5 month old sully in Ireland

[de0908]

Hi everyone, I've just joined the site to see if I can get advice on our little guy ? I just want to be sure that we are looking after him properly. We got him 2 months ago and we were told he was about 3 months old at the time. He was 86g when we got him and is now 118g. He is fed on a mixture of chopped up grass, kale, spring mix vegetables and Nutrazu pellets on occasion. He also gets the odd piece of strawberry as a treat. He is in a large rabbit cage at the minute with sterilised top soil as the substrate. He also has a small section with hay in it as he seems to like to burrow into the hay for a snooze. There is also a very small water dish in with him which is way too small to be dangerous for him. We have a UV tube over him and heat lamp also. The temp under his basking spot seems to stay pretty constant at 32 degress celcius. He gets aoaked every day for 15-20 minutes and now with the weather here permitting, he gets outside evry day for a good wander along with our 6 year old Hermann, although they are kept apart. He is active with bright, clear eyes, no runny nose, is eating, peeing and pooping well. I just wanted to know if everything we are doing sounds ok or is there more we should be doing or anything we could be doing differently ?

Thanks in advance

 

[Gillian M]

Hi everyone, I've just joined the site to see if I can get advice on our little guy ? I just want to be sure that we are looking after him properly. We got him 2 months ago and we were told he was about 3 months old at the time. He was 86g when we got him and is now 118g. He is fed on a mixture of chopped up grass, kale, spring mix vegetables and Nutrazu pellets on occasion. He also gets the odd piece of strawberry as a treat. He is in a large rabbit cage at the minute with sterilised top soil as the substrate. He also has a small section with hay in it as he seems to like to burrow into the hay for a snooze. There is also a very small water dish in with him which is way too small to be dangerous for him. We have a UV tube over him and heat lamp also. The temp under his basking spot seems to stay pretty constant at 32 degress celcius. He gets aoaked every day for 15-20 minutes and now with the weather here permitting, he gets outside evry day for a good wander along with our 6 year old Hermann, although they are kept apart. He is active with bright, clear eyes, no runny nose, is eating, peeing and pooping well. I just wanted to know if everything we are doing sounds ok or is there more we should be doing or anything we could be doing differently ?

Thanks in advance

Welcome to the forum!

Please post pics of your tort asap, so as to enable as to give you advice more easily, and do not forget pics of the enclosure. Read the "Beginners Mistakes" Thread and care sheets, and ask when in doubt.

Keep in mind that fruits are only to be given to torts as a treat only.

 

[de0908]

Here's some pics of Timmy and Ellie. We only out them together for the pic for size comparison.
Took ages to upload these from my phone. Will get better ones of them and their enclosure soon

 

[CathyNed]

Hey there! Welcome to the forum
Im also in Ireland. Mayo. I have a Russian tortoise called Ned.
I also use topsoil as substrate. Do you keep it damp? Baby torts need humidity. I've seen here that people dont tend to recommend hay as in humid conditions it can tend to go mouldy.
Your temps sound good to me but like i said i keep a russian so there are probably differences in care. Your soaking routine sounds good too. Hopefully someone with more hermanns/sully knowledge will pop in soon. Welcome again from the West!

 

[Yvonne G]

If you load a picture program on your device, then re-size the photos to fewer pixels, it doesn't take so long for them to load.

 

[saginawhxc]

The soul really does look much too dry.

*Edit: Soil, not soul. I'm leaving it though, because it made me laugh.

 

[de0908]

Hey there! Welcome to the forum
Im also in Ireland. Mayo. I have a Russian tortoise called Ned.
I also use topsoil as substrate. Do you keep it damp? Baby torts need humidity. I've seen here that people dont tend to recommend hay as in humid conditions it can tend to go mouldy.
Your temps sound good to me but like i said i keep a russian so there are probably differences in care. Your soaking routine sounds good too. Hopefully someone with more hermanns/sully knowledge will pop in soon. Welcome again from the West!

Hiya Cathy, I don't dampen the soil as I was advised elsewhere that there was no need as long as he was kept well hydrated. I'm starting to think that this is wrong ??? any advice at all is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[de0908]

The soul really does look much too dry.

*Edit: Soil, not soul. I'm leaving it though, because it made me laugh.

Lol, should I be moistening the soil for him ?

Thanks

 

[saginawhxc]

Yes, I think the most popular line of thought around here is humidity is a major factor in health and growth. One of the simplest ways to achieve that is keeping the substrate damp and covering the top in some fashion to help keep humidity in.

I really really recommend Tom's sulcata care sheets, the beginners mistakes thread, and some of the marvelous threads on diet and enclosures that can be found here.

I think it is highly likely that putting in a little bit of study time will greatly help in raising a healthy tort. That and asking questions here. Never be afraid to ask questions, most of us don't bite. Many of us are actually learning right along with you.

 

[CathyNed]

Your baby is a sulcata right and the 6year old is a hermans?
Im afraid i dont have much experience with either. I have my soil damp but not wet for my adult russian. I pour water into it and mix it all up every day/2days depending on how quickly it dries out. I leave it dry in his usual sleeping spot. Im not sure about sulcata care though im afraid. Lots of sulcata kewpers here who im sure will be more than willing to share their advice/tips.

Did you find the care sheets for sulcata species on the site here?

 

[CathyNed]

Hiya Cathy, I don't dampen the soil as I was advised elsewhere that there was no need as long as he was kept well hydrated. I'm starting to think that this is wrong ??? any advice at all is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Was elsewhere a pet shop by any chance.....they are known for their less than stellar advice!

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome. Keeping a young sulcata dry is outdated advice.

You need to read these TFO guides written by species experts who are working hard to correct the outdated information out on the internet and, sadly, perpetuated by some breeders and vets.

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

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

For those who have a young Sulcata
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Gillian M]

Your baby is a sulcata right and the 6year old is a hermans?
Im afraid i dont have much experience with either. I have my soil damp but not wet for my adult russian. I pour water into it and mix it all up every day/2days depending on how quickly it dries out. I leave it dry in his usual sleeping spot. Im not sure about sulcata care though im afraid. Lots of sulcata kewpers here who im sure will be more than willing to share their advice/tips.

Did you find the care sheets for sulcata species on the site here?

I spray Oli's (my Greek tort) enclosure with water each and every day, to keep it damp, not wet.

 

[Gillian M]

Cute torts.

And a warm welcome to the forum!

 

[de0908]

Was elsewhere a pet shop by any chance.....they are known for their less than stellar advice!

It wasn't a pet shop. Ever since I was sold a viv with the Hermann and told that this was the correct way to keep her, I wouldn't take any advice from a pet shop ! Believe it or not, it was actually from a few Facebbok groups of Sulcata owners. This is why I'm glad of sites like this as although he is healthy and coming along nicely, I want to make sure he stays that way so am looking for any and all of the advice I can get