Ruby’s growth.

Kyle Gedrose

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Joined
Sep 8, 2017
Messages
56
Location (City and/or State)
Nevada
I’m gunna starting logging my Sulcata Tortoise Ruby’s growth on here so you guys can see his or her progression. If you guys want to give me any tips or see something out of the ordinary feel free to comment. I skipped a few months in the beginning because I was weighing him or her but there wasn’t any difference in growth at that time.

When I got her on September 15th 2017 she was only 50.07 grams:
IMG_2016.jpg

The next time I weighed her it was January 2018 I think and she was 52.02 grams:
IMG_1814.jpg

February 25th 2018. 92.45 grams:
IMG_2015.jpg

March 27th 2018. 131.33 grams:
IMG_2165.jpg

April 27th 2018. 183.89 grams:
IMG_2211.jpg
 

Kyle Gedrose

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Joined
Sep 8, 2017
Messages
56
Location (City and/or State)
Nevada
How’s her beak?

I think it’s doing great. Just like one person said it would, it grew back like a finger nail. Before she wasn’t really able to eat leafy greens so I would give her soaked tortoise diet but now she is able to eat both. Maybe I’ll try to get a good picture of her yawning so I can show you but It looks like a whole new beak completely grew in and replaced the old one. I still don’t know why her break fell off in the first place but it seemed like it died and she’s off like a dead piece of skin.
 

SlinkySulcata23

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Jul 2, 2018
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Dublin, Ohio
So you give it pellets and it eats only that? Mine will barely eat those! Lucky lucky you. I'll keep trying to have mine eat those pellets more!
 

Kyle Gedrose

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Messages
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So you give it pellets and it eats only that? Mine will barely eat those! Lucky lucky you. I'll keep trying to have mine eat those pellets more!

I usually soak her first so she poops [emoji90] then I soak the food pellets (not in the same water of course[emoji28])so there soggy and she attacks the food as soon as she sees it. I think letting her poop helps cus I read somewhere they like to eat and poo at the same time plus she’s probably hungry after.
 

Kyle Gedrose

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Joined
Sep 8, 2017
Messages
56
Location (City and/or State)
Nevada
Hey guys so I got my tortoise a new and wayyyy bigger Enclosure. I’m still working on it a little bit but let me know if you have any pointers or advice. Also, I’m getting the humidity and temperature gauges soon so don’t worry. IMG_2516.jpg
 

TriciaStringer

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Apr 11, 2018
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Hey guys so I got my tortoise a new and wayyyy bigger Enclosure. I’m still working on it a little bit but let me know if you have any pointers or advice. Also, I’m getting the humidity and temperature gauges soon so don’t worry. View attachment 246867
Your tort is growing nicely. I looked at the new enclosure and the red light needs to go. Tortoises associate the color red with food and it confuses them when everything is red. A good basking bulb is a 65w flood bulb and a good heating device is a CHE. You set it on a thermostat and it only clicks on when the temp drops too much. I set mine to 80-82 degrees. That size enclosure won’t last long, so go ahead and get started on building the next one. 8x4 is the preferred size.

Also, his water dish is a flipping and drowning hazard because of the straight sides. It needs to be sloped. A terra-cotta plant saucer works great for water.

Good job on continuing to improve and help your tortoise thrive. So glad his beak is good now.
 

Kyle Gedrose

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Sep 8, 2017
Messages
56
Location (City and/or State)
Nevada
So I went to the store and bought a 100w ceramic heat emitter and I left it on for the whole day and when I came home I felt inside the tank and felt the soil and it was all very cold still. The CHE was on and working and was very very hot but it was doing a Terrible job at keeping the tank even remotely worm so I’m going back to the red bulb in the meantime. Now I have a dilemma because I don’t really want the white backing bulb because I’ve heard that that causes your tortoise stress when left on 24 hours and I don’t want to turn it off at night because it will get too cold especially in the winter.
 

TriciaStringer

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5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2018
Messages
1,186
Location (City and/or State)
Louisiana
So I went to the store and bought a 100w ceramic heat emitter and I left it on for the whole day and when I came home I felt inside the tank and felt the soil and it was all very cold still. The CHE was on and working and was very very hot but it was doing a Terrible job at keeping the tank even remotely worm so I’m going back to the red bulb in the meantime. Now I have a dilemma because I don’t really want the white backing bulb because I’ve heard that that causes your tortoise stress when left on 24 hours and I don’t want to turn it off at night because it will get too cold especially in the winter.
Do you have a top on the tank? You need it covered to keep in heat and humidity.
A 65w flood bulb is what is needed for a basking spot and that will also provide heat and light. Set it up on a timer to be on 12-14 hours. The CHE needs to be on a thermostat and set to come on if the temp drops to 80. You don’t want it to get below 80.
If you don’t have a top, I had success with an emergency blanket. Cover your heating fixtures with foil so they don’t melt the blanket. It kept in the heat and humidity while I was building a large closed chamber. Look up closed chambers to get more ideas for your next enclosure.
 
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