Honda :)

[oiradio47]

here are a few pics of our African Spurred Sulcata land Tortoise. his name is "Honda" because he is slow and will run forever. He will live up to 150 years i believe. he is 5 years old now. he should be bigger, but we keep him in a large terrarium. He is moving into the corner of our basement in a few months. i'm going to build him a large pen so he can grow over 200lbs

[pitbullmamaliz]

Oooh he's neat-looking! How big is he now?

[oiradio47]

about 10" long, 6" wide, 5" tall

[Favorite Kitty]

oh my god is he cute! i would kiss his little head all day

[luvmypitties]

He is cute! And I like the name! It fits!

[Marinepits]

Now HE is coool!

[Beth]

He's a cutie

[cheekymunkee]

He is awesome!

[amazincc]

Wow... what do you feed him? He looks like he has some major pyramiding going on...

[luvmypitties]

Wow... what do you feed him? He looks like he has some major pyramiding going on...

The turtle expert is here!!! Is pyramiding a good thing or a bad thing?

[amazincc]

It's not a good thing, unfortunately... http://www.turtlestuff.com/pyramid.html

[luvmypitties]

It's not a good thing, unfortunately... http://www.turtlestuff.com/pyramid.html

Yea it doesnt sound too good. Thanks for the link. It was interesting!

[oiradio47]

Wow... what do you feed him? He looks like he has some major pyramiding going on...

FRESH..green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, carrots, tomatos, and some fruit

[amazincc]

I hope I don't offend you, but that diet is like feeding your pups Ol' Roy...

You might want to check this out -

DIET - A high fiber, low protein and calcium rich diet will ensure good digestive tract function and smooth growth. Geochelone sulcata fed on cat or dog foods frequently die from renal failure or from impacted bladder stones of solidified urates. Avoid over reliance upon 'supermarket' greens and fruits, which typically contain inadequate fiber levels, excessive pesticide residues and are too rich in sugar and should be avoided. African Spurred tortoises are a grazing species; every effort should be made to duplicate this diet in captivity. Fruit should be offered very rarely or not at all as the Spurred Tortoise’s digestive system is not equipped to handle high sugar content foods.

Adequate Diet:

Orchard grass or hay

Timothy or Bermuda grass or hay

Leafy greens (dandelions, clover, endive, grape leaves, mulberry leaves, weeds etc.)

Cactus pads

Additional calcium supplementation is essential. Powdered calcium can be sprinkled all foods. It is suggested that one use calcium supplemented with vitamin D3 if the animal is being maintained indoors and calcium without D3 if it is outdoors. Provision of a cuttlefish bone, which can be gnawed if desired, is also recommended.

Please don't feel like I'm getting in your business... when I first got my own turts, there was TONS of stuff I didn't know...

[pitbullmamaliz]

oiradio, Christine is part of an awesome turtle forum (Happy Turtle Pub, I believe). She's very much our resident expert on turtles. You should check out her forum and maybe they've got some more tips for you.

I thought the diet sounded very fresh and healthy - shows what I know!

[amazincc]

oiradio, Christine is part of an awesome turtle forum (Happy Turtle Pub, I believe). She's very much our resident expert on turtles. You should check out her forum and maybe they've got some more tips for you.

I thought the diet sounded very fresh and healthy - shows what I know!

Standard advise from pet store employees... if it doesn't have fur or fins, it MUST eat lettuce...

[oiradio47]

i'm not offended at all, that is just what my wife had read. even suggested in a book she had bought he rarely gets fruit, and my wife does make special trips to our local hispanic grocery store to get cactus pads for him.

this really worries me now. thank you for the information.

[amazincc]

Check out these links... they have excellent info...

http://www.chelonia.org/articles/sulcatacare.htm

http://home.earthlink.net/~rednine/sulcatacare.html

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/care/csulcata.html

[DropkickPA]

Find a feed store locally and you can get timothy grass (hay) for super cheap (nothing like what a rip-off pet stores are). If it's a big feed store with a lot of horse clientele, you should be able to get second cut hay, which tends to be greener and finer.

I get mine by the bale for $5.65. I got a nylon bale bag for storage for about $30 from Horse.com (good storage is important, you don't want it to get moldy or wet or anything). I have 3 guinea pigs, and a bale lasts me about 3-4 months. You could also see if the feed store is willing to sell it by the flake (anything more than about $0.75/flake is a rip-off).

[DropkickPA]

oiradio, Christine is part of an awesome turtle forum (Happy Turtle Pub, I believe). She's very much our resident expert on turtles. You should check out her forum and maybe they've got some more tips for you.

I thought the diet sounded very fresh and healthy - shows what I know!

Standard advise from pet store employees... if it doesn't have fur or fins, it MUST eat lettuce...

Tell me about it! I had pet store people trying to tell me that alfalfa is good for adult guinea pigs (if you don't mind fat, bladder stoney cavies, maybe). Mine get collard greens and spinach as treats, never lettuce as it is nutritionally valueless (romaine is okay on occasion).