- 種植食物和車前草 Plant and Herb

天氣回暖後，我打算種這草給盾盾作零食。
When the weather is warmer, I am planing to plant this for Tun Tun as a snack.

***後記: 種子可能放久了，沒有發芽。
Unfortunately the seeds did not sprout when I tried planting them in the summer.





　
車前草有助排石，我用熱水浸乾車前草，取其汁液，放涼後給盾盾浸浴。

The herb Plantain supposed to help rid of stones . I soaked the dried form in hot water, get the extract and soak Tun Tun with it after it is cooled.

也找到新鮮的車前草，但不知是否適合盾盾。
I found the fresh form too but not sure if it is ok to give to Tun Tun.

- 水盤 Water Access

如選擇放水盤，請選一個淺身及邊位底和不割手的水盤，方便龜龜出入。如邊位過高，龜龜容易返身，自己又不能返回，會因此缺水致死。市面上有爬蟲專用的水盤，或可選用膠盤蓋子，。盾臂龜不會游泳，故水位不要太髙，每天/骯髒時換水便可。
You may put out a shallow dish of water for your tortoise. Make sure that the dish is safe for your baby tortoise. The edge of the dish should not be sharp and it should be low so the tortoise can walk in and out without flipping or hurting himself. If a tortoise flipped over and not being flipped back in proper position, he may die from dehydration. Yes, they can’t flip back on their own.　You may choose a water dish specially made for reptiles or use a flat lid from a plastic container. Fill it up with water and change the water every day/when it is dirty. Keep the water level low so it won’t drown the tortoise. The tortoise may drink from the dish and then pass his waste there.

如選擇不放水盤，就一定要浸龜。食物提供的水份並不足夠，特別是幼龜。幼龜很容易缺水，而盾臂龜又容易結石。盾盾小時每天浸泡，100 g 後才開始隔天浸泡。
If you choose not to put out a water dish, make sure you soak your tortoise frequently. Some people may think that if they feed the tortoise fresh food, the water from the food is enough for them. Not really especially for baby tortoises. Baby tortoises are more vulnerable to dehydration and remember African Spurred Tort are prone to stone formation. I soak Tun Tun every day when she was very young. Then every other day after she reached 100 g.

- 補充鈣 Ca Supplelment

龜糧跟牧草已成為盾盾的主要食糧，畢竟盾臀龜是應該吃這種高纖低蛋白食物，而盾盾排便量亦有所増加。間中我們會餵牠一些新鮮蔬菜和鮮草，每星期至每兩星期會在牠的食物中灑上一點爬蟲動物鈣粉以提供生長需要（標籤上說應每星期灑鈣粉，但我怕過量會導致結石）。另外，我會定期觸試盾盾殼子的堅硬程度，感受有沒有變化，定期檢查龜龜是一個良好習慣喲！

Tun Tun does well with the Timothy hay + commercial pellets. This high fiber diet is better for her and that is her main diet now. She passed out more waste ever since the diet change too. We still give her some veggies + fresh grass from time to time. We also give her Ca supplement once in a week to once every two weeks to support her growth. I gave less than the recommended amount (once a week) coz it is a balance of healthy growth and stone formation. I just dust her food with tiny amount of Ca powder. Also, form a habbit to feel the hardness of the shell of your tort regularly. You may do that while you soak your tort.

生長過快或過慢均對龜龜不好，生長過快（如給予太多食物）會令龜龜的肝和腎受損，壽命減短等。過慢較少發生，通常主人都是過度餵飼。

曾在一個台灣龜友討論區看到一隻龜龜停止生長，可能是由於主人是夜班工人，故很晚才餵牠和照料牠。網主是一位有經驗龜友，亦未曾遇過這種情況，只好建議早上餵飼和盡量跟隨龜龜的天然習性飼養，最後結果我不清楚。

It is better to have a steadily slow growth instead of fast growth. That is the way they should be. Too fast growing means damage to the tortoises’ liver and kidney. Also shorten their lives.

Growing too slow rarely happens to these pets as they are often overfed by owners. Of course that is not good too. I remember seeing a thread in a Taiwanese forum that an owner complainted that his tort was not growing. That guy fed the tort very late at night since he worked nightshift. Basically a complete change of a tort's habit. I don't know how the tort end up but the host (an experienced tort keeper) suggested the owner to try to follow the tort's natural pattern of life (e.g., feed in the morning) as he had never seen this situation before.

- 轉食物 (牧草) Diet Change (Commercial Pellets + Timonthy Hay)

最初，盾盾不愛吃牧草。我買了些牧草，並把牧草剪細，然後用來餵給盾盾。 牠只是嗅一嗅，沒有其他行動 ，盾盾視牧草為底材多於食物，我們唯有試其他方法。後來在網上找到一些陸龜飼料,便買給牠再試，先用水浸軟龜糧，後給盾盾。不過盾盾對它亦沒有興趣，始終只愛新鮮蔬菜。

Initially Tun Tun did not like eating hay. We got her some Timothy hay and cut it into small pieces. She sniffed at it and just did not take it as food. So we tried to find other alternatives. After searching in the net, we found some commercial pellets for Tun Tun to try. We soaked the pellets in water to soften them a bit. The pellets smelled really good but Tun only loved her fresh vegetables.

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其間我們繼續嘗試餵牠牧草和龜糧，一直都沒有成功。直至盾盾體重升至100 克，牠才突然愛上龜糧，但對牧草仍舊沒有興趣，故我們只有把牧草混於浸軟的龜糧中，逼牠進食. 盾盾突然的口味轉變跟我另一隻寵物(飛河龜)很相似，可能與年齡有關。從此，我們便餵牠龜糧+牧草。

We tried feeding Tun Tun commercial pellets a few time but Tun still did not see it as food. Same for Timothy hay. It was after she was over 100 g and we gave it a try again. We soaked the pellet in small amount of water to soften it first. Then we put it on Tun Tun eating tile. She loved it this time. The sudden taste change may have something to do with her age since my fly river turtle, Fei Fei, suddenly change his taste buds too. So now we feed her pellet and mix it with Timothy Hay.


在尋找牧草給盾盾時找到一些餵給小兔和倉鼠的日本牧草，它們較我早前買散裝牧草的幼細和軟身，顏色亦較綠，更合盾盾幼嫩的喙子，但價錢較貴。我們先拿去較利和粗身的牧草，只選幼身的細至 1-1.5 cm，存放在儲物袋內，餵盾盾時才與浸透的龜糧混和。

When I looked at rabbit/hamster food at a pet store, there was a Japanese brand of hay that is smaller in size. The hay is finer (not as coarse) and greener in colour. Of course it is more expensive but it is not as tough as the first bulk pack we got so it will be easier for Tun’s beak. We cut them in 1 – 1.5 pieces removing the very sharp or hard stems store it in a zipping bag. That will be mixed with moisten commercial pellets prior to feeding.

- 高纖維低蛋白質餵飼 High Fiber Low Protein Diet

盾臂龜需要高纖維素，低蛋白質食物以維持健康 。這是他們在大自然的食物，適合他們的身體構造 。

It is important for African Spurred Tortoise to have a high fiber, low protein diet. That is what they have in nature and that is what their bodies are built for.



給予高蛋白質食物會令他們隆背 ，生長過速則導致腎臟和肝臟問題 ，生命因而縮短 。所以 ，別以為是一件好事。

It is believed that high protein diet is related to pyramiding problem in African Spurred Tortoise. Too much protein will also make them grow too fast. Growing too fast is not a good thing. Think about the kidney and liver damage in the long run. And shorter life span.

(左) 我在一個爬蟲動物協會的籌款項目看到這隻龜龜。牠重15 磅, 7 歲，非常健康，沒有隆背，主人一定很用心照顧牠，是一隻幸福的龜龜。
(Left) I saw this beautiful tort on a fund raising event for reptiles. She? is 7 years old and weighs 15 lbs. The owner takes very good care of the tort. She looks healthy and no pyramiding.

(右) 我在一個爬蟲公園看到這隻可憐隆背龜龜，我想牠是被遺棄的，之前的主人不懂照料，現住在爬蟲公園。隆背龜龜不但有隆起的殼，內臟可能已受損。
(Right) I saw this tort in a reptile park. I think he was abandoned and now lives in the park. This poor baby has pyramiding problem. Notice the lumps on his shell. Unforturnately, for pyramiding, not only the external is affected. Irregular growth may happen within the body too.

- 初期食物 (龜重< 100 g) Initial Diet (wt < 100 g)

蔬菜 Veggies

盾盾初來時 76 g，由於寵物店一直餵飼蔬菜，暫時只好跟隨，雖然知道牠們較適合用牧草餵詞。另外, 盾盾亦不肯吃其它東西。

When Tun Tun first came, she only weighed 76 g. I fed her veggies to begin with since that was what she used to have in the pet shop although I knew that African Spurred Tort would do better on hay. Besides, she had no interest in other foods

至於蔬菜，由於盾臂龜很容易有結石問題，絕對不能餵十字花科菜 (如菜芯、芥蘭、西蘭花、白菜、椰菜花等... 它們均有四片花瓣排列成十字形的花)。至於豆類亦不合適，因蛋白質太高。

African Spurred Tort are prone to have stone problem. Do not feed them Cruciferae (a.k.a. crucifers, Brassicaceae, charaterized by the four petals making a cross on their flowers). Examples include choy sum, kale, broccoli, bok choy and califlower. No beans either. They are too high in protein.

有關十字花科菜 More on Cruciferae:

Chinese

http://www.leafvein.net/plant_page/Cruciferae.htm

English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruciferous_vegetables

水果水份太高，未能提供足夠纖維素, 暫時也不行。我在初期 (龜重100g 前) 只餵油墨菜 Indian Lettuce、唐生菜 Chinese Lettuce 及羅馬生菜Roman Lettuce (不要和生菜Lettuce混淆呀)。盾盾很喜歡吃油墨菜 ，可能因味道濃吧！

Fruits are too high in moisture (not enough fiber), she may have some later in her life but not now. I only fed Tun Tun Indian Lettuce, Chinese Lettuce and Roman Lettuce until she weighed more than 100 g. Tun Tun loved Indian Lettuce probably because it was stronger in flavour.

由於幼龜喙子不能切割太硬的東西，蔬菜洗淨瀝乾後可剪至 1 - 1.5 cm，同時需把莖部及較粗葉脈移除。跟據台灣龜友經驗，喙子受傷後就算有手術做也不會縫針，只等天然癒合。蔬菜洗淨後才剪則可減少維他命C流失。

Baby tort can injure their beaks from biting food that are too hard. The beak does not always recover though. Even if you take the injuried tort to the vet, the vet may not be able to do anything (e.g., stitching is not possible) but to let the wound heal naturally. I removed the stem and the main vein from the leaves and cut them into bit size pieces (1-1.5 cm) for Tun Tun just in case. Prior to that, I washed the veggies carefully. If cutting is done before washing, more vitamin C will be lost during the process. So wash the veggies first, drain, then cut.

對於幼龜，有機菜是一個較好選擇。 盾盾這麼小(體重)，相信少量農薬亦對牠有影響吧，故我會盡量餵牠有機菜，或澈底洗淨和浸泡非有機菜才給盾盾。有時我會預早洗淨蔬菜，瀝乾水份後放於膠盒，儲存在冰箱中，蔬菜一般可存放數天，餵盾盾前才把蔬菜剪細。

Feeding your tort with organic green is a good idea as they are free from pesticides. Tun Tun was so small in size so even a small amount of pesticide could do damage. I fed her organic vegetables whenever possible. Or I washed and soaked my veggies very well before giving it to Tun Tun. Sometimes I prepared my veggies ahead of time. I washed and drained the veggies and put them in a plastic container. They can be stored in the fridge for a few days. Prior to feeding, I cut the leaves into small pieces.

盾盾小時候不是吃得很多，一日少於三塊葉子，相對其體型才算大食吧！通常牠於每天早上及黃昏約六時至六時半進食，進食時間非常有規律。
Tun Tun did not eat much when she was small. Well, relative to her size, she ate a lot. Baby Tun Tun ate less than 3 leaves a day. She ate in the morning and in the early evening (around 6 – 6:30 pm). Her lifestyle is quite routine.


以手餵飼能使龜龜更快信任主人，盾盾第一天以能用手餵飼，當然牠較大時, 我可要小心手指。

Hand feeding builds trust between the owner and the tort. Tun Tun was able to be hand fed the first day she arrived. Only need to be careful with your finger especially when the tortoise gets big.