Reptile & Amphibian Forums

very active little guy. Eating well for me-however, I mixed kale in with a variety of optunia, mazuri, carrot, cactus fruit, and he is picking out the kale only- most familiar compared to his iceberg diet that he had.
My temps are back at a range of 75-100, one spot reaches 110 but that is up on the ledge portion of my table.

No bubbling at his nostrils or noise when he breathes, or pulls his head into his shell-however, his legs move in and out (not dramatically, just slightly) while he is breathing. Mouth closed.

The plastron is hard, except for the umbilical area is softer. I don't have a hatch date, but he still has what appears to be an eggtooth. I dont know what happened with the messed up scutes on his plastron, but I will try and post a picture later today or tomorrow.

I know the UV bulbs cannot work this fast, so maybe the light from them makes color just look more vibrant-he was dull and pale and now seems brighter-of course that could be from the soak he received.
No HIGH hopes at all. But here goes sulcata adventure #2.

Tortoisehead- I dont know what sow thistle looks like- but I know there isnt anything around here right now like that- all we have is snow snow snow and more snow.Of course if any one wants to send me some, Im open to trying it .

It does sound like you have a healthy animal.

On the temps, you have to keep in mind that these guys are ectotherms. Without a good base temperature every other physiological function is not going to work properly. A low temperature is definately not good and we really don't know what 'too high' is within reason. The 100 to 110 F comes from good experience. I've got some tortoises that will bask in the sun at 110F. I'm going to make sure I get some measurements this year because they are dark colored on top of that. Once again, you can't go wrong by providing maximum choice.

Add to this the thought that you probably do not adjust the ambient temperature to accomodate the tortoise which means that temperatures in the enclosure probably vary pretty good.

Sow Thistle is a herbal remedy that is supposed to encourage liver function. The two organs that usually go in a severely sick tortoise is the liver and/or kidney. Hydration covers the kidney (the tortoise can't get too much water) and I've been playing with this Sow Thistle for a while. I don't think it can hurt and it might actually help. You can find it at Safeway (a major foodstore chain throughout the US) in the vitamin supplement section under the name Milk Thistle. I use a pill splitter to cut the pill into sizes that are half the size of the mouth cavity. I guess you can crush and sprinkle the powder on the food also. It is made of the seed of Milk Thistle. Spring time is the best time to find the plant and don't let the spines throw you off. The tortoises eat it all up.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Good luck with the little guy and remember...

Heat and hydration are the key factors.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

It sounds like he's doing pretty well. I'm glad.

If you go to the photo section here on Kingsnake and look at page 35 in the tortoise section (under chelonians) you will see a picture I posted some time ago featuring weeds that are good for tortoises. The sow thistle is on the right in the picture.