct my info and never NEVER stop helping me! ?❤️
 

Casie A

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So I have a new favorite picture.... Ducky has been eating roses and hibiscus out of our hands!

How is everyone else?
 

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Krista S

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So I have a new favorite picture.... Ducky has been eating roses and hibiscus out of our hands!

How is everyone else?
You win ‘the most adorable picture of the day‘ award! That’s so cute!! Ducky looks so happy.
 

Krista S

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Dozer is alright. As you may have seen on Chef’s other thread you commented on, he had a bit of a traumatizing night last night. Today was Mazuri day again though (always Sunday and Wednesday’s), so he ate himself silly and has been doing a lot of snoozing today.
 

Casie A

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Dozer is alright. As you may have seen on Chef’s other thread you commented on, he had a bit of a traumatizing night last night. Today was Mazuri day again though (always Sunday and Wednesday’s), so he ate himself silly and has been doing a lot of snoozing today.
I did see it, the poor guy. And you! I know you had a difficult time too! I think him cuddling up to you is a tribute to how good of a mommy you are! ?? I am glad everyone is good but I do feel bad about the hibiscus plants! I know he loves them! I wish I could send you some of mine... I think Dozer deserved a day of comfort food overload and the food coma that follows! ??
 

Casie A

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Dozer is alright. As you may have seen on Chef’s other thread you commented on, he had a bit of a traumatizing night last night. Today was Mazuri day again though (always Sunday and Wednesday’s), so he ate himself silly and has been doing a lot of snoozing today.
Hello Krista! We finally got the Mazuri pellets is. She was hesitant at first so I mixed it on some lettuce. She ate it all! I can't even believe it! Thank you! She did have some hibiscus yesterday too!

How is Dozer? He recover from that storm?
 

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Krista S

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Hello Krista! We finally got the Mazuri pellets is. She was hesitant at first so I mixed it on some lettuce. She ate it all! I can't even believe it! Thank you! She did have some hibiscus yesterday too!

How is Dozer? He recover from that storm?
That’s great! I’m glad she likes it. Just be sure to not make it a daily staple in her diet. A lot of people say Mazuri is like crack for tortoises and if fed daily they usually start to refuse anything other than mazuri. It also has a higher protein ratio than what should be fed daily. So I guess like most things in life, it’s good in moderation. I feed it twice per week and like I mentioned earlier, I use it as an opportunity to mix in whatever supplements are needed because they are unnoticeable to our picky torts when given that way. I also think it’s good to start slowly with mixing other things into the Mazuri mash. Some examples of things I mix in are raspberry leaves, nettle, dandelion leaves, calendula. All of these things are dried items that I got locally at an organic health food store. This is just a good way to add extra fibre and variety. If you want to look into having dried foods to add into Ducky’s diet, one of our member @Kapidolo Farms has a website with a great selection of quality dried options.


Also, thanks for asking about Dozer. He had runny poops for a day which isn’t like him, but I imagine it was from having the ? scared out of him. He seems to be back to his normal self now, thank goodness!!
 

Casie A

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That’s great! I’m glad she likes it. Just be sure to not make it a daily staple in her diet. A lot of people say Mazuri is like crack for tortoises and if fed daily they usually start to refuse anything other than mazuri. It also has a higher protein ratio than what should be fed daily. So I guess like most things in life, it’s good in moderation. I feed it twice per week and like I mentioned earlier, I use it as an opportunity to mix in whatever supplements are needed because they are unnoticeable to our picky torts when given that way. I also think it’s good to start slowly with mixing other things into the Mazuri mash. Some examples of things I mix in are raspberry leaves, nettle, dandelion leaves, calendula. All of these things are dried items that I got locally at an organic health food store. This is just a good way to add extra fibre and variety. If you want to look into having dried foods to add into Ducky’s diet, one of our member @Kapidolo Farms has a website with a great selection of quality dried options.


Also, thanks for asking about Dozer. He had runny poops for a day which isn’t like him, but I imagine it was from having the ? scared out of him. He seems to be back to his normal self now, thank goodness!!
That site is amazing! I will definitely use them. We have finally started on our bunk bed loft, so Ducky-Dozer Park is under way! I will send pictures.

I am glad he is good. He is so handsome! Is he full grown?

Ducky seems to be sleeping a lot lately. Any suggestions on changes? Her current enclosure is at 80 during the day, about 70 at night. Humidity is 50-60. She hasn't had a lot of outside time recently because it had been raining every day. I figured she was bored in her 40 gallon enclosure, but admittedly, I know a little more than nothing about tortoises!

Have a wonderful day!
 

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Krista S

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That site is amazing! I will definitely use them. We have finally started on our bunk bed loft, so Ducky-Dozer Park is under way! I will send pictures.

I am glad he is good. He is so handsome! Is he full grown?

Ducky seems to be sleeping a lot lately. Any suggestions on changes? Her current enclosure is at 80 during the day, about 70 at night. Humidity is 50-60. She hasn't had a lot of outside time recently because it had been raining every day. I figured she was bored in her 40 gallon enclosure, but admittedly, I know a little more than nothing about tortoises!

Have a wonderful day!
It isn’t uncommon for a tortoise to be hyper active when they’re in a new environment. They’re looking for a way to escape so they can go “home”. Generally once they realize they can’t escape and this new place isn’t so bad, they tend to calm down. It’s been a stressful time for Ducky with the environment change, so she could just be catching up on rest. They’re like humans in the way that they can have an ’off’ day or two. When you say she’s sleeping a lot, is she sleeping in a hide, or is she out in the open or is she burrowing?

Did you get her from a pet store? Has she been pooping and peeing? Does the poop seem well formed or is it a pile of mush? Are you soaking her daily or at least every other day? Does she have a water dish and does she ever go near it? If she isn’t self soaking or drinking, I’d soak her daily for the next while to make sure she’s good and hydrated. The water temp should be somewhere in the range of 90 degrees. I usually start Dozers soak around 92 degrees and once it drops down no cooler than 85 I change out the water if he needs more time to soak. I put the container with the water under his heat lamp, but I only let the heat lamp shine down into about a quarter of the container. This is to help the temp of the water to stay up.

You mentioned that you took her to an exotics vet. Did the vet do a fecal test? Does Ducky still have a good appetite?

80 degrees ambient temp is good for the warm side of the enclosure. She should also having a basking spot with a temp somewhere between 90-95. In the enclosure, there should be a temperature gradient so Ducky can thermo-regulate, meaning she can chose what she needs temperature wise by moving back and forth between the temperature zones. So typically you’d have a cool side(70 to 75 degrees ambient), and a warm side (80 ambient) with the warm side having that basking spot where heat is focused to make it even warmer (90-95). Usually to get this basking temp you’d have a piece of slate or something similar under the heat lamp. I don't know the dimensions of your enclosure, but generally you need at least 3 feet of length to achieve the right gradient. If the whole tank is 80 ambient and she doesn’t have a basking spot, then there’s not much reason for her to move.

What are you using for bulbs in her enclosure?

Have you been weighing Ducky at all? If not, I recommend getting a digital kitchen scale and weighing her once every week or two. Document the weight so you can keep track. Change in weight is usually one of the first indicators if something is wrong. Just be sure to weigh around the same time each time you do it. With Dozer, I got him as a little 3 month old hatchling, so I weighed him weekly for the longest time. Now that he’s pretty much full grown I’ve started just weighing every 2 weeks. I’ve always weighed him first thing in the morning before he’s eaten or had his soak. The main thing is, you don’t want to weight Ducky one time when she’s first woken up and the next time weigh her after a large meal. Try and keep it consistent for more accurate readings. I initially started writing Dozer’s weight down in a book, but after a couple months I got the idea to start taking a picture of him on the scale instead. So now I’ve got a really cool series of pictures showing his growth. Just another idea for tracking weight.

Have you had a chance to read through Tom’s care sheet? It has a lot of great info too.


As for your question about Dozer. I believe he’s close to full grown now. I sure hope he is. He turned 2 in May and is now 663 grams and about 6 1/4 inches long. He grew much faster than I ever anticipated and I’m hoping to not end up in the Guinness world records for largest male Eastern Hermann’s tortoise! Sunday’s are actually his weigh day and I was noticing over the last month and a half that he’s stayed in the same 10 gram range. It’s strange for me to see his weight staying the same now after seeing such huge gains for the last year and a half.

Enough babbling from me. I am sorry I didn’t ask more questions about Ducky’s current enclosure sooner. I don’t know anything about how you have her set up, so I’ve written the above with not assuming anything. You may already have all of these bases covered, and I just don’t know it. Also, sorry for all of the questions. They are just to help put the pieces together on if something is potentially wrong or if Ducky is just being a lazy girl. And sorry for all of the sorry’s…that’s just my Canadian showing ?
 

Casie A

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Riverview
It isn’t uncommon for a tortoise to be hyper active when they’re in a new environment. They’re looking for a way to escape so they can go “home”. Generally once they realize they can’t escape and this new place isn’t so bad, they tend to calm down. It’s been a stressful time for Ducky with the environment change, so she could just be catching up on rest. They’re like humans in the way that they can have an ’off’ day or two. When you say she’s sleeping a lot, is she sleeping in a hide, or is she out in the open or is she burrowing?

Did you get her from a pet store? Has she been pooping and peeing? Does the poop seem well formed or is it a pile of mush? Are you soaking her daily or at least every other day? Does she have a water dish and does she ever go near it? If she isn’t self soaking or drinking, I’d soak her daily for the next while to make sure she’s good and hydrated. The water temp should be somewhere in the range of 90 degrees. I usually start Dozers soak around 92 degrees and once it drops down no cooler than 85 I change out the water if he needs more time to soak. I put the container with the water under his heat lamp, but I only let the heat lamp shine down into about a quarter of the container. This is to help the temp of the water to stay up.

You mentioned that you took her to an exotics vet. Did the vet do a fecal test? Does Ducky still have a good appetite?

80 degrees ambient temp is good for the warm side of the enclosure. She should also having a basking spot with a temp somewhere between 90-95. In the enclosure, there should be a temperature gradient so Ducky can thermo-regulate, meaning she can chose what she needs temperature wise by moving back and forth between the temperature zones. So typically you’d have a cool side(70 to 75 degrees ambient), and a warm side (80 ambient) with the warm side having that basking spot where heat is focused to make it even warmer (90-95). Usually to get this basking temp you’d have a piece of slate or something similar under the heat lamp. I don't know the dimensions of your enclosure, but generally you need at least 3 feet of length to achieve the right gradient. If the whole tank is 80 ambient and she doesn’t have a basking spot, then there’s not much reason for her to move.

What are you using for bulbs in her enclosure?

Have you been weighing Ducky at all? If not, I recommend getting a digital kitchen scale and weighing her once every week or two. Document the weight so you can keep track. Change in weight is usually one of the first indicators if something is wrong. Just be sure to weigh around the same time each time you do it. With Dozer, I got him as a little 3 month old hatchling, so I weighed him weekly for the longest time. Now that he’s pretty much full grown I’ve started just weighing every 2 weeks. I’ve always weighed him first thing in the morning before he’s eaten or had his soak. The main thing is, you don’t want to weight Ducky one time when she’s first woken up and the next time weigh her after a large meal. Try and keep it consistent for more accurate readings. I initially started writing Dozer’s weight down in a book, but after a couple months I got the idea to start taking a picture of him on the scale instead. So now I’ve got a really cool series of pictures showing his growth. Just another idea for tracking weight.

Have you had a chance to read through Tom’s care sheet? It has a lot of great info too.


As for your question about Dozer. I believe he’s close to full grown now. I sure hope he is. He turned 2 in May and is now 663 grams and about 6 1/4 inches long. He grew much faster than I ever anticipated and I’m hoping to not end up in the Guinness world records for largest male Eastern Hermann’s tortoise! Sunday’s are actually his weigh day and I was noticing over the last month and a half that he’s stayed in the same 10 gram range. It’s strange for me to see his weight staying the same now after seeing such huge gains for the last year and a half.

Enough babbling from me. I am sorry I didn’t ask more questions about Ducky’s current enclosure sooner. I don’t know anything about how you have her set up, so I’ve written the above with not assuming anything. You may already have all of these bases covered, and I just don’t know it. Also, sorry for all of the questions. They are just to help put the pieces together on if something is potentially wrong or if Ducky is just being a lazy girl. And sorry for all of the sorry’s…that’s just my Canadian showing ?
Hello Krista! Thank you for the information. I did read Tom's care sheet and I think we are mostly up to speed. To answer the questions... she sleeps in a hide and out in the open. She seems to like to burrow in corners but is not sleeping when she does that. We did get her from a pet store and she does poop and pee normally. The poops resemble little hersheys kisses... we do soak her every other day and spray her several times a day. She does have a water bowl and she does climb in and out of it. I don't know if she actually drinks though. We start her soaks at about 90. We use an XL litter pan so she has room to run around. I will try the heat lamp over the water thing today. She seems very picky about what she eats. When we take her in the yard, she eats a lot. She will always take iceberg lettuce but nothing else from inside. She did eat one spinach leaf today. We did drop a fecal same off but they haven't gotten back to us. She does laps inside the tank and always seems to be trying to get out. It seems like boredom but I am super paranoid about her and taking care of her properly.

I don't think the Temps are perfect in her standard 40 gallon tank. The loft we are building is 3x7 ft so we should be able to get that part right. The bulbs are a 10.0 uvb and a heat lamp, I think 50w. We have a new ZooMed dual light for the new enclosure. Ducky weighed 304 grams at the vets office. I will work on getting a scale. She still feels hefty when we pick her up. And I will do the picture thing! That's a great idea!? I don't know if she is full grown, and the vet seemed okay with her weight and appearance.

Dozer is a big boy! Well, compared to Ducky... not compared to Sally.. ?

Thank you for all the questions and the help! I know it comes from a place of genuine care. I really appreciate the time and help. This is a wonderful site thanks to people like you!
 
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