3 months old

[neaire]

Hi! I recently got a baby sulcata tortoise from my local pet store, and I’m looking for some advice pertaining to his enclosure. He hasn’t pooped in the past 3 days, but he has been eating. Right now, I’m using organic potting mix and cypress mulch as the substrate in a 20 gallon tank (not my first choice, but I wasn’t too informed when I got him, so I was thinking to use it for a little less than a year). He has a water bowl shallow enough for him to go in and out of and a hide. I’ve been using the desert UVB and heat lighting kit from Zoo Med (which I don’t believe provides high enough heat).
I’ve been soaking him daily, as well as taking him outside on the grass when the sun is out for about 2 hours daily. I regularly spray down his tank with water as well. I live in south FL, so I’m planning on building a larger enclosure for him outside. I also live on a lake, and I don’t know how that would interfere with his health.. however, for right now I’m concerned with the uvb and heat situation.. Should I switch out the light set up and get two separate lights to set up a basking area?

 

[Ink]

Welcome to the forum. Hopefully an expert @Tom will be able to help you out.

 

[Tom]

Hi! I recently got a baby sulcata tortoise from my local pet store, and I’m looking for some advice pertaining to his enclosure. He hasn’t pooped in the past 3 days, but he has been eating. Right now, I’m using organic potting mix and cypress mulch as the substrate in a 20 gallon tank (not my first choice, but I wasn’t too informed when I got him, so I was thinking to use it for a little less than a year). He has a water bowl shallow enough for him to go in and out of and a hide. I’ve been using the desert UVB and heat lighting kit from Zoo Med (which I don’t believe provides high enough heat).
I’ve been soaking him daily, as well as taking him outside on the grass when the sun is out for about 2 hours daily. I regularly spray down his tank with water as well. I live in south FL, so I’m planning on building a larger enclosure for him outside. I also live on a lake, and I don’t know how that would interfere with his health.. however, for right now I’m concerned with the uvb and heat situation.. Should I switch out the light set up and get two separate lights to set up a basking area?

You've got to get him off that substrate immediately. It has perlite and if eaten, it can slowly kill him. You also have the wrong UV bulb. I would turn it off immediately. Finally, it is too cold at 75. It should be no lower than 80 degrees ever, and in the low 90s during the day.

Start here:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Then read trough this one at least twice:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Ray--Opo]

Welcome, the thermometer you are using is not accurate. Buy 2 of this type and put them low in your enclosure.

Also buy a infrared temp gun. You can instantly check any area of the enclosure. Also the carapace (top shell) of your torts. Just don't point at eyes.

You also need heat at night but it needs to be total darkness. A CHE( ceramic heat emitter). It needs to be plugged into a thermostat..


This is the substrate a lot of members use.

 

[SinLA]

welcome to the forum. you may feel bombarded but everyone just wants to help your baby survive. Tom gave you lots of good info. If you need to pick one start here…

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

focus on the most important and life threatening things, which Tom listed and then work your way through the rest.

unfortunatley most people start out with really bad information, don’t take it personally.

 

[NamedNut]

Hi! I recently got a baby sulcata tortoise from my local pet store, and I’m looking for some advice pertaining to his enclosure. He hasn’t pooped in the past 3 days, but he has been eating. Right now, I’m using organic potting mix and cypress mulch as the substrate in a 20 gallon tank (not my first choice, but I wasn’t too informed when I got him, so I was thinking to use it for a little less than a year). He has a water bowl shallow enough for him to go in and out of and a hide. I’ve been using the desert UVB and heat lighting kit from Zoo Med (which I don’t believe provides high enough heat).
I’ve been soaking him daily, as well as taking him outside on the grass when the sun is out for about 2 hours daily. I regularly spray down his tank with water as well. I live in south FL, so I’m planning on building a larger enclosure for him outside. I also live on a lake, and I don’t know how that would interfere with his health.. however, for right now I’m concerned with the uvb and heat situation.. Should I switch out the light set up and get two separate lights to set up a basking area?

Welcome!

I’ll leave the advice to the experienced members.

Beautiful baby tort, can’t wait to watch him/her grow!

 

[neaire]

You've got to get him off that substrate immediately. It has perlite and if eaten, it can slowly kill him. You also have the wrong UV bulb. I would turn it off immediately. Finally, it is too cold at 75. It should be no lower than 80 degrees ever, and in the low 90s during the day.

Start here:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Then read trough this one at least twice:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Wow, I came to the right place. Thank you so much for the detailed information. You covered everything!

 

[neaire]

welcome to the forum. you may feel bombarded but everyone just wants to help your baby survive. Tom gave you lots of good info. If you need to pick one start here…

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

focus on the most important and life threatening things, which Tom listed and then work your way through the rest.

unfortunatley most people start out with really bad information, don’t take it personally.

Haha thank you!! Indeed there is a lot of bad information out there, and I’ve come to realize that from all the digging I’ve done (mainly through youtube and reddit prior to finding this forum), everyone has different set ups and information.. it’s great to finally be provided with a guidebook and expertise

 

[neaire]

Welcome, the thermometer you are using is not accurate. Buy 2 of this type and put them low in your enclosure.
View attachment 356469
Also buy a infrared temp gun. You can instantly check any area of the enclosure. Also the carapace (top shell) of your torts. Just don't point at eyes.
View attachment 356470
You also need heat at night but it needs to be total darkness. A CHE( ceramic heat emitter). It needs to be plugged into a thermostat..
View attachment 356472
View attachment 356473
This is the substrate a lot of members use.
View attachment 356474

Thank you for the specifics!!