Solomons Kiddie Pool

[Savage2660]

For those of you that may remember about 6 months ago I posted about my Sulcata Solomon. He wasn't doing very good at the time. But with lots of advice. Heat, baths, enclosure changes and vitamins he's come through great. Eats like a cow and in the last could months seems to be going through a growth spurt. So it was time to upgrade to a bigger enclosure. This kiddie pool has been great for him. Plenty of light. Loves his burrow. And 4 hermit crabs keep him entertained. I attached a pic from day one and one of today. He loves attention. If he's awake and we sit by the pool he comes out to visit.

 

[luvpetz27]

That is awesome!!!!

 

[shanu303]

it's simple yet very effective and very good-looking

 

[Linzbragg]

I love how you have the hide!

 

[EllieN]

Wow, that has to be one happy tort!

 

[SpdTrtl]

Awww that's so cute!

 

[Savage2660]

I am amazed at how fast he is growing. When we first got him we had to cut everything up really small. Now he just tears into food. For a occasional treat his favorite is Bok Choy. He completely ignores the greens and tears into the meaty white parts. He knows what it looks like too. If he sees us putting a piece he run for it. It's hilarious to watch him run.

Anyway since he's growing so fast I decided I'd better look into a bigger pool. With the heat really setting in now I didn't want to wait to long and have them sold out. So if your thinking of one do it now. The one I got today is about double the size of his old one.

Couple things I've learned. Hermit Crabs are great in the enclosure with him. They eat some of the food scraps. Their nightly burrows keep the coco fiber fresh. I have not changed fiber is about 6 months. There is zero odor. This is also due to the fact that I also add Superworms and Pillbugs. The don't bother him and he shows no interest in eating them. But they are AWESOME in cleaning up Solomon turds as well as left over food. Eventually the Superworms do turn into beetles which I then feed to my Bearded Dragons. Thankfully the beetles don't fly.

About once a month I take out everything but the coco fiber. I give mix it all up really good and add everything back in. Nothing is put back in the same location. And I like to have LOTS of obstacles for him. He's tipped himself over a couple times in the past so now he's very aware of edges and steep inclines. Mentally he's very sharp and we can watch him thinking about stuff. If he comes to a hill he'll move his head around to get a gook look. He'll move around to different angles. Then he will decide it's to steep and go another direction or goes down. Just for those of you who are concerned by this when I do a change up in the enclosure I keep a close watch for the first hour. He loves change and will examine everything after I make a change. Once I know he's aware of all the danger spots I let him be.

For those of you wondering the three logs you see form a natural tripod that I hang his heat light from. Currently he gets his UVB from his organic garden where he browses through grass, dandelions, turnips, swiss chard, collard greens, and some fast growing succulents.

 

[lindseyjordan10]

You can keep hermit crabs with tortoises???

 

[Savage2660]

So Solomon got another update to his home today. He was out growing his hide and a large one would have taken up to much space. So it was time for two levels. First I bought a smaller pool. I had to place a brick column in the center for support. On top of that two large pieces of foamcore board. Add his larger pool. Then just had to cut a hole and place a ramp. Up top he has cocofiber, leaf litter and a small amount of organic bark mulch. Plus all his greenery and hermit crab friends. Plus a healthy supply of pill bugs. They eat his turds and essentially turn it into new soil for the plants. Down below in his master suite he rests on a bed of fresh hay.