Please point me in the right direction

[furlotre2001]

Hi Everyone
3 days ago I got a 3 year old Salcata Tortoise and have been doing my very best to make him or her a great home. During the day I have been able to let him roam my closed in back yard weather permitting and at night as it's to cold I bring him in. I think I have done a pretty good job on his indoor enclosure in just 3 days but I am a bit confused on his moist hide temperature for night time, is there a link here on what the temperature should be in the hide at night? I have a 130 watt ceramic heat element over his hide at night, as well I worry about what the hide should be made of? Oh and at his or her age do I need to put something over most of it enclosed to help with the moisture? I have him on coir fibre that has been moistened and I have moss in his warm hide not in the closet hide.

I am sure these question has been answered many times on here but I can't seem to find them.

Thank you in advance

Included some pictures of him/her and the enclosure so far

 

[furlotre2001]

This is him or her

 

[Yvonne G]

Nice looking tortoise!

Have you read the pinned threads at the top of the sulcata section? Here's a couple links:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

I would move the lights to the middle.

 

[furlotre2001]

Ty for your reply but I see that he mentions hatchlings in this tread but is it the same for juveniles?

 

[Gillian M]

View attachment 187782

This is him or her

A very warm welcome to the forum to you and your cute tot.

Whereabouts do you live and what's the weather like back there? Please make sure your tort is warm enough and that there's enough humidity, so as to avoid dehydration, and to stop the pyramiding. Do you soak him/her in warm water? @Lyn W has a cute Leopard tort and may be able to give you more advise, here.

 

[furlotre2001]

A very warm welcome to the forum to you and your cute tot.

Whereabouts do you live and what's the weather like back there? Please make sure your tort is warm enough and that there's enough humidity, so as to avoid dehydration, and to stop the pyramiding. Do you soak him/her in warm water? @Lyn W has a cute Leopard tort and may be able to give you more advise, here.



Sorry not sure how to add your comment above mine yet as I am new here so I had to cut and paste it to reply to each question

I live in Ontario, Canada and the day time weather is at about 70 durring the day but has been cooler some days and only 55 at night so to cold for him stay out at night.

I have been trying to keep his basking spot at 95 and warm area around 80, tonight I put a CHE above his moist hide to make sure it's warm at night. The substrate is moist and he has moistened moss in his warm hide as well, I bathed him 3 days ago and plan on doing it again tomorrow.

 

[Tom]

Hello. Good questions there.

Temperature in the entire enclosure, to include the humid hide, should be around 80ish overnight.

The info in the sulcata care sheet applies to juveniles too. Higher humidity will help offset the desiccating effects of the over head lamps and keep the tortoise growing smoothly. It will be difficult to maintain even moderate humidity in an open topped enclosure like yours.

The plastic hide on the dark side of your enclosure could work as a humid hide, but the open ended log hide will not hold in humidity well enough.

All of mine try to eat moss, so watch out for that. Personally, I would just remove it before there is a problem.

In looking at your pics:
Few of them will eat the ZooMed pellets by themselves. Try mixing small amounts in with the day's greens.

What are you running in that dome hood? Those tend to over heat MVBs and shorten their lifespan.

I think your enclosure would be a good size for a baby, but its much too small for a three year old.

Your tortoise looks to be in good shape and growing nicely. A good find.

 

[furlotre2001]

Ty so much for your reply

I have a sun glo bulb in the big dome for heat and UVB as I live in Canada and it's already getting cold.

I will remove moss and change hides tonight, I was worried that the plastic one may melt if to close that's all.

The enclosure is 6 ft by 3 ft, best I could do in such short notice of getting him/her. I plan on making a bigger on as soon as I can. He is 2 lbs right now so I was hoping it would work until spring.

Should I move the heat lamp to the middle of the enclosure?

Thank you for all your help

 

[Tom]

Ty so much for your reply

I have a sun glo bulb in the big dome for heat and UVB as I live in Canada and it's already getting cold.

I will remove moss and change hides tonight, I was worried that the plastic one may melt if to close that's all.

The enclosure is 6 ft by 3 ft, best I could do in such short notice of getting him/her. I plan on making a bigger on as soon as I can. He is 2 lbs right now so I was hoping it would work until spring.

Should I move the heat lamp to the middle of the enclosure?

Thank you for all your help

They have Home Depot in Canada, don't they? These work best for MVBs and CHEs:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-300-Watt-Incandescent-Brooder-Clamp-Light-HD-303PDQ/204684496

The plastic hide could melt. Be careful. I wouldn't have the CHE over it.

I'd leave the heat lamp on one end and move the CHE over the middle.

3x6' will be okay until spring, but bigger would be better. They need room to move. The biggest issue I see is the wide open top. You won't be able to hold in heat and humidity with that. That style of enclosure will usually work for the Mediterranean species of Testudo tortoises, but it won't work well for a tropical species like yours. You need a large closed chamber. I'm always curious about large tropical tortoises being kept in cold climates. What is your plan for when he is 100+ pounds in a few years?

 

[furlotre2001]

I plan on turning my large shed in the back into a heated tortoise house

 

[Speedy-1]

That's a fine looking Sully . Sounds like you are on the right track . A little fine tuning , such as covering the enclosure will make it better for him !