Thank You, Donald and Thomas are proof that daily soaks aren't necessarily for smooth shell growth. Neither have been soaked past the age of 6 months. Even living outside during winter where the humidity in their houses seldom rises above 30%. Internal hydration works better than soakings. Think about it, in their natural habitat everyone says that they hatch out during the monsoon season. But the monsoon season only last for a short time. Then what?That's a good looking tortoise
Then they go underground and into little micro-climates where its humid. They also stop growing, or slow down significantly during the dry periods.Think about it, in their natural habitat everyone says that they hatch out during the monsoon season. But the monsoon season only last for a short time. Then what?
I read a paper on surveying sulcata numbers in the wild. In all their efforts, they resorted to relying heavily on collectors that lived in the area and familiar with hunting sulcatas. They said they would only try to count sulcata numbers in one month of the year - August when full monsoon. The rest of the year the sulcatas are underground in their burrows and rarely come out, and it was useless to try to find them.Think about it, in their natural habitat everyone says that they hatch out during the monsoon season. But the monsoon season only last for a short time. Then what?
Tomas Diagne reported similarly when he invited me to come to Senegal. He said that I should only come in June, as that is when the rainy season started. He said outside of the rainy season you could walk right by 100 sulcatas and never know they are there. He added that a couple few weeks after the start of the rainy season that the vegetation was impenetrable, noting that 12 men with machetes could chop all day and hardly get anywhere, and that vehicles could not even pass in some areas.I read a paper on surveying sulcata numbers in the wild. In all their efforts, they resorted to relying heavily on collectors that lived in the area and familiar with hunting sulcatas. They said they would only try to count sulcata numbers in one month of the year - August when full monsoon. The rest of the year the sulcatas are underground in their burrows and rarely come out, and it was useless to try to find them.
I feel it is important to note that few people have your understanding of tortoise needs, experience level with raising tortoises, and even fewer spend the time or give the attention to detail that you give. I really think that we could all learn some useful tips and tricks if you would type up a list of all the things you do and the attention to detail with all of those elements. The washcloth picture we previously talked about comes to mind, for just one example. The results of your efforts are obvious and fantastic, but I don't think most of us know what those efforts are. Without this knowledge, I worry that someone will read your statement about not soaking after a certain point, but not be doing all the things you are doing, and this would lead to a very different result than what you get.I'm not advocating for people to stop soaking their tortoises which is a proven way to reduce pyramiding in all tortoises. Diet may not cause pyramiding but I believe diet can reduce it. We are feeding our tortoises things they they would never find to eat in their natural habitat. So we do the best we can with nutrition and moisture intake with what we have to work with. My situation is somewhat different than what most sulcata keepers deal with. But it's something I love doing even dealing with the sometimes super cold weather. When I got Walker as a hatchling in 1996 I had no thoughts about soaking him. I did notice he never drank water so along with his weeds and grasses I would give him different lettuces to eat not for the nutritional value, just for the moisture. Also I already had opuntia cactus growing he ate it, but at that time I didn't realize how beneficial it was for him. He has some pyramiding not extreme though. As the years passed I ended up raising more young and tried different ways of raising them. The most important thing is a hatchling getting started correctly right out of egg. Which I knew @Tom did that's why I wanted to raise one of his hatchlings. Donald is one of Walker's offspring and got the correct care right out of the egg also. I weighed Donald yesterday while taking the pics and he is 47 pounds.
I will try but sometimes I have a hard time explaining things using the keyboard. Some will be different than what is suggested here on the forum. I'll title it, Things I Do.I feel it is important to note that few people have your understanding of tortoise needs, experience level with raising tortoises, and even fewer spend the time or give the attention to detail that you give. I really think that we could all learn some useful tips and tricks if you would type up a list of all the things you do and the attention to detail with all of those elements. The washcloth picture we previously talked about comes to mind, for just one example. The results of your efforts are obvious and fantastic, but I don't think most of us know what those efforts are. Without this knowledge, I worry that someone will read your statement about not soaking after a certain point, but not be doing all the things you are doing, and this would lead to a very different result than what you get.