A few questions

[fanofthedog]

Hi all-

I've had my male sulcata for a few months. He is 10 years old and was given to me by friends that were no longer able to keep him. I was really scared of him at first - he is ten times the size I thought he was from pictures- but we love him now. I've been reading here and learning.

He's about 125-150lbs and lives outside. I have several big bushes that he burrows under during the day and at night he comes inside an enclosed porch with a dogloo that has a heater pad in it. It's been very hot here in San Fernando Valley, CA and for a few days he hasnt slept in the dogloo. Should I be trying to get him to continue that habit for when it gets cold again outside?

I have a few different typesof grass which he eats all day, I also give him collard greens and kale and sometimes those turtle pellets. Im planting dandelions tomorrow. Is there any other low maintenance thing I can plant? I have a bad track record with growing plants,etc so I need easy stuff!

Here's the big one: we put a cement mixing tub in the ground for him to soak and he doesnt care about it at all. I water the grass in the mornings so that he will get some water on his body but should I really be picking him up to soak him in a baby pool once a week? Do they mind being misted with the hose on a hot day?

Also- Tyler comes to me when he is called. He sits under the table outside when we eat dinner out there and he lets us pet his head and massage his neck. Is this normal?!! If I go outside and call him he literally comes running. Its so sweet. I just can't believe how expressive he is.

So sorry for the mega questions. I went to buy a book at the reptile store here and it was like the smallest paperback EVER. It is really hard to find information out there so I am very thankful for help here!!
Karen

 

[wellington]

The doggy igloo may be too hot for him to sleep in at this time of year. At that size and age, he doesn't need a heated night time enclosure until it gets really cold. When it does get cold, he may go to the igloo on his own or you may have to remind him its a warm place. As for soaking, can you make a mud hole or maybe a small cement shallow pond for him to walk into. As for food, check out the tortoisetable.org for ideas. Hostas, rose of Sharon, hibiscus, optunia cactus, mulberry would be nice to add for him to eat. Hosta and rose of Sharon are very easy. Also Day Lilly and roses, just to name a few.

 

[Tom]

Hi. I'm your neighbor from the SCV to the North. Our weather is pretty similar.

Here are some answers for you:
1. Cement mixing tubs are too tall and too slick. I use pizza dough trays for big tortoises. They are only three inches deep, but large enough for an adult to climb into. Alternatively you can buy a large plastic potted plant tray and sink that in the ground. You can also run a sprinkler on these hot days and make a puddle for him. They almost always want to drink from puddles.

2. You need to discover the joy of grass hay. It is a life saver for anyone with an adult sulcata. Find a horse store or a feed store near you and buy a bale of orchard grass hay. Store it somewhere where it will stay dry. Break off a flake and lay it somewhere convenient where the sprinklers won't hit it. If he doesn't eat it right away, then spread it out a bit and feed him his other food on top of the pile. Within a few weeks he'll be eating it just fine. Make sure he is using his water source with this dry food. BTW, have you discovered Sunland Produce? Sunland Blvd. off the 5. Good produce, really cheap. Next you need to find friends and neighbors with mulberry trees. They will be thrilled that you will regularly want to come trim branches off. Just cut off a whole branch and drop it in Tyler's area. It will be denuded in short order. Next try to find a source for spineless opuntia cactus pads, or start growing your own. Really easy and really good food.

3. The friendly behavior you describe is very typical of sulcatas and its part of why so many people love them. They have the best tortoise personalities on the planet!

4. About the dogloo... I really feel those are inadequate for our winters when the night temps dip below freezing. Yes they can survive it, but that doesn't make it good for them. You would survive too if someone put you in the dog house with the heat mat, but think how that cold air would feel on the parts of you not touching the heat mat, and think how it would feel to breathe that cold air all night. They are a tropical species. Sure, big sulcatas are very hardy and can survive a lot, but I prefer to provide them with optimal conditions, not just survivable ones. I recommend you build a custom insulated tortoise house, or buy a big wooden shed and insulate it yourself. 4x4 would be big enough for one tortoise and it would only need to be 2' tall. I like to use a radiant heat panel overhead in combination with a heat mat underneath. Run them both on a reptile thermostat, and you will have a happy, healthy tortoise, all winter long. Also, it is easier to put the box where he wants to be, rather than make him want to be where the box is. Sometimes that is an option, and sometimes not. Your life will be easier if it IS an option.
Here's an example:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66867.html

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[fanofthedog]

Tom, Thanks for so much helpful information. I'm excited to find a better way for Tyler to get wet- I did get the cement mixer tubs idea from this forum >> but I now realize that I need to do a little more research on things. Even with the tub sunken into the ground it is pretty awkward.
Im going to get to the He Depot and try to find some big plastic planter trays.

Great ideas on the food- I forgot that I get the cactus pads sent to me from New Mexico. The hay sounds like a great idea- we have a good amount of horse supply places with Griffith Park so near by.

Thanks for the info on a better winter solution for Tyler. Im lucky to have a somewhat handy husband that will ikely be able to make this happen somewhat painlessly. The first few night we had Tyler and he wasnt going into the dogloo, I literaly was crawling into the bushes and putting blankets on top of him. Imagine tucking in a huge tortoise at night!

Lastly- were you all near the fireworks explosions in Simi? Scary stuff!! We have a bunch of teenage neighbors that LOVE loud fireworks and my pets were hating every second of it!

Thanks so much for all of your help!!!
Karen

Hi. I'm your neighbor from the SCV to the North. Our weather is pretty similar.

Here are some answers for you:
1. Cement mixing tubs are too tall and too slick. I use pizza dough trays for big tortoises. They are only three inches deep, but large enough for an adult to climb into. Alternatively you can buy a large plastic potted plant tray and sink that in the ground. You can also run a sprinkler on these hot days and make a puddle for him. They almost always want to drink from puddles.

2. You need to discover the joy of grass hay. It is a life saver for anyone with an adult sulcata. Find a horse store or a feed store near you and buy a bale of orchard grass hay. Store it somewhere where it will stay dry. Break off a flake and lay it somewhere convenient where the sprinklers won't hit it. If he doesn't eat it right away, then spread it out a bit and feed him his other food on top of the pile. Within a few weeks he'll be eating it just fine. Make sure he is using his water source with this dry food. BTW, have you discovered Sunland Produce? Sunland Blvd. off the 5. Good produce, really cheap. Next you need to find friends and neighbors with mulberry trees. They will be thrilled that you will regularly want to come trim branches off. Just cut off a whole branch and drop it in Tyler's area. It will be denuded in short order. Next try to find a source for spineless opuntia cactus pads, or start growing your own. Really easy and really good food.

3. The friendly behavior you describe is very typical of sulcatas and its part of why so many people love them. They have the best tortoise personalities on the planet!

4. About the dogloo... I really feel those are inadequate for our winters when the night temps dip below freezing. Yes they can survive it, but that doesn't make it good for them. You would survive too if someone put you in the dog house with the heat mat, but think how that cold air would feel on the parts of you not touching the heat mat, and think how it would feel to breathe that cold air all night. They are a tropical species. Sure, big sulcatas are very hardy and can survive a lot, but I prefer to provide them with optimal conditions, not just survivable ones. I recommend you build a custom insulated tortoise house, or buy a big wooden shed and insulate it yourself. 4x4 would be big enough for one tortoise and it would only need to be 2' tall. I like to use a radiant heat panel overhead in combination with a heat mat underneath. Run them both on a reptile thermostat, and you will have a happy, healthy tortoise, all winter long. Also, it is easier to put the box where he wants to be, rather than make him want to be where the box is. Sometimes that is an option, and sometimes not. Your life will be easier if it IS an option.
Here's an example:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-66867.html

Good luck and enjoy!

---

Thank you Wellington. I forgot about the cactus!! I got some online- and am going to get some more. Thanks for all of your helpful info,

The doggy igloo may be too hot for him to sleep in at this time of year. At that size and age, he doesn't need a heated night time enclosure until it gets really cold. When it does get cold, he may go to the igloo on his own or you may have to remind him its a warm place. As for soaking, can you make a mud hole or maybe a small cement shallow pond for him to walk into. As for food, check out the tortoisetable.org for ideas. Hostas, rose of Sharon, hibiscus, optunia cactus, mulberry would be nice to add for him to eat. Hosta and rose of Sharon are very easy. Also Day Lilly and roses, just to name a few.

 

[yazzy1012]

Tom thanks for the great advice as usual. Here's a little bit of extra things that I've experienced with my large adult male in Arizona.

My tortoise, Henry, has a house that's surrounded by regular bricks and a piece of wood over the top. Inside his house he has his burrow. During the winter I will put a heater inside and blanket it off, but during the summer it's fully opened up.

During the winter I will supplement with hay since my grass can not grow due to not being able to plant winter grass, but during the summer he is constantly grazing and will occasionally give collard greens and kale or romaine. You can definitely try the cactus pads, but he may not like them.

As far as the soaking. The best way that I have figured out to soak Henry over the years is to put his greens in the middle of the lawn and turn on the sprinklers or get the hose out. This will give him 10 minutes of soaking while not having to deal with lifting him into and out of some type of pool or tray.

Hope this helps.