Baby sulcata?

[milcordova82]

Hello.i am from new mexico. My girlfriend just got her daughter's a baby sulcata. She is not very active and now has a small squeak. Is it that she might be sick. Also what is the best lighting for her day/night . thank you

 

[Tom]

Hello.i am from new mexico. My girlfriend just got her daughter's a baby sulcata. She is not very active and now has a small squeak. Is it that she might be sick. Also what is the best lighting for her day/night . thank you

Most of the care info for this species is wrong. Most breeders and sellers don't start them or house them correctly either.

Here is the current and correct care info for them;

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

 

[KarenSoCal]

Here is additional info on heating/lighting that may help clarify.

4 elements of heating: By Tom
There are four elements to heating and lighting:

Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb.

Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. You'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT.

Light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish.

UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html