Feedback on baby Sulcata enclosure?!

FrecklePeckles15 said:

Awh I thought it was so cute the way she was stretching; like a flying sploot. Do torts stretch like that when not sick, or at all?

We’re really dialed in on her temps now though and I’m confident with her enclosure since we fixed everything. The gasping/open mouth breathing was what was scaring me the most and she’s no longer doing that. I agree that I think it’s the early onset of an RI, and I’m very hopeful she’s going to make a full recovery!

She ate all her food today, and she’s never done that. She was acting like a mammal this morning, waiting by her feeding spot as soon as the light came on, because she was so hungry! like a cat that pretends they’re never fed, after they eat all their food

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Strong appetite is a great sign that things will be fine. Amazing how a few degrees in temperature can make such a difference.

They do stretch out like that sometimes when they are feeling comfortable and basking in the sun or under a bulb, but they usually lay like that for a while. They don't just stretch for a second and then go back to normal posture.

Tom said:

Strong appetite is a great sign that things will be fine. Amazing how a few degrees in temperature can make such a difference.

They do stretch out like that sometimes when they are feeling comfortable and basking in the sun or under a bulb, but they usually lay like that for a while. They don't just stretch for a second and then go back to normal posture.

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She stayed stretched out and yawned, she also did it this morning when I woke her up. But without knowing if it’s from RI or being comfortable, it’s better to be safe than sorry!

It’s hot in there. Africa hot she won’t get too hot will she? She’s been using her hide which is about 84F/78% humidity, but I’ve yet to see her burrow or dig at all. That’s instinctual to do right?

FrecklePeckles15 said:

She stayed stretched out and yawned, she also did it this morning when I woke her up. But without knowing if it’s from RI or being comfortable, it’s better to be safe than sorry!

It’s hot in there. Africa hot she won’t get too hot will she? She’s been using her hide which is about 84F/78% humidity, but I’ve yet to see her burrow or dig at all. That’s instinctual to do right?

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As long as the ambient is under 100F, they can't over heat. They certainly don't "need" it that hot, but it won't hurt them. I've had thermostats malfunction and seen babies at 108, presumably for a few hours before I caught it, and no ill effect. They seemed completely happy with the situation. I had an idiot person leave a tub of babies in full sun on a 90 degree day one time, and they should have all been cooked or brain damaged, and they grew up hunky dory fine and began producing babies years later as adults. I asked the person to take all the babies in the one enclosure outside for some sun and grazing in a big weedy half shaded outdoor pen. I said "Here. You can use this tub to carry them all outside." She pulled them from their enclosure, put them in the tub, and then set the tub on the ground in full sun in the outdoor enclosure. I didn't specifically tell her to take the babies out of the transport tub and set them on the ground in their outdoor enclosure...

Another time, I let a buyer talk me into sending babies to his house instead of the local shipping hub, as is the usual standard practice now. The delivery driver left the package siting in full sun on the buyer's porch in Florida. The box was clearly marked in multiple places with "Live harmless reptiles" and "This side up", in big red letters. I always put a small digital thermometer in my tortoise shipping boxes that records the high and low during shipping. When he found it and opened the box, the thermometer read 122. All of the babies survived with no apparent issues. That was/is the last time I will ever ship to someone's house. When they arrive at a hub, they are held inside an air-conditioned building until the person comes to pick them up. Much safer.

Another example: I know lots of tortoise keepers in and around Phoenix AZ. Many of them have red foots, manouria, and all of the Mediterranean type temperate tortoise species. None of these like or need it to be "hot". Summer temps there frequently hit 118F with nights only cooling to 95-100F, and all of these tortoises live there, above ground, and tolerate those temperatures. Most of them are reproducing too, which is an indicator of favorable conditions.

I've been watching temperatures in the areas where sulcatas occur in the wild, and I've seen it as hot as 114 during baby hatching season. Babies don't burrow themselves and, unlike Russians or CA desert tortoises, they are terrified of any sort of hole in the ground. I speculate that the reason for this is that whatever made that hole in the ground in Africa would eat a baby tortoise. They survive and thrive in the wild at those high daily temperatures.

I've never had a sulcata that was under 10-12 inches burrow. Someone out there may have seen burrowing behavior at a smaller size than that, but I haven't. Digging into the substrate a little bit for security or to make a micro-climate is not the same as burrowing. Most of my babies never dig into the substrate much, but that is probably because conditions at the surface in my closed chambers are agreeable to them.

So no, your tortoise can't overheat with temps in the 80s. Try to get daytime ambient up into the 90s so that is it more like what this species evolved to live in. You can get a day/night thermostat from Amazon for about $30. Set the night to 85-86 and the day to 92-93. These are AMBIENT temps. Basking temp needs to be around 100 directly under the bulb. After two weeks with no symptoms, you can gradually ease the night temp back down to 80-82.