...a new tortoise cozy design: The Ladybug!

Happy Friday! I thought you might enjoy seeing the fun little Ladybug tortoise cozy I just finished for a customer... 

The Ladybug cozy

New tortoise cozy design: The Cheeseburger Tortoise!!!

I'm excited to show you all my newest tortoise cozy design: 

...my foods... it  keeps walking off of my plate!

I am not quite sure what to call it... is it a Tortburger? A Cheesetortoise? A Burgertortoise? A Cheeseburger Tortoise? Any suggestions?

Whatever it is called, I think it is pretty darn funny...

As always, the tortoise cozies are intended as a 'for fun' item, and do not replace a heat source. Tortoise cozies should never be used near a heat source, and should only be on a tortoise that is well-supervised. This Tortoise Cheeseburger is NOT intended for being eaten. 

Working hard, building the new outdoor enclosure

In past Summers, the Russian tortoises have spent a lot of time outside in the sun, either roaming (under supervision) the lawn, or in large rubbermaid bins, the kid pool (without water) etc. - this year I decided it was time to put a more permanent outdoor enclosure in place. The west-facing flowerbeds seemed to be a good option, so I am working on converting them.

The wooden structure is about 1/2 done. It will be 5ft x 30ft.

I got some 4-ft sections of pressure treated lumber from one of our neighbors. They aren't the ideal size to work with, but it is hard to argue with 'free' and so I am making it work.
You may notice that I have irises growing in the area where the tortoises will be. Those will all be dug up before any tortoises are allowed in there... I'm just waiting for them to finish blooming. I want to transplant the 'fancy' irises, and will give away the 'normal' ones.
I have already planted or transplanted many tortoise safe plants into this area, and I also seeded it with the Tortoise Lady's seed mix (thank you, Lynne!). I'll still have to supplement with tortoise food I collect, but I am sure the tortoises will have fun chomping down on the good edible greens!

I dug a 'no-escape' trench, and filled it with river rock.

 Russian tortoises are incredible diggers, so when building an outdoor enclosure, it is important to make sure the tortoises will not escape. On the end (not shown here) I dug a deep trench and placed the pavers in there vertically. This took me nearly 6 hours for a 5-ft section... the soil was pure clay below the flower bed soil, with lots of rocks. I decided on a different solution in the front, 30-ft section: I dug the trench down to where the really rocky clay soil begins, about 6-8 inches, and then filled the trench with river rock. I anchored the cedar support posts in the rock, and placed cement pavers over top the trench. The pavers sit below the wood, so if the tortoises try to dig at the wooden edge, they will get nowhere.

The Russian tortoises got to play inside the makeshift pens while I worked

Not wanting to waste a perfectly good sunny day, I used some of the lumber to build some make-shift pens for the Russian tortoises. The one in the back was for Lady, who is still in quarantine. The one in the front has the other Russian tortoises in it. The plastic pans that I usually use for soaking provided good shade and shelter.

Mila, enjoying the sunshine. 

I took close-ups of all the tortoises, but only Mila's picture really turned out today. Do you see where the dark pigmentation is starting to grow into the bright yellow new growth? Yay for UVB!

Doing everything together

It never ceases to amaze me how my tortoises always seem to do everything together, in spite of all the space I provide for them. My little Russians bask together, eat together, sleep together. I know that tortoises aren't 'social' creatures, and that I shouldn't project human emotions onto them... but it is very hard not to think that on some level, they enjoy each other's company.

A pile of tortoises

Did you know that a group of multiple tortoises is called a 'bale' of tortoises? Random fact of the day...

Basking time!

It is interesting to me how much less territorial Roz has been since I moved the two other females into the big tort fort. He now hardly bothers the girls at all - which to be honest, is not entirely good, since I am hoping to get some tortoise eggs this year...

Soaking up some warmth and UVB together - look how big Timmy is!

I am curious to see over the next few years how big Jill and Mila grow to be in comparison to Timmy. She really dwarfs the others with her size.

Timmy and Jill

Timmy and Jill both have exceptionally pretty coloring - their shells are bright yellow! Jill's shell has more light yellow, which is probably just due to her young age, while Timmy has a rich golden hue. (The basking light makes their shells look a bit more bright in this picture than they actually are, btw)

My three females, basking together while Roz roams his territory.

My three females especially seem to like spending time together. They have a lot of space to roam, and yet they always seem to end up in the same spot!

Our Tort Fort gets a dresser

I finally finished our tort fort, and it is no longer sitting on the ground! Our friend built this for us, and now the top and bottom have finally been put together. I love having all the storage, and it looks so nice, too! (Thanks, Andy!)

Front view

The tortoise table is the first thing people see when they come into our house - I am so glad that it is finally functional AND 'pretty' - don't you love the leg design of the dresser underneath? They look just like the little half-rounded opening into the hide house.

3/4 view

Our friend Andy built this from his own design, after sitting down with me to plan it. The left side has a window that has a shutter, so I can look into the hide box, which is large, and filled with a nice deep layer of substrate for the tortoises to burrow in. I treated the oak with several layers of 2 different colors of stained polyurethane, so it matches our antique oak wardrobes, dressers and such.

The torts exploring their new substrate mound (Mount Coco) and rock pile

UPDATE: I took some more pictures of the tort fort in daylight. I added a pile of large-ish rocks for the torts to scramble over, as well as mounding the substrate up and over a very large flowerpot. The little Russians are having so much fun exploring!

The females basking together. Roz is hiding.

Our friend Andy made all the trim himself, by the way. You really have to see it up close to see how nicely he built it.

Daytime view of the tort fort.

I double-checked my temps with a temperature gun, too, after putting everything back together. The 'cool' end is room temperature, at 69-71 degrees F at substrate level. The warm side is 82 degrees, and immediately under the basking bulb, I measured 97-102 degrees.

Sunny day = Time to bask outside!

Today we had one of those wonderful, beautifully BRIGHT sunny winter days we sometimes have here in the Pacific Northwest (that's right, it is NOT gray all the time here!). It was only about 50 degrees F in the shade, but in the sunny spots of our yard, the ground temp measured at 70-75 degrees, so I brought the tortoises out into the yard to roam and soak up some 'real' sun for about half an hour. 

My oldest son helped me keep track of everyone - Russian tortoises are little Houdinis, and can really pick up some speed when they are determined. Roz, especially, is a little runner. Timmy is a digger, and kept trying to burrow.

Amidst herding tortoises, I got some really nice pics of them. 

Jill (front) and Roz (back) exploring

Mila sunning herself

Little Jill catching some good rays of sun

Roz and Jill soaking up some sun

All four torts eventually found the 'hot spot' by the downspout near the fence.
Do you see Timmy's bottom as she's trying to dig in?!

The three girls basking in the front, and Roz going off to explore.

Mila enjoying the sun

Timmy (my large female) climbing the pipe from the downspout

Little Jill looking just plain gorgeous and cute

Everyone basking in the hot spot by the fence

I like how these guys like to line up like a little train

Roz showing off his cute face, and his funny shell growth ring.

What a lovely afternoon, and we even came back inside with the same number of tortoises we started out with.

Synchronized tortoise basking

I just love my little Russian tortoises so much. They make me smile every day!

...copycat,  ballet, or synchronized tortoise basking?

Short video of Roz bobbing his head at Timmy

A Russian tortoise male bobs his head at a female as part of the courting behavior. Roz looks so funny when he does this. 

I like to imagine this is tortoise language for "How ya doin'?"

Timmy and Roz update

Timmy, our 'big' female Russian tortoise has been pretty heavily courted this past week. Roz just would not leave her alone. Although they have a large tort fort with lots of sight barriers and hiding opportunities, I decided to move Roz into a rubbermaid for a 'time out' for a few hours at a time to give Timmy some breathing room. 

Timmy is pretending to be camera shy.

In nature, Testudo horsfieldii tortoises only happen upon one another rarely, and mating can be quite violent. Timmy and Roz usually get along very well, basking together, eating together, snoozing together... but Roz has pursued her much more aggressively since we moved them into the larger tort table. 

Roz biting Timmy's front legs, to make her submit and let him mate her

I can't wait for the quarantine of Mila and Jill to be over, so they can move in with the others, hopefully distracting Roz a little, or rather, dividing his attention among the 3 females! 

Timmy basking, with Roz nearby

In the meantime, Timmy is holding her own pretty well - she is quite a bit larger than Roz, and either walks away, ignores him, or bulldozes him. I'm making sure she gets enough food and doesn't get stressed.

Roz is actually a real sweetie, most of the time!

Roz must think that he is quite the little stud. I do hope that we'll get some tortoise eggs this year from Timmy, and possibly even from Mila (Jill is still too young)...  I also look forward to letting the torts spend more time outside once the weather gets warmer!

Our new Tort table for our Russian tortoises, Timmy and Roz

We recently commissioned our friend to build us a sturdy and attractive red oak and oak ply tortoise table for Timmy and Roz. We figured that our torts would live with us for the rest of our lives, so their enclosure might as well not be an eye sore!

Yesterday I moved the torts in - our friend still has to build us a  stand that will go under the tort table, but I was eager to get Timmy and Roz settled into their new digs.

This is what the tort table looked like when we brought it home from our friend

I wanted the tort table to match our other furniture, which is 100+ year old oak. Our friend did a fantastic job imitating the style (and spent lots of time making beautiful trim!), and then I treated it with 1 coat of "Mission Oak"-tinted polyurethane, and 4 coats of "Warm Pecan"-tinted polyurethane. The tort table now looks as if it was made of the same oak as our antiques.

This is what it looked like when I was done treating the wood, and installing the glass:

As you can see, I already put in the substrate, basking rock, water, plants etc

The tort table is 6ft x a little less than 3ft. The walls are 22 inches high, so in time I can build a little second level over part of it. The whole area behind the left-hand panel is a nice roomy hide box.

Timmy and Roz having dinner - I put them in before planting the plants

I was so eager to put Timmy and Roz into their new enclosure that I moved them before I had time to put the plants in. They walked around, ate dinner, then dug themselves into the 5 inches of coco coir under their favorite flower pot hide.

Once the kids and the torts were in bed, I spent several hours finishing everything, planting some tort-safe plants, and adding more substrate. For substrate I used 4-5 inches of moist coconut coir mixed 1:1 by dry weight with play sand. The hide box has 7-8 inches of it. This was a total of 7 bricks of coir... thank goodness I had a 'buy-one-get-one-free' coupon!

View from the basking spot window

Here is a tour of the table:

1.) spider plant

2.) plastic box with organic soil and seeds (will sprout)

3.) water dish, re-purposed from a giant pie pan

4.) Christmas cactus

5.) flagstone basking spot - I scored it at the quarry (UVB tube light + basking lamp + ceramic heat lamp)

6.) entrance to the hide box - it's floor space is almost 3 square feet inside!

7.) prayer plant

8.) rocks around the water dish, to anchor it

9.) flat stone to feed the torts on (far enough away from the lights that leaves don't just dry out right away!)

10.) jade plant

These are the plants I planted - they are all safe for torts to eat, just in case they take a few chomps:

Spider plant (with some little succulents from my garden)
Also, organic soil with a variety of bird-seed and other seeds to sprout

Prayer Plant

Christmas cactus

Jade plant and a few other little succulents from the garden

The torts seem to really love their new enclosure. They were out basking under their lights when I got up this morning, and they spent all morning trashing exploring their new little landscape. The hay got tracked all over, and of course there is substrate in the water dish... *sigh*

Roz is half monkey

I am not entirely sure that the live plants will survive for very long... I will tolerate some level of destruction, and then may decide to rescue move the plants elsewhere.

I moved Boo into his new tort table, too, yesterday! He will get his own post.

New pics of Timmy and Roz

With all the business of taking pics of the rescued torts, I've been neglecting taking pics of Timmy and Roz. 

Yum yum, dandilions!

 I love that the climate here is mild enough that I can pick fresh dandelions and other edible weeds for most of the year.

Roz still has such a cute little baby face. 

Do you see the light fast-growth ring on his shell? That's actually not very good. He came to me that way, and now his growth has slowed down a bit with good healthy food. His old owner used to feed a lot of veggies and fruit, which are too high in sugar, protein, and starch. I only feed dark leafy greens - more on that in another post.

 

Timmy has such kind, gentle eyes. She is due for a beak trim. 

I'm actually planning to write a picture tutorial soon on how to properly trim a tortoise's beak. 

Weigh-in

It is generally not a bad idea to weigh and measure your tortoise(s) on a somewhat regular basis to make sure they are growing and gaining weight. Young tortoises should display steady slow growth. Older tortoises won't show much change, but at the very least they should not be losing weight.

I weigh Timmy and Roz about every 6 months as long as they are eating normally. I weigh rescue torts when I first get them, and then every few weeks after that, to make sure they are thriving. Keep in mind that weight may differ a little depending on whether they just ate or defecated... I usually weigh my torts after a bath, before their meal.

I use a metric kitchen scale. It doesn't have to be a metric scale - although both medical dosage calculations and growth charts are metric, so depending on what your purpose of weighing your torts may be, you might have to do a little conversion math. It's a good idea to take note of the weight every time somehow.

Roz gets weighed upside-down... he's half monkey, and wriggles out otherwise.

The most recent weigh-in was on November 3:
Timmy: 855g (7.3 inches shell length) ~remember, Timmy is female
Roz: 505g (5.5 inches shell length)
Joe: 500g (6 inches shell length)
Mo: 580g (6 inches shell length)
Boo: 475g (5.5 inches shell length) ~ I just got Boo, he's a little on the light side, but still ok.

Roz has definitely packed on some weight since I last weighed him - he was 475g at the beginning of the year. Mo is an old old man, so it isn't surprising that he is so heavy - he is one dense tortoise!

If you are unsure if your tortoise is a good weight, HERE is a good calculator using Jackson's Ratio. All my tortoises are within the healthy range.

In comparison, Norbert (aka Stumpy) weighed only 275g when I first rescued him, and he is the same size as Roz! I'm working on writing his rescue story down right now...

How we got Roz

After we had Timmy (our female) for a little over a year and a half, I was able to convince my husband to let me get a friend for her. Strictly speaking, Russian tortoises don't need to be kept in multiples. In the wild they rarely intersect with others of their kind, and they don't get lonely. I had however read that it is really fun to watch tortoises interact with each other. I can tell you first-hand that this is true!

Yet again I started watching Craigslist. I finally found a small Russian tortoise that had been gifted to a little girl for Christmas a few months before. The little girl had grown bored with the pet, and so her mother was looking for a new home. I drove about 45 mins to pick up the little one - he was living in a 10 gal tank with no hide spot, and a bowl full of veggies. He was a young male, a lot smaller than Timmy at about 5.5 inches, and he still had a baby face (more flat, shorter beak). His shell had a little bit of pyramiding (which looks quilted in RTs), and the growth ring on one side was a lot wider than on the other... most likely due to being fed the wrong kind of food. His eyes were clear and sparkly, and he peed on me the moment I picked him up. We left the tank behind, as pre-arranged with the old owner. My oldest son named him Roz.

First meeting of Timmy and Roz

Once we got home, I gave him a bath, and introduced him to Timmy on the floor (this was before I was aware of the necessity of 3-6 months quarantine, but thankfully, no harm came of this). It was so funny: Timmy started nodding her head at Roz as if she was saying: "How ya doin'?" to which Roz answered by bobbing his head.

Timmy and Roz walking around their enclosure

For the first few weeks, Roz very cautiously approached Timmy, bobbing his head at her... and Timmy bulldozed him every time. This was so funny to watch, but I also felt a little sorry for Roz... Timmy pulled her head in, and then approached Roz tank-style, bulldozing him into the corner, and then she walked away with a bit of a swagger. 

After a while, thankfully, this behavior stopped, and they seemed to get along splendidly, basking together, sleeping together, eating together. When I let them walk around a room or the yard, they follow each other everywhere.

Best friends, now

This Summer Roz suddenly figured out that he is a boy tortoise, and started courting and mating with Timmy. He is so much smaller than Timmy, and his voice is so squeaky... it makes us laugh every time. I was hoping for eggs this Fall, but Timmy didn't lay any. Maybe next year...

Next chapter: how I rescued and rehabilitated a malnourished, injured little Russian tortoise.