What Plants Should I Use For Enclosure??
- Thread starter Prinmel
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This is the site that I use for most of my Turtle Gardens.
http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?mode=cl&col=all
http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?mode=cl&col=all
Hi Terry,or anyone), I was curious if you know what the flower is that is at the very top of the link Terry put on. It's not pictured, or at least I can't find it. It's before any wording. and it's blooming now where I live.
Thanks Nadine
Thanks Nadine
Prinmel said:
I would love to see a pic of your turtle and his enclosure. This would help us make suggestions. http://tinypic.com/ makes it really easy. It automatically resizes and you don't have to sign up or give them any info. Just upload and copy/paste the IMG code.
I will make it easy, he is the size of my palm for right now he is in a 10 gallon tank, with gravel and sand. Pictures can be found on the "help!! he never opened his eyes after hatching 2 years ago" thread he has a food dish and a water dish and thats it! Im trying to spruce it up for him.
Well, the first thing I would do to spruce things up for him is ditch the ten gallon tank. Tanks are not good for box turtles, because they don't allow for good airflow or a good temperature gradient. It is also much too small, even for that tiny of a turtle. Adding things is going to make it smaller. He needs more room.
The quickest and easiest way to get a new enclosure is to go to a store like Walmart and buy an under the bed storage box. It will give him a LOT more floor space, and should cost no more than $15.
For substrate, sand is not the best choice. It irritates eyes and the creases between the limbs, and can cause impaction and death if ingested. Gravel is worse. It is rough on the shell and WILL cause impaction and death if accidentally ingested. I would switch it to either a coconut coir, which is sold in a brick under the names of Eco Earth or Bed a Beast, cypress mulch, or orchid bark. You need something that is going to hold some humidity.
Plants are a great idea, but they have to be fertilizer and pesticide free. It takes up to six months of outdoor exposure for plants to shed the chemicals that nurseries put on them. I would get somethings now and set them out side to start detoxing them.
The quickest and easiest way to get a new enclosure is to go to a store like Walmart and buy an under the bed storage box. It will give him a LOT more floor space, and should cost no more than $15.
For substrate, sand is not the best choice. It irritates eyes and the creases between the limbs, and can cause impaction and death if ingested. Gravel is worse. It is rough on the shell and WILL cause impaction and death if accidentally ingested. I would switch it to either a coconut coir, which is sold in a brick under the names of Eco Earth or Bed a Beast, cypress mulch, or orchid bark. You need something that is going to hold some humidity.
Plants are a great idea, but they have to be fertilizer and pesticide free. It takes up to six months of outdoor exposure for plants to shed the chemicals that nurseries put on them. I would get somethings now and set them out side to start detoxing them.
It looks GREAT!!! Really nice job! I bet he is happier than a bug in a rug 
Very lucky little guy to have ended up with you
Very lucky little guy to have ended up with you
Is there someplace where he could dig under, or a hide or something? Your enclosure in nice, but boxies love to dig and hide a bit. I just put a pile of reptile moss in a corner where mine can hide if they want to.
Is this it Nay?
http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?catID=391
If you click on the color of the plant, like blue, then all the blue plants come up.
Is this it Nay?
http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plants_19.asp?catID=391
If you click on the color of the plant, like blue, then all the blue plants come up.
Prinmel said:
My favorite is buying a flat of edible plants (18X18). Locally I can get Dichondra. I have successfully been able to regenerate the food supply by broadcasting a broadleaf seed mix (for Mediterraneans) over the existing plants. By the time the kids mowed through, the seedlings are ready for harvest.
Keep watering every other day. Below is a snapshot of the flat I got on Mother's Day.
My next table will have 4 or more flats.
Thanks for the feedback all. I tried a piece of red fir bark but he climbed up it and that made me nervous, and I put him under it a few times and he quickly ran out. I am experimenting with places for him to dig. I have a little dish of grass clippings that he doesn't seem to notice, he walks through it but doesn't dig. Maybe I can let the grass grow tall on one side? I will keep trying stuff. But honestly, he really likes his food dish. That is were he sleeps. He just pulls his head in and sticks his shell up against the side. Otherwise he is parked under the light all day. He just sits there looking around and listening to what is going on. He walks around a lot now too. When I come over to see him he sticks his head up really high and turns his head side to side.
Give your little one enough mulch (cypress or other) to burough. I use the Forest Floor from Zoomed. keep it moist to simulate the moist soil in nature and to keep their shells smooth.
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