# Baby Sulcata's indoor setup



## murdocjunior (Aug 2, 2009)

Hi im new to this forum, so just wana say hi, but ive had sulcatas for about 2 months now and these are my babies. Hope you like it, oh and i made the house, Thanks


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## Yvonne G (Aug 2, 2009)

Hi Murdoc:

I love that you've made the habitat eye-pleasing, and the tortoise shack is really cute. May I make a couple of suggestions? Straight sand isn't a good substrate. It would be better to buy a brick of coconut coir and mix that in with the sand. Then you add water and mix it up. The second suggestion is about the light. I think the sides of your aquarium are too high and that makes the light be too far above the floor. Have you placed a thermometer on the floor to see what kind of temperature range you are achieving? You want 75 or so on one end and 90 or so on the other end.

Wow! Three sulcatas!!! You are a glutton for punishment.  They grow fast.

Yvonne


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## murdocjunior (Aug 3, 2009)

Oh thank u, yes there is a themometer in the bottom and it range from 75 - 90. And i have calcium sand is that ok, or do i have to mix it as well? Thanks again


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## Stazz (Aug 3, 2009)

Any sand should be mixed with either the coconut coir or even organic soil !  Sand isnt too good for the torts legs, the substrate needs to be a bit harder, and with that mix, you can keep good humidity too.


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## murdocjunior (Aug 3, 2009)

Oh ok thts sounds good i will mix it. Thank you


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## Stazz (Aug 3, 2009)

You are so welcome!!!! Thats what we're here for


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## spring pace (Aug 3, 2009)

hi murdoc, welcome to the group. i guess you saw that setup at the pet store and thats why you have your sulcata in an aquarium when in fact its the worst place for your babies. those high glass sides trap in the heat and does not allow for air flow. its good to have a hot basking spot for the torts, but they also need a way to get away from the high temps. i love the house, it tells me you want to do the best for your little ones, but you can do better by using a lower sided, non glass enclosure, like a rubbermaid sweather box, they are opague white plastic about 18" wide and a little over 2' long and the sides are a quarter the height of the glass one you have. thatll mean youll need a stand for the light on one end, not in the middle of the enclosure. using a 50/50 mix of coir (bed a beast) NOT FOREST BLEND mixture and regular childresn play sand for home depot or lowes, etc. for humidity and enough of it so they can dig down if they want. the coir is a bit more expensive, but youll only need to change it out every 6 mos or so. the mix under the light has to be dampened w/ a cup or two of water often especially under the lighted area and can be kept a bit less wet on the cooler end, plus the water dish will be on that side and as active as sulcata are they will be speilling the water every day, sometimes twice a day ;o). i hpe you start on giving your torts hay right away, itss be very helpful to you that they learn to like it when they get bigger and eat more, especially w/ 3 of them. my suggestion is to get botanical hay from the oxbow co, it smells great, softer and has loads of the different flowers and weeds and grasses along w/ i believe is timothy hay. it may need to be soaked before each feeding to make it easier for their little mouths to eat and itll probably need to be ground more too, i used the dust from the bag to get my galileo started on eating it. i sure am glad i did, you will be too, because these guys grow fast and buying dandelions, greens annd such can get expensive. have you taken in stool samples to be checked for parasites yet? thats an especially good idea to do now, cuz it takes a long time to show up and can be a real helpful thing to know that their gut is working properly so their are no surprises later, like an eye is closed or one of them has stopped eating. sulcatas mouths should be stained from food, thats a sign that they are eating. their poop should look lots like horse or cow poop in texture too, that means they been getting a good amount of fiber, all very important to a healthy tort because dehydration is one of the #1 killers of babies. i rescued 2 little ones (too late im afraid) that was raised in a tank and one of them had a perfectly clean mouth, plugged nose and closed eyes. i worked w/ it for a week, got the eyes opened, hand fed it, but it was too late, it died a week after it came to me. the 2nd one was luckier, he got very sick too, but w/ a 9 day hospital stay and 6 mos of therapy, a complete change of habitat, he lived long enough to own a name and now hes my avatar, hes 6 years ols, 27#s, happy and healthy. its thru groups like this one, i learned how to properly take care of him, the groupd members taught me thats its not important what i want but what the torts NEEDS to get him to out live me. big smiles from galileo & spring


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## Nay (Aug 3, 2009)

I have to make a comment here. The fact that newbies come in and get treated and spoken to in a nice appealing helpful way is the reason I love this forum.. Murdoc, take what these folks say to heart, thay all have their heart into it.. Pet stores do what they can to sell you what they can, and truthfully many don't have a clue that aquariums are not tortoise friendly. Good luck with your new guys and hope you can make a big yard for them!!.
Welcome 
Na


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## murdocjunior (Aug 3, 2009)

Well thanks alot everybody for helping me and my babies out because i do want them to out live me


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## spring pace (Aug 3, 2009)

you betchum, makes my heart smile. galileo & spring


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## Maggie Cummings (Aug 3, 2009)

Welcome to the group. I just want stress what Spring and Yvonne have told you and that is your sand needs to be removed. Your babies look too dry and the sand is just sucking the life out of them. They need about 80% humidity. They need a substrate that you can keep moist. I recommend cypress mulch sometimes called forest floor. I like it better then the coir and sand because the coir will get all over the babies and in the food. Your babies need to be soaked everyday for about 10 minutes in warm water. Just put the water up to the spot where their top shell (carapace) meets the bottom shell(plastron). They will drink and poop and just have a gay old time in the water.
Here's a link to a care sheet that you can read up on how best to care for them. Please continue to ask questions, we love helping you. I however now expect you to make one of those cute houses for my tortoises

http://africantortoise.com/


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## 123456 (Aug 29, 2009)

Hey that's a cool setup I have a baby sulcata to but I haven't built him a house yet so I just put a wooden log in and he seems to like it


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## Laura (Oct 8, 2009)

What is thier diet? It looks like you have hay in a bowl. They are too young to eat that much..
Cute house! Any updated indoor pics?


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## Phoenix (Oct 8, 2009)

Wow

that's very small for such a group

sulcatas are fast growing tortoises, I suggest you to plan to change your enclosure.

The bigger, the better! that's what breeding sulcata mean ;-)

Well, I also agree that full-sand substrate can be problematic (they can eat sand, whihch can be problematic) A sand/dirt mix is a good option...

I suggest also to rise humidity. Your torts begin pyramiding, that's a clear sign of a dry enclosure. Having 60% H. is alright, but it can be even higher for young torts like yours. Youth always need more humidity.

Last but not least, if your torts can be kept outside, go ahead (even if you use a greenhouse). Breeding outside is often the best solution

cheers

PS

"Forest Floor" / Cypress bark is not that good. Because cypress wood is toxic if eaten.
In most cases, torts do not eat bark.

BUT

it is much more safe to avoid such substrate IMO.


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## Maggie Cummings (Oct 8, 2009)

Phoenix said:


> Wow
> 
> that's very small for such a group
> 
> ...





I have kept tortoises on cypress mulch for years. It is a good substrate that I recommend to everyone. It holds humidity well and doesn't mold. It is not toxic. Pine and cedar are toxic but not cypress mulch...


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## dreadyA (Oct 8, 2009)

I concur with the cypress. Doesn't dry out as easiy.The top layer may look dry but it still holds moisture inside.


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## f burkart (Oct 17, 2009)

i love the tortoise shack


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