Lately all my tortoises are sleeping outside of their heated home (it's cold now where I live).
Before it was just one guy who has been doing that for a long time...but now it's all of them.
I catch them outside in the morning in the cold and I put them back into the house. Then later I see...
A lot of this is just my guess, it doesn’t always seem to be the case. For example right now here is the scene. The turtle in question is on the wood 2x4 and he is next to the biggest turtle, that used to be smaller than him just a few months ago.
As I finished writing my last post I walked by the turtles and I noticed the turtle in question is now eating by himself, much later as everyone else already came out and sunbathed and ate. As I said before, I noticed other solitary behavior such as leaving the food when the others came out to...
When you say "enclosure" do you mean their heated sleeping/hide area or the entire living area? I don't have a heat gun but just from touch alone it's much warmer than 80 degrees inside their sleeping area. Outside that area it is cooler during the daytime this time of year. Right now it's 67.
Here is a picture of the enclosure. Some houses in the 70s here in California had this lame design where they had a 10'x10', or thereabouts, opening in the middle of the house with an exposed roof. This place we are renting had gravel all over the inside, so I covered it all with a tarp for...
You know what? I did actually get a feeling about that. The now largest one has always acted like a meth addict, even when he was small. The now smallest one, who used to be the biggest, was always super calm.
I noticed sometimes the big one was blocking the entrance to the door, but I just...
It's possible he goes outside again even after I put him there. My house has a 8x10 foot area in the middle of the floor plan. It has an open roof but there is not a lot of direct sunlight, maybe just one hour or two in a small area. I have the UV lamp (mercury vapor bulb) on a timer that...
My tortoise is about one and a half years old. He was the biggest out of the four--three males and one female. The female used to always hang around him.
They became too big for the box so I moved them to an enclosed area I have outside. I still have a UV lamp running in case they need it...
Yes there is always a huge amount of food. I always throw away leftovers. They flip many times inside their crawl space. I see them climbing the walls.
So I found out the situation. One guy is really really hyperactive. He is constantly trying to climb out. Even inside his hide spot, he is climbing the walls a lot. I give him plenty of time outside to roam, but he is still quite active.
The other flip was a one time thing. I had chia...
Today I noticed A LOT of small light colored bugs in the enclosure. Below my coconut husk, I have organic potting soil. I think they might have been introduced via the fresh grass I tried to give them.
I did a Google search and I think they are soil mites.
I can only imagine the population...
I've had my tortoise babies for about two weeks and I've had to rescue them 5 times already from being flipped over while the others stood there apathetic like reptilian sociopaths.
Four of the times I believe was the same baby. This one is so energetic and is always eating and always moving...
I've looked around but haven't seen any recommendations.
I'm using this UVA/UVB lamp:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077937JDH/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
It's about 12 inches from the ground. It's uncomfortable for my eyes even to look at it indirectly. How is it for them?
Sound logic. I'm sold.
I think what made me initially challenge this idea was that someone in this thread wrote that if I continue the way I am doing it they would automatically die--that just seemed outrageous.
Hey, Tom, back to this original question...
The first time I took these baby tortoises and put them in warm water they dunked their head and drank a lot.
Now when I put them in the water they don't do that they just sit there, or they try to get out within 30 seconds.
Today one of them let...
Thanks for taking the time to help me. I really appreciate it.
Wow that is quite a story.
Unfortunately I might have been wasting your time with this discussion. I have a humidity and temperature monitor in the house for other reasons and I decided to put it in the habitat to see what it is...
I just Googled "sulcata 80% humidity", and I found this website by another group of sulcata "experts", also with decades of experience, who advised explicitly against many of the suggestions on this forum with regards to humidity, temperature, soaking, diet, etc...