Crazy Manouria

Who woulda thought a species that dwells in dense forest habitats would dig cactus so much? Their first time seeing the stuff was yesterday:http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...psc71839e8.jpg


Something they're more likely to eat in the wild:http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps454f915c.jpg

Sweet potatoes are a favorite around here, cooked in microwave for a few minutes to soften them a bit then cooled:http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/100_0651.jpg

Munching on mushrooms while I flood their wallow:http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...psfbd2e0eb.jpg

http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/100_1074.jpg

Is this on a roof of some sort?

Oh wow they are so cute :) I love the pic of them and the cacti! Thanks for sharing them with us :)


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Aw the sweet potato photo is so cute


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My one regret for being a life long apartment dweller...no torts :(

Really like the set up you have for your guys :gj:

I wish the weather would hurry up and get warm so my guys can go back outside...a lot easier to deal with when they have a yard to roam

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MonkeyShuttle

Is this on a roof of some sort?

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Hah, no - those are just some low hanging limbs from a nearby tree. These guys shun bright light and have so far thwarted all of my attempts at growing plants inside their enclosure. The best I can manage it seems, besides offering multiple shade retreats, is leaving that tree untrimmed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KING JAMES

I wish the weather would hurry up and get warm so my guys can go back outside...a lot easier to deal with when they have a yard to roam

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Yeah, we get a few perks here in Florida with outdoor housing for our critters. I would not enjoy lugging these two inside on cooler nights - Martha is closing in on 50 pounds and still growing. They make do with a heated hide here when temps drop into the 50s and below.

these guys are adorable!!

It has been a year of planting for me. My hopes are to save my last arm and leg on tortoise food bills and be completely self sufficient with what I can grow in the yard. I planted ~20 spineless opuntia pads earlier this year and most of them are showing 2nd and 3rd tier growth. I planted some giant colocasia bulbs and they are growing like crazy - bonus on these is they're a natural part of manouria diet in the wild. I have a rose of sharon(hibiscus family) I planted last year that flowers like crazy. I reckon my next step will be to till up a plot and work on growing seasonal greens and sweet potatoes.

At the moment I have enough growing to get them 1-2 meals a week from the yard without destroying my plants. Here are some pictures of them snacking on my smaller variety of colocasia, a pad of opuntia(I'm still not trimming much of this back yet so a rare treat) and a few rose of sharon flowers. Martha goes straight for the colocasia just about every time while George is more of a flowers and cacti kind of guy.

http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...psb317ac0f.jpg

http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...psee7acefc.jpg

http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...psb2d2f341.jpg

http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...psca44e9c6.jpg


Martha eyeballin my shoes but decides the green in front of her is a better choice:
http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps2569f394.jpg

http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...psfbb036be.jpg

http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...psd9d67b7f.jpg

http://i839.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps958259b0.jpg

Very cool. Awesome you are going for self-sustaining your torts' diets. Sounds like a lot of hard and rewarding work. :)

1 and 6 are cool pics. I'd recommend throwing either to HOTM contest. ;)


Edit: Actually, sweet potato face a few posts earlier would probably be a great one for the contest.