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.

'Picnic' lunch in front of the Tort Fort

Our kids love watching my tortoises. Sometimes we even have a lunch 'picnic' in front of the Tort Fort! 

Eating lunch and watching the tortoises bask

Ps: I don't normally feed the tortoises on a plate. The weeds and greens were just so wet, and the slate was so covered in substrate, in stead of sweeping it off, today I just put the whole plate in after sprinkling the greens with TNT. 

Dirty water in 2 minutes!

Boo, our Greek tortoise is so funny. I give him fresh water every morning, and within a few minutes, he has stomped back and forth through it until it is completely soiled with coco coir.

One little piggy, stomping through his water!

I think he just likes making me look bad, when guests come over. "No really, I change his water every day!"

Boo the Greek tortoise update

My little Antakyan Greek tortoise is doing so well. He is VERY active in his new tortoise table: he RUNS all over the place, climbs all over his pumpkin and his rocks, walks through his water dish, basks for a while, then runs and clonks all over again.
It is amazing what a nice big habitat, proper UVB light, and good heat and food will do for a previously lethargic, scared tortoise.

Boo is still kind of shy

He is becoming less of a picky eater, as well. His old owner fed him mostly romaine lettuce, so for several months, Boo refused to eat anything else. My stubbornness finally won out - I gave him NO more romaine, and for a while he wouldn't touch the other, more healthy, leafy greens I offered. I just kept removing the untouched greens, and replacing them with new ones each day. Then a few weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had eaten most of his meal! He still has a smaller appetite than my Russian tortoises, but then again, those four are little piggies.

Boo loves being in the water

Boo's colors really come out when he's in the water soaking, which is why so many pictures that I take are of him soaking in the water. He has access to a water dish in his tortoise table, and I soak him in his big tub 1-2 times per week.

Boo = NOT an aquatic species. 

Greek tortoises are desert and steppe dwellers - they like heat, and they eat a high fiber diet of different greens and weeds. Counter to what many people believe, however, they DO need access to water in their enclosure, and they DO need to be soaked regularly to stay hydrated.

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!

Boo's new tort enclosure

I am so excited to show you all our Greek tortoise Boo's new enclosure! I built this from my own design - and I had fun painting it. I had to use my neighbor's tools, and he took over a little lot more of the work than I would have chosen... however, truth be told, the end result is probably much more sturdy than it would have been if I had built it completely by myself. Boo's new tort fort is both functional, and attractive.

As you may have already read, I rescued Boo from a family who kept him in a tiny 20-gallon aquarium in the winter, and in the Summer kept him in the garden, tethered by a ring drilled into his shell.

This is what Boo used to live in:

20 gallon aquarium

...and this is what Boo lives in now:

48"L x 18"W x 15"H wood and glass enclosure

In the grand scheme of tortoise tables, even this new one is actually not very large. In a few years I am going to build Boo a much larger enclosure, and this tort fort will turn into the Russian tortoise nursery... (you know, when Timmy lays some eggs? *wishful thinking*)

The challenge, when building a tortoise table, is that tortoises are happier when they have solid walls around them. They can't grasp the concept of glass, and continually attempt to walk through it. However, the large dresser that I wanted to set the enclosure on was high enough up that nobody would have been able to see in if all four walls were made of wood. I created a simple design that allowed for three solid wood walls, and glass in the front for easier viewing. (I got the 1/4" thick tempered glass on Craigslist for $3!)

...done painting and staining, still need the glass front and the vinyl flooring

I built this tortoise enclosure out of stain grade wooden boards treated with several coats of 'mission oak'-tinted polyurethane, with vinyl flooring, caulked cracks, and a glass front that I decoupaged and painted a sight barrier on the bottom 4.5 inches. I painted a little mural on the back that matches the design of our curtains. The hide box doubles as a plant stand (and the flower pot helps prevent Boo from climbing up and out - he's half monkey!)

...the glass is installed, and the UV light is in place.

 For substrate I used a mix of moistened coconut coir and sand. The coco coir is 4 inches deep, except in the hide box, where it is closer to 6.5 inches. Boo will be able to burrow to his heart's content.

Live spider plant, and some bird seed, barley, and kale planted in some organic soil

 I planted some seeds in a plastic container of organic soil. They have sprouted in the meantime, and Boo enjoys nibbling on the sprouts, as well as digging in the soil. The spider plant has taken somewhat of a beating, too, since Boo keeps trying to climb it.

All moved in! 

 Once I was content with the set-up, I moved the basking lamps over from the little aquarium, and moved Boo in. The flat basking rock is nice and big, and helps hold the basking temperature at a steady 95-100 degrees F. The UVB light is installed in a way that Boo will benefit from as he moves around his tort fort.

This plant got replaced with a pumpkin in the meantime, until I find a good climbing rock.
The jade plant didn't survive Boo's climbing for long.

 Have I mentioned that Boo is half monkey? Tortoises seem to find the most complicated route to get from a) to b) and then they make it more interesting by doing acrobatics along the way. They are especially happy if in the process they can drag as much substrate and food into their water dish as possible.

All tuckered out from exploring and climbing!

At the end of the day, Boo luxuriously dug into his 6+ inches of substrate in his hide house and went to sleep!

I hope that some day Boo will learn to trust me enough to eat out of my hand. He is a VERY picky eater, and he still pulls into his shell any time someone reaches into the tort table (I don't blame him, after being disrespected by his old owners). He does seem so much more happy in his new enclosure, though. He is very active, explores, basks, climbs, digs... he is able to look out through the glass if he climbs to a high point, and he definitely watches the kids as they play.

Boo is still very shy...

...but with much patience...

...he is getting used to me!

Peek-a-Boo!

Boo (the incredibly shy Greek tortoise) is still being incredibly shy... but he is warming up just a little! A few days ago he stayed outside of his shell for long enough that I could trim his beak a little. It still needs more trimming, but this is already SO much better than it was before!

Boo! (Aaaah!)

I am almost finished with his nice new tort table (remember, he's still living in the little aquarium his old owner kept him in). I've been working on it for 2 weeks, have dried the 6th layer of polyurethane, and just caulked the cracks today. It looks so nice! It has wood on 3 sides, and then 1 side has glass, but the bottom 5 inches are opaque. I went a little artsy, and I painted a fun design on the back wall that matches the design of our curtains, and I also built a little hide house. I still have to install the linoleum floor, and then wait for a few days for the poly smell to fade, then he can move in! I'll post pics on here, of course. I'm hoping I can move him into his new table this weekend. Boy will he love having all that room to roam!