I have found Bermuda Grass as a good substrate for my 3 Sulcatas. I too have heard that Alfalfa hay and timothy hay are not good for Sulcatas. Mine have a diet of St. Augustine grass, Orchard grass, Hibiscus leaves and flowers, and roses.

Hope this helps.

David

I have a sulcatta hatchling with pinworms too and i have a question; can people get these pinworms from the tortoise or not and if so, is it easy to get them or if your careful is the chance really low. I dont mind the worms myself except that it affects my baby, but some people in my family are afraid of getting them. any info would be helpful thnx!

Regardless of if these are the type of pinworms you can catch or not they are a parasite and they are not the only thing reptiles can carry, let alone other animals including humans (don't get me started on what the family dog or cat can pass on to you or your child etc.)

As with any parasite if you practice good hand washing techniques your chances of passing anything your tortoise has to anyone is really, really, really low.
See The Importance of Hand Washing - Refresher Course Posted under
TortoiseForum.org / Everything Else / General Discussion

Last year we had reptiles with coccidia, pinworms, salmonella and roundworms...all being treated simultaneously.
Our kid's pediatrician is a realist...she has 3 kids too and 2 Russian Tortoises and a dog. Humans can aquire all kinds of parasites, illnesses etc from their pets. She said that raw meat and poor toileting habits are of far greater concern though.

None the less, we went ahead and had all 3 kids stools checked. Our boys are constantly holding their reptiles (our boys are all 10 and under). They have their reptile in their room. Our rules are no pets on the beds or in the kitchen. They also know that they have to wash their hands after handling their pets and sing the ABC song in their head while using the soap.

We discovered that coccidia is NOT killed by bleach, only 120*F+ heat or ammonia. But bleach kills nearly everything else. I also have Novalson that I use once every couple months on the enclosure.

****REMEMBER DO NOT MIX AMMONIA AND BLEACH. THE FUMES ARE TOXIC AND WILL KILL YOU****

The short message is yes you can get sick from any animal, another human, and the food and water in your hime. Wash your hands, get enough rest and enjoy what you have

(By the way I am a total germaphobe...so I have REALLY researched the chances...the more you read the more freaked out you can get...keep it in perspective)

thanks everyone, I really appreciate it =]. I always wash my hands before and after snuggling with my little buddy