Tortellini is finally eating! Pics!

[jhigh81]

Thank you to everyone that gave me advice on Tortellini not eating. It has been 3 weeks now, and the last two days he has eaten a whole leaf of lettuce each day. Now that he is eating I am going to go buy him a whole variety of fresh greens.
Here are some pics of him and his outdoor enclosure. Do you think he looks healthy? Is his enclosure good? Anything I should change?

Here is a link to a video of him too:

http://youtu.be/1ZI0N05sz80

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

That's great! He looks well, and he seems to have enough space, but I wouldn't design an enclosure that way. Too much rocks and sand, and not enough organic substrate to retain moisture. I wouldn't use hay, either. I would use one or more of the following: top soil, cypress mulch, and/or coco coir. The cave is good, but I would provide some structure elsewhere, and add some plants if possible. It basically seems like a large but barren space that doesn't offer much shelter besides the cave, and that doesn't offer a lot of moist microclimates to hide in. Russians are good climbers, and they do come from open desert/steppe landscapes in Central Asia, but that much rocks and sand might abrade his shell. And if he swallows to much of it while feeding, he could get an impacted gut.

 

[jhigh81]

I used a 50/50mixture of topsoil and just regular dirt. We live in AZ so the dirt is sand like. Should I add more topsoil?I have thought about adding some other structure for him to climb/hide in. I had to put the blocks on top of his cave becuase he was going up there and falling off the end and flipping over. I was afried he would do that while I was gone. Any suggestions on what else I could add for him? Maybe one of those logs you can buy at the pet stores?

 

[jackrat]

Looking good. Congrats on getting him to eat.

 

[dmarcus]

Glad to hear he is eating...

 

[lynnedit]

I have seen gravel in a lot of good Med Tort enclosures, sore of mixed in with the soil. If you get a couple of 5 gal buckets of gravel/river rock (not too small so he does not eat it), then you can make some small hills or mounds in the middle and mix in topsoil or dirt, even sprinkle some over it. I planted some annuals like gazania, allyssum, petunia right in the mounds. You can partially bury some smaller boulders. Then plant hosta (in the shadier area), rose of sharon, carex grasses, phlox. you can use ground covers like creeping jenny, ajuga, sedum. mind particularly like the 'baby's tears' sedum. you can plant ground covers on top of the hide you have. I have open areas and then plants clustered together, so they can thermoregulate.
having plants will mean you have to water regularly. Sometimes I do this after they have gone to bed so they are not bothered.
look at the current post on 'hides for Russian enclosure' for more ideas of extra ones to put in. 3-4 in different spots, facing different ways is a good idea.
Get some pieces of slate and set into the ground for nail wear, also a good spot to feed them on to keep their beaks trimmed.
I think your basic structure is great, and he looks good. Now comes the fun part of making it interesting for him.

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[jhigh81]

Thanks for the advice. I am definantly going to add to it, just didnt want to change it up too much since he was still getting used to his new place. Now that he is eating and doesnt seem as stressed I will start adding new things little by little. He really is cute, and seems pretty content. He likes to go on top of the hill leading up to his burrow and hang out, so I think I will make him another hill and another hid out. Maybe a log that he can go under but also climb on top.

 

[ascott]

Good job

I perhaps would lay those bricks across the top of the hide roof, then cover the entire thing with at least 8 inches of dirt (kinda like a man made mountain/hill) which will allow him a place to climb up on that is a smooth climbing surface as well as will provide him an insulated hide that will allow him to get cool/keep warm. I suggest a place for him to climb up on as I would maybe be concerned about flooding of the area in the event of a downpour (i don't see any real way for water to escape that area?)

You can throw down some topsoil, then you can throw down some seeds (maybe birdseed to start with) turf, weeds, etc...then a little more topsoil add a sprinkler for a little bit and waa laa....grazing can commence

Dandelions are a good one also to "try" to grow...LOL

 

[lynnedit]

Thanks for the advice. I am definantly going to add to it, just didnt want to change it up too much since he was still getting used to his new place. Now that he is eating and doesnt seem as stressed I will start adding new things little by little. He really is cute, and seems pretty content. He likes to go on top of the hill leading up to his burrow and hang out, so I think I will make him another hill and another hid out. Maybe a log that he can go under but also climb on top.

Sounds like the right way to do it!