Crazy Critters Inc. is a Non-Profit, 501(c)3, Private Exotic Animal Rescue, Sanctuary, and Conservancy.
This Wildlife Facility is located in Eustis, Florida. Crazy Critters Inc. was established to provide non-domestic, non-releasable animals with a safe and permanent home. At the moment the facility houses animals including lizards, turtles, skinks, geckos, and birds.
Animals are not on display as in a zoo setting, instead, we provide animal education during private events.
Caring for succulents indoors this winter means not coddling them as you would African violets, ferns, and others.
Though many including Sempervivum and Pedilanthus develop their best foliage colors during the colder days.
Many succulents get very leggy and weak if not given bright light. Exceptions such as Sansevieria, String Of Pearl, Ponytail Palm, and Hoya tolerate fairly low light levels.
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A very successful indoor succulent garden will be in or near an east, south-west window that gets a few hours of direct sun.
For the plants whose leaves scorch in direct sun, providing them with shade or a sheer curtain, You will even find success in a south- or west-facing window.
Because many succulent species grow slowly indoors, especially in the cooler, darker winter months, they don’t need any fertilizer until the spring or summer.
Take Your Succulents Outdoors On Nice Days!
Succulents have incredible shapes, colors, and textures, that fascinates most of us.
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The high tolerance of moderate light, low humidity, and weeks of neglect.
Succulent houseplants such as a mother-in-law’s tongue(Sansevieria) or Kalanchoe has graced many windows sills, or are gifted.
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A perfect example is Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera) because it simply won’t die. Making it the perfect gift-giving item.
But that does not mean you do not have to show them a little love! Take them outdoors when the temperature allows. Click to read Are Succulents Okay Outside In The Cold?
Old-hand gardeners know that indoor succulent plants require a certain amount of neglect.
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Planting succulents indoors are not different from other plants in pots.
In their arid or seasonally-dry native lands, they developed the ability to store their own water supplies within fleshy leaves, stems, or roots. Especially in the winter months.
Make sure any vessel or pots have drainage holes or lay them on their sides after watering to allow excess water to drain out.
You may mist the plants more often instead of dumping water on the foliage or take a chance or drowning the roots. Click here to read our recipe for The Perfect Solution For Healthy Plants.
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When first planting succulents in pots, choose a well-drained potting soil such as a ready-made cactus mix.
For a really good DIY succulent potting mix that won’t stay too wet, add extra pumice, sharp sand, grit, or perlite to help drainage without breaking down with time.
One of the best suggestions we have heard is to use pool filter sand.
When potting succulents, you will notice how shallow and brittle their roots are.
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Gently loosen other soil, and sift the new soil around the roots, using your fingers or blunt end of a pencil to tamp it lightly as you go.
You should cover the surface with sand or gravel or grit to prevent the succulent leaves from rotting.
It is always suggested that you allow the plants to dry out a few days before watering. It is easier to kill a succulent by over watering it.
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The Crown Of Thorns (Euphorbia milii) species is native to Madagascar. The species name commemorates Baron Milius, once Governor of Réunion, who introduced the species to France in 1821. It is suspected that the species was introduced to the Middle East in ancient times.
The plant gets its common name from the legend that the thorny crown worn by Jesus at his crucifixion was made from sections of this plant.
Heat tolerant and drought resistant, the crown of thorns plant is a real gem. You can plant crown of thorns in the garden in warm climates. Crown Of Thorns is one of the few succulents with real leaves that are thick, fleshy, and tear-shaped. The leaves appear on stems that are armed with sharp, inch-long spines.
Caring for Outdoor Crown of Thorns…
You should plant Crown Of Thorns euphorbia shrubs in full sun for best blossoms. The plants also tolerate salt spray.
As with any shrub, a crown of thorns plant needs irrigation after transplant until its root system gets established.
After that, you can cut back on water thanks to its great drought tolerance.
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If you are lucky enough to live in one of the warmer areas of the country, you’ll enjoy growing crown of thorns outdoors as a small shrub outdoors.
Plant Crown Of Thorns in the garden in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 10 and above.
Planted correctly, the plant offers a mass of delicate blossoms all year round. Crown Of Thorns is great as an outdoor shrub in warm climates, as it is extremely tolerant of high temperatures.
It even thrives in temperatures above 90º F. (32 C.). You can add this flowering succulent to your garden without worrying much about maintenance.
Caring for an outdoor crown of thorns is a breeze. Just be sure to protect it from frost and freeze. This species of the plant does not like temperatures below 50 F. The cooler weather will stress the plant out, depending on where you live. The plant can withstand temperatures as low as 50 F. in winter and as high as 100 F. in summer.
How to Grow Crown of Thorns Indoors
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This succulent plant needs lots of sunlight. If you want the crown of thorns as a houseplant, position it in a bright, sunny window on the west or south side of your home.
Unlike many houseplants, bright light and likes direct sunlight.
Crown of thorns houseplant care begins with placing the plant in the best possible location. The plant will enjoy three to four hours of direct sunlight each day.
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Growing the plant is easy because it adapts well to normal room temperatures and in dry indoor environments. It also forgives occasional missed waterings and feedings without complaint. Average room temperatures of between 65-75 F. (18-24 C.) degrees Fahrenheit are fine.
From spring through late fall, water the indoor Crown of Thorns plant when the soil is dry at a depth of about an inch, which is about the length of your finger to the first knuckle. Water the plant by flooding the pot with water. After all of the excess water has drained through, empty the saucer under the pot so that the roots aren’t left sitting in water. In winter, allow the soil to dry to a depth of 2 or 3 inches before watering.
Watering Crown Of Thorns…
Although Crown of Thorns belongs to the species of succulents, it can only store a limited amount of water using its stems. The plant has evolved to also take in water through the leaves, so misting the plant on a daily basis may help.
In fact, spraying with a weak saline solution works great because this plant does well at the seaside.
The root ball should not remain moist for an extended period to avoid root rot. Water the plant on a weekly basis and remember to allow the soil to dry completely.
When planting outside, a sunny rock garden makes an excellent setting. If mixed in with cactus and other xeriscape type plants, the crown of thorns looks very attractive.
As with all succulents and cacti, provide the soil with excellent drainage. A soil mixture containing about one-third perlite or pumice makes a good well-drained soil option.
Crown Of Thorn Blooms…
Blooms appear mostly throughout the spring and late into the summer. However, in ideal conditions, the plant can produce flowers year-round.
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Flower colors are in shades of pink, salmon, red, orange, yellow and bicolor. The showy portion of the terminal inflorescence of these hybrids is a modified pair of bracts called cyathophylls.
The bracts of the hybrids are usually 1 inch across and produced in terminal clusters, usually with eight cyathophylls in each cluster. Flower buds are set in the leaf axils of each leaf, so it is not
It is not uncommon to see heads of 4 or more inches across. Unlike E. millii, which tends to flower best during the short days of the year, the hybrids are day-length insensitive and form flower buds as long as the plant is growing.
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The plant grows well if placed under the direct bright light in areas with cooler summers. In the regions governed by scorching, summer weather, set the plant in areas with good afternoon shade to avoid withering. Do not overdo with the shade as too much of it results in reduced flower production.
In outdoor containers, you may use a prepared cactus soil mix. Give the pot plenty of drainage holes and place it in a place where it can get ample sunlight. Start your planting process with a layer of gravel on the bottom to ensure excellent drainage.
If a sudden decrease in leaves happens, you must take the necessary steps to determine its cause. More often than not, excessive watering or poor drainage usually result to this. After solving the problem, the leaves may grow healthy again.
To monitor the well-being of your Crown of Thorns plant, always check on its leaves. Sporadic shedding from mature stems does not indicate a problem. But if all of the leaves fall off suddenly, it signals stress which poses a threat to your plant.
Very Little Fertilizer For Crowns Of Thorns…
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The plant needs minimal nourishment but does respond to slow-release fertilizer. Although the crown of thorns plants remains healthy even without fertilizers, an occasional, diluted dose of basic fertilizer helps with bloom production.
However, choose a type of fertilizer without boron as the plant reacts sensitively to this micronutrient.
This interesting succulent does not grow quickly and does not need a large amount of fertilizer. In the landscape, you should use a diluted solution of a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10) once a month in the springtime and throughout the summer. If using a granulated fertilizer, give four tablespoons per 10 square feet.
What To Do With Crown Of Thorn During Winter Month…
Letting the Crown of Thorns houseplant stay outside in the summertime seems like a good idea. On the other hand, it takes little cold and damp to kill a Crown of Thorns plant or to get root rot started in potted specimens.
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For this reason, move both container plants and potted plants indoors before the onset of rain or the winter season.
Transition the crown of thorns plants gradually when you move them back outdoors in the springtime. Acclimate your plants by placing them outdoors in partial shade for one or two weeks before moving them into bright sunlight.
Check for all danger of frost and make sure those already melted before acclimation.
Crown Of Thorn Diseases And Pests…
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Generally speaking, infestations and diseases plague crown of thorns rarely. However, plants kept indoors may occasionally encounter problems with spider mites on plants, different types of scale insects, and playing host to mealybugs.
As a solution to pests, wipe the foliage with a cotton ball or cotton swab dipped a few seconds in soapy water. You can also wash your plant under running water but try not to soak the soil. Otherwise, it may lead to a root rot.
We recommend using a pump up sprayer. Soaking a tea bag overnight, afterward remove the teabag adding a teaspoon of Epson Salt and a drop of Dawn dish soap. This works well as a regular way to provide moisture and fight diseases.
Maintenance And Pruning…
In the autumn, remove old branches with most of its leaves withered. This will stimulate more new growth when springtime arrives. Prune lightly to maintain the size and shape of your plants. Although evergreen, the crown of thorns naturally grows more vigorously throughout the spring and summer.
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Remove dead, fallen leaves, and flowers from the surface of the soil. This will help with soil aeration and prevents fungal disease. Moreover, cut background leaves, stems, and other unattractive growth.
Avoid contact with the sap of the plant when you trim. This toxic, milky, white sap causes skin irritation and eye problems. In fact, getting the fluid in your eyes can result in temporary blindness.
Clean your pruners thoroughly after each use. Wash the tool with water and wipe it clean using a cloth disinfected with rubbing alcohol.
Propagating Crown Of Thorns…
If you love the crown of thorns in the garden and want more, it’s easy to propagate from tip cuttings. Simply take cuttings from your younger branches during the growing season. Use a clean, sharp blade (e.g. a razor blade) to take the cutting at the point where the branch meets the trunk.
Quickly dip the end of your cutting into warm water to prevent the sap from running out.
Lay your cuttings on a paper towel or newspaper for a few days to dry and callus the ends. Prepare a pot of damp sand. Dip the callused ends of the cuttings into a rooting hormone product. Poke the callused ends of your cuttings into the wet soil.
Place the Crown of Thorn’s pot in a warm (75°F) location with bright indirect light and wait. Refrain from watering for a couple of weeks. Within a few weeks, your cutting will develop roots. You can tell by tugging gently on the cutting. If it offers resistance, you know that roots formed already. After about a month, new signs of growth will appear. At this point, begin watering lightly.
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We are often asked what sort of diet we provide. For the most part, we provide grass, weeds, and flowers. Then we add cactus and succulents. After that we use Mazuri Food products, then produce. But how much and how often you ask? Not even once per week with many delicious edibles. Many produce products carry high water content. And this proves to be too much for these desert tortoises and their tiny livers.
Five common dietary problems
Not providing enough fiber
Providing too much protein
Giving fruit or other sugary foods too often
Not providing enough calcium, or the right calcium/phosphorus balance
Generally overfeeding the tortoise
Sulcata tortoises have evolved to deal with harsh life in a semi-arid environment, Where the only food available for much of the year is dry grasses and weeds. Sulcata tortoises require a very high-fiber, grass-based diet to stay healthy. If you feed the wrong foods to your tortoise, it will grow too quickly, develop a bumpy, pyramided shell, and may develop other health problems that could drastically shorten its lifespan.
Grazing tortoise species such as leopard and sulcata rely on beneficial bacteria in their intestines to help them digest and extract nourishment from the grasses that they eat. If you give your tortoise large amounts of fruit, the acids and sugars in the fruit can actually change the pH of the tortoise’s digestive tract, and this pH change can cause the beneficial bacteria in the tortoise’s gut to die off. When large quantities of gut bacteria die, they release toxins that can cross the gut wall and enter the tortoise’s bloodstream, causing the tortoise to experience a form of Toxic Shock Syndrome that can be fatal.
Grasses and hay 100% Of The Time!
Sulcata tortoises NEED access to grasses and hay on which to graze. The bulk of their diet should be from pesticide and herbicide free grass and grass cuttings, cheatgrass, clover, edible flowers (nasturtium, geraniums, hibiscus, rose petals) and shrubs.
Avoid feeding predominately alfalfa hay, as this is high in oxalates and can cause stone formation within the bladder, kidney failure and decrease life-span.
Grass hays to offer include Timothy, Meadow Grass, Oat Hay, Orchard grass.
Warning! It Is HarmfulTo Give Your Torts Hay That Has Mold!
This Includes Food & Bedding!
Greens and vegetables: 60% Of The Diet!
Leafy greens can be offered often. We suggest 40% of the veggie diet should include collard greens, kale, mustard, turnip, and dandelion greens. Limit greens that are high in oxalates, such as parsley, spinach, rhubarb, beet greens, and collard greens. You have to be careful with Spinach, and collard greens. It is okay to feed these. But it should NOT be the only or bulk of the veggie greens! It is perfectly okay to feed these items one to five percent of the time. (1-5 times out of 100 times)
Other vegetables should be about 20% of the veggie diet. These can include grated raw carrots, winter squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, broccoli, corn on the cob; greens such as collards, dandelions, escarole, romaine, kale. You have to be careful with kale, and broccoli. It is okay to feed these. But it should NOT be the only or bulk of the veggie greens! It is perfectly okay to feed these items one to five percent of the time. (1-5 times out of 100 times)
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Fruits:20% Of The Diet!
Fruits should be fed sparingly, as a treat. These tend to be high in sugar and water content, both of which sulcatas are not accustomed to receiving in the wild. Fruits that are appropriate to offer as treats include strawberries, chunks of organically grown bananas with skin, cantaloupe with rind attached, berries; peaches (no pits), apricots (no pits), pears, apples
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Sulcata tortoises require a great deal of calcium in their diet to help them grow healthy bones and shells. The Sahel area of Africa where sulcata naturally occur is a semi-arid region that has calcium-rich soils. African Sulcata tortoises, therefore, get sufficient calcium by eating the grasses that grow in these calcium-laden soils.
Sprinkle Some Extra Love!
In choosing a calcium supplement, make sure you choose one that does NOT contain Phosphorus. Calcium (CA) and Phosphorus (P) are both necessary to build healthy bone tissue. However, the phosphorus available in most food items is used much more readily by the tortoise’s body than calcium, so you really don’t need to supply any additional phosphorus to your tortoise.
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Baby and smaller sulcatas have a harder time eating the tougher grass and hay because of their less powerful jaws.
Sulcatas respond to bright colors, so always include at least one vividly colored food in your selection. This also means that you must keep inedible brightly colored things away from them!
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Mazuri is a world leader in quality exotic animal nutrition for virtually every living exotic animal. All I know is we trusted this food source even before our veterinarian told us it was one of the most important things to include in the diet. Click here to go to the Mazuri website.
What Foods Should You Avoid?
Certain foods contain oxalic acid compounds that prevent the body from absorbing calcium from food. You should AVOID feeding your African tortoise the following foods regularly because of the oxalic acids in them:
Spinach
Kale
Broccoli
Mustard Greens
Cauliflower
Regularly is the keyword. If you have a small amount of any of these, you can feed it on occasion,
Avoid over-feeding your tortoise. Sulcata tortoises can experience a variety of health problems when they are fed the wrong food’s. Equally, they can also have problems when they are fed too much of the right foods. Overfeeding is the single biggest mistake that most tortoise keepers make. Reptiles have slower metabolisms than mammals like dogs and cats, so they really do not need to take in as much food as you might think.
You should also consider the activity level of your tortoise. Can he go outdoors and walk around a secure yard every day? Or does he stay indoors on a small tortoise table? If your tortoise is mostly sedentary, he doesn’t need to be fed every day. Really! Every other day is fine, even though he may look up at you with pleading eyes in between feedings.
