can this hurt him?

[sarbeth77]

Yes that's was the calcium thing, I just forgot it was called a cuttlebone, but I put it over in front on the water bowl to distract him or hoping he would bite that. And he moved the cuttlebone out of the way and kept on biting the friggin water bowl, which then of course flooded the tank and made a big mess. I was told that since he a little under a year and a half he didn't need to be soaked n e more but I will start again today. Do u think once a week will be snuff.and he is getting a bigger food and water bowl as soon as I get the tort table built. I did have another ?. I'm trying to acclimate him cause it on a cool day its 90 to 100 deg. But he's to small uwt to be outside full time however I'm not just building a tort table, he is getting a nice outside space just for him as well. With fresh grass, and a screen or chckn wire over it cause there are a lot of creepy cats that don't belong to n e one. OK just to be clear, its ok for him to bite the ciramic water bowl, it won't hurt him? But if it does hurt will he stop?

 

[sarbeth77]

He is pickt bout the cuttlebone, he will be all about it one month then bury it and then forget next month. Does n e one know about the flowers I asked about above?

 

[sarbeth77]

I typed a reply earlier and its not here so here goes again. Yes he has a cuttle bone in the tank, I even tried to lean that against one side of the water bowl so he could bite that. But he wouldn't, he is interested in it one month then buries it the next. I was told u don't have to soak em after a year. But I will start again. I do know it is time to get a uvb bar bulb but that's this weekend. Then along with builingthe turtle table we are doing his outside enclosure as well. But it says not to let the tank go over 85 to 86 deg, here in az its on a cool day 92. nor can I regulate humidity for him outside but there is hardly ever any. So will biting the water bowl hurt him or if it does will he stop?

 

[sarbeth77]

4get the last entry, it didn't show it had posted so I short handed it again, but then of course it appears, I even refreshed it a few timws first and it still wasn't there.

 

[teresaf]

Read the threads Tom gave you. They tell what temps to keep them at(your temps seem too low). We haven't seen a single pic of habitat so can't give any constructive criticism. Notice I say constructive. Nothing we say is meant to be mean. Just trying to help you find the easiest and safest method to raise your tort. High humidity 24/7 is how you keep a tort from pyramiding. Tom has proven this scientificly with a batch of babies he raised years ago. In a nut shell...Half high humidity and half dry. Dry ones grew bumpy. Humid ones nice and smooth. If you raise humidity you must keep temps above 80 EVERYWHERE in his enclosure. Basking spot at least 100. Read his threads they are very informative.... Especially 'beginners mistakes'

 

[sarbeth77]

I I did read all of the links, and he does like it hot in there but what humidity

 

[sarbeth77]

It dark here now but I will try to get a pic of his enclosure tmrw but I do not knw how to put the pic n e where but the profile pic. His tank temp only goes to let's say no lower than 82 at night. But would love an exact num of what humidity should be. The tank during the day is 86 to 80 deg. And I will take n e advice I can get, whether it points out smthng I did or am found wrong. My feelings mean nothing as long as he's safe, this is the first sully I've for to live up to and past a year so yes I may be over parranoid but if that keeps keagan safe, I'm fine with it. I lost 2 torts b4 this in the last 3 years.. And the way he's biting the water dish he's flooded the coconut so it been damp so it has been raising the humidity. Not to mention when my hubby gets home daily he takes a shower its brings the humidity all the way up to 70 for 4 hrs after each night lol

 

[Big Charlie]

He doesn't lik hibiscus but it was pink, but i have a lot of the flower vinka or vinca, they look like white pansies but have seen nothing on anywhere about that flower to see if its safe or not for him to eat. I gave him rose petals last night as a small treat them mixed the rest of the petals with his food and he ate some but for the first time in over 6 months he actually had food left

Don't feed vinca. It isn't safe. For hibiscus and roses, feed both the flowers and leaves. You can check the tortoise table to see if a plant is safe: http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/...actwords&searchtxt=vinca&x=0&y=0#.WO8d3mdKKpo

Here is a list of suggested foods: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sulcata-diet-sheet.64290/

 

[sarbeth77]

Thank you charlie, I have read all the lists and all the links, I went over them each bout 3 times but could not find vinca n e where. Not sure if I missed it or if it is called something else. I am also not a computer person nor am I a internet person so thanks again. I grabbed him some rose petals and those were growing right next to them and they look just like the pansies my friend had sent home with me the week b4.

 

[sarbeth77]

But even not having a computer I still went on the internet to do my research but for everthing it says to do there is an equal amount of things telling u not to do those things. Which is why I am so thankful for this form, I get to ask people who have actually seen a sulcata,and u were right bee62 I used a slightly bigger food dish and he ate and there was a little bit left, I will be honest I was nervous, like I said I've lost 2 sullys so I am a bit paranoid but the I knew they were grazing animals so wondered how that would work( like if he would eat too much and make himself sick or gosh only knows what) but my friend who has 2 Sully's thought content food source would be bad so she won't do it. Oh that reminds me her Sully's are so dark they look black, and I'd never seen that b4, has n e one else?

 

[sarbeth77]

OK heres another ?, and I've read the list and didn't see this one on the good or bad list. Basil? And it says they can have bok choy but I've read they cannot have any cabbages or spinach. And if u guys could choose, cause I have to actually plant grass outside for keagans enclosure, is there a certain one from home depot or Lowes u would choose? Thanks again everyone this helps solo !such and I just want keagan healthy, safe, and happy

 

[sarbeth77]

Oh and what about carnations, and if they r safe does color matter? I am so sorry to bug u guys but its like I said I don't internet well lol which is y this forum is a godsend. I'm asking bout the flowers cause when hubby wants to get me some for whatever reason I told him to get roses or pansies from now on and maybe carnations I told him I would let him know when someone got back to me lol

 

[Bee62]

Hello @sarbeth77
So many post of you ! LOL !
I don`t know where to start answering.
At first: Biting in a bowl could not harm your tortoise. If you now feed him as much as he wants mayby he stopps biting in a bowl.
You can give him a piece of a tree branch in his enclosure. If he tries to cut bis beak he would like to use wood. I see my little ones sometimes bite in wood or a big stone that they have in their enclosure, but that doesn`t worry me.

Soaking: Soaking once a week is not enough. Can you soak him every day ? That would be better for him.

Flowers: Many blossoms are eatable. You can search on the I-Net which ones. But never feed any blossoms that could be treated with chemical substances. It could kill your tortoise ! So be very careful with flowers and blossoms.
I only feed save flowers / blossoms from my own garden.
But it is spring time here and all fruit trees ( like cherry and apple trees ) are blooming. This blossoms are safe to feed and my little ones like the blossoms. You can feed the leafs of this trees too.
Dandelion flowers ( and the whole plant too ) are a yummy, healthy tort food. Daisies also.
And at last: sulcatas are grazers and should eat gras. If you can get gras that is not chemical treated it would be fine for your tort.

Spinach and kale:
Please don`t feed spinach. It contents oxalic acid. That could damage the kidneys of your tort.
And kale should be feed very rarely.

If you read the care sheeds and the list of eatable plants, you should be able to find a various diet for your tortoise.

 

[sarbeth77]

Well the only good thing about him biting the bowl is spilling water all over the coconut then when I mix it with the dry coconut to even it out it does raise the humidity. But other than now where its 43% humidity it is normally between 23% and 29% no matter what I do. And I did get a new uvb bar today I realized it over a year old. Hopefully that will help his shell and I try to keep the food bowl full like u guys said but he is eating it all as soon as I put it in there. I hope he isn't eating too much. And I did cut the kale back in his food a lot. I read all the info sheets and links on here but any other advice would be great. I still cannot fig out how to get a pic of his enclosure on here so I'll tell u what it looks like. He's in a 40 gal tank with coconut substrate. He has a log his which I had to attach two small boards too because he was too tall for it, and it was nicking his shell in the safe spot when he go in it, if not I would have let it be. There is a water bowl in the corner that he can walk in and apparently bite and spill lol. Then a few rocks that do not get hot under any of the lamps, and h apparently likes to move and bury them when he feels like it, and other than that he has the cuttlebone.

 

[sarbeth77]

On the food sheet its says they can have cat grass, is that the kind that is for sale at like petsmart?

 

[Bee62]

I hope that your tort has an outdoor enclosure too. A 40 gallon tank is much too small for a 2 year old sulcata. The tort needs space to walk around to stay healthy. That is impossible in such a small tank.
You can`t overfeed your tortoise. He is growing and need much food.
Cyperus gras is often sold as "Cat Gras" but I wouldn`t feed it a tort because it is sharp-edged.
Wheat is also often sold as "Cat Gras" and I wouldn`t feed that too.
Can`t you collect fresh greens from a garden ( without chemicals ) ?

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Cat grass, as in wheat or oat grass sold in the pet stores for cats, is a fine addition to a sulcata's diet.

 

[Tom]

Humidity in the enclosure should be around 80% all the time. This will be very difficult in an open topped enclosure.

Ambient temperatures in an indoor enclosure for a sulcata can creep into the 90's. They can stay outdoors during hot weather in AZ as long as they have an underground shelter to retreat to. You can find lots of ideas on how to do it with an internet search. Here is one way, but disregard the temperatures and stuff as this was for a russian, not a sulcata: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/semi-underground-russian-box.98590/#post-922226
You MUST make sure the tortoise is using the underground shelter, as they can over heat and die in minutes in 100+ temps if they can't get to a cooler area.

You should be soaking a small sulcata daily. As they gain size and get over 100 grams, you can start skipping days, but you should be soaking several times a week in AZ.

Spinach, basil and kale are all fine as a small part of a varied diet. The bulk of any sulcata's diet should be grass, weeds, leaves, succulents and flowers.

Wheat grass intended for cat consumption is fine for your tortoise and its an easy way to get grass into your baby sulcata too. Keep the little plastic plots watered and in a window sill and you can get 8 or 9 cuttings from them.

Decorative flowers are usually going to be covered with preservatives and grown with pesticidal toxins. Do not feed those to your tortoise. If you are growing those flowers yourself with no toxic chemicals, then they are safe to feed and all the colors are fine.

If your tortoise is flipping its bowl and spilling water, it is time for a new and larger bowl.

 

[sarbeth77]

I have one family member with a grass yard, most of the yards here are made of rocks. I was getting grass from her but two weeks ago she sprayed snake repellent all over, so there went that plan

 

[sarbeth77]

He's not flipping the bowl he is literally biting it, and it moves it about a millimeter and makes small waves that spill it. I am in the process of making a tort table and setting up an enclosure outside but h is to small yet I think to be outside full time. And I want to get him acclimated to the heat.