Hi, Melissa and all this time I was calling you Liz. I am glad Sparkles is going to be ok. My heart sinks every time I think there is something wrong with one of my little ones. So it does my heart good to know yours will be ok. And I think confusion comes with the territory. There are always so many different ways to care for animals and often more then one way works fine. It's just finding what works for you and Sparkles, and in time you will.

Thank you for your kind words Robyn.

Another question, I know that Sulcata's are a "dry" species but mine is still a hatchling. I always have a water dish available for her and she gets regular soakings. So, do I need to have humidity for her substrate or is it ok for it to be dry? Should I offer a humid hide for her? She has two hides right now, one on the cooler end and one on the hotter end.

This post was last modified: 01-29-2008 09:38 PM by Coldliz.

The fire question is a good concern. If the heat lamp close enough to cause fire, it is much to close for any animal. I'm not real familiar with african dryland torts but assuming 90 degrees as basking temp, any substrat should not be a fire hazard. I brood poultry at about 110 degrees with a 250 watt heat lamp about 18 to 24 inchs off aspen and never had scorching. Just watch your temps and secure your lamp.

Good infor Itort. Malissa I have a little sully that is about 4 inches and I do provide her with a slightly humid area. I had read that in the wild Sullys will dig down were it is humid so I figured I'd try and give her an area that is humid. So I placed Plants in one side of her enclosure and I water them regularly and mist them which raised the humidity. I find her on that side at least a couple time a day taking a nap or digging in the dirt. At night she tend to sleep under the heat lamp on the dry side but I decrease my house temps at night. Just my personal limited experience with this type of tort.

I'm going to try the sponge trick in one of the hides.

Now my big concern is to get her to gain weight.

I found that when my little Sulcata Squirt was sick she also lost weight. I have been giving her antibiotics and I raised her temps just a bit – about 5 degrees. She has now put on weight and is gaining, “Yeah”. I did have to tempt her with her favorite food raspberries but only one or two to get her going. Now she eats like a champ. She’s even waiting for me in the morning to be fed. I also soak her daily for now while she is recovering in warm water with Viti-sol (avian vitamins) for an extra boost. So I am sure if you raise her temp just a little, give her the humid hide that way she will be able to select it if she wants more humidity, and even, maybe, tempt her with a favorite morsel or two she should start to put on weight, once she begins to feels better.

Robyn - off topic a bit....Love hearing about Squirt! Do you have a pic of her enclosure so that I can try to set up something similar so that she feels a bit more cozy when the time comes?

I was suprised when the vet said she lost weight. She's been eating.

Robyn, are you not keeping Squirt?

Usually even if they are eating their intake or output is off when they aren't feeling well.
No ,Squirt is a foster and is slated to go to Dee in NJ. I have become very attached to her she is so sweet it will be hard to let her go.
Dee I will get a few shots and post them hopefully tonight, but by the weekend at least.

This post was last modified: 01-31-2008 12:37 PM by Crazy1.

awww, I didn't know she was a foster. I don't think I could do that!! I get too attached.

Her nose is already healing. I put the triple antibiotic on her nose once a day. The weird thing is, I think she knows I'm trying to help her. When I'm ready to put the ointment on her, I put it on a q-tip, and slowly touch it to her nose. She actually stretches her neck out to me like it feels good to her. I thought she would pull back. I'm offering food to her several times a day. She's been eating a little at each time. I've got the temps up and I have been soaking her daily.