Clarification questions before bringing baby home.

[JenJan]

Hey, I am going to get my little one this weekend. Before I go, I have some final questions. Hoping you all can help.

1. Does anyone put plants in the bin/table with them? I know I cant plant them in there, they wont survive in the substrate, but in pots. If so, what do you put?

2. I have a HUGE razor grass bush outside. When he gets bigger, will it be alright if he gets into. I have not seen any info on razor grass.

3. I have read a couple different things on feeding times. Some people feed every morning, some only feed (a larger amount) every other day. Pros and cons of each?

4. On the subject of food, how much per serving??? The one I am getting is about 5/6 months old. The mazuri chow, do you moisten it? Some people have said the chow should be available all day, some moisten it and sprinkle grass clippings on top. Whats proven to be best?

5. Substrate, how deep does it need to be?

6. Easiest way to clean. Pick up as he poops, then a complete dump and new substrate every week? every two weeks?

7. I know they love prickly pear cactus leaves, what about other succulents? I have a potted container of them, can I feed leaves of those?

8. Daily soaks, at what point do those become every couple days, weekly, monthly?

9. UVB bulbs or mercury vapor? Does that stay on all thru the night too? I plan on keeping the CHE on 24/7, right? But what about the uvb? Do you turn that off at night?

10. I plan on planting a prickly pear cactus, but until then, where does everyone find the most cost effective pads and fruit?

Sorry for amount of questions. If you have an answer for all, or even just one, please share. THANKS!!!

 

[TechnoCheese]

Thank you for asking questions before you get your tort! The only one I have an answer to at the moment is 9. You have to turn off all the lamps that emit light, because tortoise need total darkness to sleep. I keep my Che on 24/7, but someone might have something to say about that, so I would wait for more responses.

 

[JenJan]

I thought of one more question!!

Someone else was sharing pictures of their tort. Everyone was commenting on how smooth and pretty its shell was.
She said she gives it one cucumber a day. Has anyone else done this to help keep them hydrated and from pyramiding?

 

[leigti]

Cucumbers are good for hydration but not much of anything for nutrition. I think if you give them too much it will give them diarrhea which will make them dehydrated. You have to make sure the environment around them has the right humidity and then soak them daily when their babies.

 

[Clamhandsmcgee]

1. I keep edible plants in my enclosure (see #2)
2. http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk to find out if it's edible, or search the forum.
3. It depends. I feed mine everyday and I put enough in where there is always a little left over.
4. See #3. Yes, I moisten mazuri. But I use the mazuri as a supplement 1 to 2 times a week. (Grass, grass, and more grass)
5. At least a few inches. Mine like to dig down a little. If the conditions are right (temps/humidity) they will not burrow.
6. Definitely pick up poop and leftover food. Add rollie-pollies (pill bugs) to the enclosure and they'll help keep the annoying bugs out.
7. They can eat a lot of different succulents (see #3) but be careful of pesticides or chemicals used on the plants.
8. https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/ read this.
9. See #8
10. See #3

And for your last question read this
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/

 

[Tom]

Hey, I am going to get my little one this weekend. Before I go, I have some final questions. Hoping you all can help.

1. Does anyone put plants in the bin/table with them? I know I cant plant them in there, they wont survive in the substrate, but in pots. If so, what do you put?

2. I have a HUGE razor grass bush outside. When he gets bigger, will it be alright if he gets into. I have not seen any info on razor grass.

3. I have read a couple different things on feeding times. Some people feed every morning, some only feed (a larger amount) every other day. Pros and cons of each?

4. On the subject of food, how much per serving??? The one I am getting is about 5/6 months old. The mazuri chow, do you moisten it? Some people have said the chow should be available all day, some moisten it and sprinkle grass clippings on top. Whats proven to be best?

5. Substrate, how deep does it need to be?

6. Easiest way to clean. Pick up as he poops, then a complete dump and new substrate every week? every two weeks?

7. I know they love prickly pear cactus leaves, what about other succulents? I have a potted container of them, can I feed leaves of those?

8. Daily soaks, at what point do those become every couple days, weekly, monthly?

9. UVB bulbs or mercury vapor? Does that stay on all thru the night too? I plan on keeping the CHE on 24/7, right? But what about the uvb? Do you turn that off at night?

10. I plan on planting a prickly pear cactus, but until then, where does everyone find the most cost effective pads and fruit?

Sorry for amount of questions. If you have an answer for all, or even just one, please share. THANKS!!!

Hello and welcome. Glad we met you before you are buying.

Most of your questions and more important info is here in these threads:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Most of the care info circulating for this species is wrong. Its based on 30 year old incorrect assumptions about how they live in the wild. One of the results of this is that few breeders start their babies correctly. Excessive dehydration when they hatch damages their kidneys, but it doesn't kill them until weeks or months later in many cases. Be sure the baby you are buying has been soaked daily, kept on damp substrate with a humid hide and fed a wide variety of foods. Here is more explanation about what goes wrong when they are started the typical way:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/

By contrast, this is how they should be started:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/

Your questions:
1. Every time I try this the plants get eaten, trampled, or just die. Hopefully someone with some plant success while chime in and offer plant suggestions.
2. Don't know about this one either. No experience with that plant.
3. Tortoises are grazing animals. They need to be able to graze all day, every day. Feed your tortoise as much as it wants of the right foods. What are the right foods? Click on that third link above.
4. I like to offer Mazuri twice a week, and usually mixed in with some other greens. It needs to be soaked for small tortoises, but I soak it for all ages, sizes and species. Some people feed it dry to larger species.
5. Fine grade orchid bark works best. You can get it much cheaper in bulk from a garden center.
6. Spot clean as needed. Remove poop and excess food on sight. With daily soaks your tortoise will be doing most of its "business" in the soak water. No need to replace the substrate ever. I only do it when I intend to put another tortoise in that enclosure.
7. Some succulents are fine and others are either toxic or unknown. You'll have to look up each one by species. If there is any doubt, don't feed it to your tortoise. THere are plenty of other items to feed that are known to be safe.
8. I soak daily until they reach about 100 grams. At that point I start skipping days now an then. By the time they reach 1000 grams, once or twice a week is usually good enough, but more won't hurt anything.
9. You need 4 heating and lighting elements:

• Basking bulb: I prefer to use 65 watt flood bulbs from the hardware store. Mount hem in a ceramic based fixture and hang it from over head. Adjust the height to get the correct temperature under it. Run it on a timer for about 12 hours a day. Do not use spot bulbs or colored bulbs. Bulbs marketed for reptiles are usually the wrong kind and always way over priced.
• Florescent tube in the 5000-6500K color range for light. Run this on the same timer as the basking bulb.
• UV, if needed. Sunshine works best, but some people have frozen winters. I prefer to use florescent tubes, set on their own timers for this. THere are many different types, and which one to use depends on how high you will mount it and how long you want to run it. I use Arcadia 12% HO tubes, but these are very strong. They must be mounted about 20" from the tortoise, and I only run them for about 3 hours mid day to simulate the natural UV spike that occurs outside.
• CHE or RHP (Radiant Heat Panel) set on a thermostat to maintain ambient temp where you want it.

All of this is much easier and cheaper if you use a large closed chamber. It is very difficult to maintain the correct conditions in an open topped enclosure.
10. You can buy opuntia pads at Mexican grocery stores like Vallarta or Tres Sierras. I don't know what stores are near you that would sell them.


Hope this helps. Please feel free to ask more questions, or ask for follow up on these answers.

 

[Bambam1989]

There is a lot of great advice been given. I can only add this.
When you say razor grass do you mean pampas grass? If so then it is safe to be in the yard enclosure BUT I recommend not doing so until he gets bigger. This is because he could get tangled in the leaves and I wouldn't want to have to crawl in that pile of sharp grass myself to find and retrieve it! Hope that helps.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Ditto what @Tom said. As far as other succulents to feed, (No. 7), I find that Aloe is an easy succulent to feed and our Sully loves it. One large aloe from our local market can last a long time. I cut a few inches off at a time, cut thst into chunks and feed along with the rest.

As far as Soaking, No. 8, we soaked our young sully daily for two years or more, just part of the morning routine. Provides good interaction/bonding time. Once he got too large for our sink....we cut back. By then, we had a cement mixing trough. You have a good two plus years of soaking to have fun with.

And...I have rarely provided cucumber. Stay with the soakings, good moist substrate, humid hide, good balanced diet, and an enclosed chamber to keep the pyramiding away. Have fun.