I have a 7yr old sulcata from which I heard he is undersized for his age. 12inches and 10lbs. Told he should be way bigger. He lives outside in outdoor inclosure 8ft long 4ft weed with hardware cloth over the top to protect from birds of prey(i live in Fl). I let him from roam the yard with supervison for an 1hr. Bring him in when weather drops with basking area of 80. Any idea why he might be undersized? Thanks
7yr old undersized sulacata
- Thread starter Sully718
- Start date
Because you haven't cared for him correctly. Not trying to be mean. Just trying to tell you what is wrong so you can fix it.
Babies should not be outdoors full time. It's not good for them. They need to be indoors in a large closed chamber with the correct temps and high humidity, with limited outside time in nice weather, until they get larger. You are past this point now, but your tortoise should be in the neighborhood of 70 pounds at his age.
Your tortoise is too large for basking lamps now, but when it was smaller, the basking temp needed to be around 100 degrees. Ambient temp in the enclosure should have never been below 80, even at night, and it should have climbed into the low 90s during the day. When they are allowed to get too cold, and below 80 day or night is too cold, it kills off some of their gut flora and fauna, which prevents them from getting optimal nutrition from what they eat, and tremendously slows their growth.
4x8 feet is fine for a little baby, but once they are over 5 or 6 inches, they need much more room than that. Around 1000 square feet, is a good amount of space to shoot for with a smaller juvenile. At 12 inches you should really be moving toward an adult sized enclosure of around 2500 square feet, or 50x50.
Birds of prey are not an issue once they are larger than 5 or 6 inches. At 12 inches, no bird is a threat. Raccoons, rats or dogs can still do damage at that size, but that is why you use a...
Night box. It's time for your tortoise to be living outside full time now with an insulated, temperature controlled night box shelter. Lock the tortoise in it every night, and open the door every morning. The box will keep your tortoise warm and safe every night. Here are two examples:
Single Tortoise Night Box
I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...
tortoiseforum.org
Double Door Night Box
As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...
tortoiseforum.org
Here is how you should have raised your baby:
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
Here is a bunch of general info:
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
It looks like you've been here for almost 6 years. I'm sorry this information missed you. All your questions are welcome. I hope we can help get him growing for you.
I appreciate the feedback. Thank youBecause you haven't cared for him correctly. Not trying to be mean. Just trying to tell you what is wrong so you can fix it.
Babies should not be outdoors full time. It's not good for them. They need to be indoors in a large closed chamber with the correct temps and high humidity, with limited outside time in nice weather, until they get larger. You are past this point now, but your tortoise should be in the neighborhood of 70 pounds at his age.
Your tortoise is too large for basking lamps now, but when it was smaller, the basking temp needed to be around 100 degrees. Ambient temp in the enclosure should have never been below 80, even at night, and it should have climbed into the low 90s during the day. When they are allowed to get too cold, and below 80 day or night is too cold, it kills off some of their gut flora and fauna, which prevents them from getting optimal nutrition from what they eat, and tremendously slows their growth.
4x8 feet is fine for a little baby, but once they are over 5 or 6 inches, they need much more room than that. Around 1000 square feet, is a good amount of space to shoot for with a smaller juvenile. At 12 inches you should really be moving toward an adult sized enclosure of around 2500 square feet, or 50x50.
Birds of prey are not an issue once they are larger than 5 or 6 inches. At 12 inches, no bird is a threat. Raccoons, rats or dogs can still do damage at that size, but that is why you use a...
Night box. It's time for your tortoise to be living outside full time now with an insulated, temperature controlled night box shelter. Lock the tortoise in it every night, and open the door every morning. The box will keep your tortoise warm and safe every night. Here are two examples:
Single Tortoise Night Box
I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...
Double Door Night Box
As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...
Here is how you should have raised your baby:
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...
Here is a bunch of general info:
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...
It looks like you've been here for almost 6 years. I'm sorry this information missed you. All your questions are welcome. I hope we can help get him growing for you.
