TerrapinDream77
New Member
Hello all,
Tortoise Forum has definitely expanded my knowledge on torts and how to care for them, so I finally decided to sign myself up and get involved.
My name is Megan, and my baby sulcata and I reside in Northern California not far from San Francisco. I brought him/her home on July 27th, and still haven't decided on a name!
The setup is within a glass terrarium and includes aspen bedding, a sturdy hide box, a shallow water dish, various basking rocks and a small food dish. I am using an under tank heater and a basking lamp, and plan on installing a UVB light when my local pet store is back in stock. In the mean time, I have been taking my tortoise outside in the sun everyday, where he/she enjoys roaming around and eating grass.
Besides grasses and occasional rose leaves from the backyard, I feed him/her different lettuces (mostly romaine and red leaf), sometimes spinach, small pieces of carrot and grape leaves. The pet store I bought him from recommended 'gourmet tortoise food' which he/she rarely eats, but does pick at the carrots, sweet potatoes and hibiscus flower petals in the mix once they are saturated with water.
I have found many different answers on this forum and various tortoise care sites, but I still have some questions and concerns for the wellbeing of my new friend:
-I plan on moving him into a new, larger setup soon, like a large storage tub. Is it stressful for the tortoise if he cannot see out the sides of his enclosure? The tub is an opaque white, not see through.
-Is there a better substrate I should be using, or a combination of different kinds? From what I've been reading on this forum today, I'm assuming aspen mulch alone is the wrong choice. The past two mornings the skin around his eyes has appeared slightly dry and flakey, so I have been sitting him in warm water for about 20 minutes, and I do see him submerge his head to drink. He has also been sleeping much more. Could the current setup be too dry, and what should I do to fix it?
-Is the under tank heater necessary, and should the basking lamp be on all the time, or just during the day?
-What else should my tortoise be eating? Are there plants that should be avoided? How much and how often should he be eating?
-How often should I be adding calcium powder to his diet?
If there is anything else I should be doing, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from the community. Thank you so much!!
Tortoise Forum has definitely expanded my knowledge on torts and how to care for them, so I finally decided to sign myself up and get involved.
My name is Megan, and my baby sulcata and I reside in Northern California not far from San Francisco. I brought him/her home on July 27th, and still haven't decided on a name!
The setup is within a glass terrarium and includes aspen bedding, a sturdy hide box, a shallow water dish, various basking rocks and a small food dish. I am using an under tank heater and a basking lamp, and plan on installing a UVB light when my local pet store is back in stock. In the mean time, I have been taking my tortoise outside in the sun everyday, where he/she enjoys roaming around and eating grass.
Besides grasses and occasional rose leaves from the backyard, I feed him/her different lettuces (mostly romaine and red leaf), sometimes spinach, small pieces of carrot and grape leaves. The pet store I bought him from recommended 'gourmet tortoise food' which he/she rarely eats, but does pick at the carrots, sweet potatoes and hibiscus flower petals in the mix once they are saturated with water.
I have found many different answers on this forum and various tortoise care sites, but I still have some questions and concerns for the wellbeing of my new friend:
-I plan on moving him into a new, larger setup soon, like a large storage tub. Is it stressful for the tortoise if he cannot see out the sides of his enclosure? The tub is an opaque white, not see through.
-Is there a better substrate I should be using, or a combination of different kinds? From what I've been reading on this forum today, I'm assuming aspen mulch alone is the wrong choice. The past two mornings the skin around his eyes has appeared slightly dry and flakey, so I have been sitting him in warm water for about 20 minutes, and I do see him submerge his head to drink. He has also been sleeping much more. Could the current setup be too dry, and what should I do to fix it?
-Is the under tank heater necessary, and should the basking lamp be on all the time, or just during the day?
-What else should my tortoise be eating? Are there plants that should be avoided? How much and how often should he be eating?
-How often should I be adding calcium powder to his diet?
If there is anything else I should be doing, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from the community. Thank you so much!!
. Coconut coir is a good substrate to use, holds humidity well and won't mold. An enclosure they can see out will stress them much more then one they can't see out. Stop using the under tank heater and get a ceramic heat emitter for night time heat and a Mercury vapor bulb for uvb. However, if you can get him outside a few hours a week, then you don't need inside uvb. They need temps of 80 along with humidity of 80% and a basking of 95+. Please read Toms threads below in my post for the proper care. Your tort is already showing some pyramiding, so the sooner you get the humidty up, the faster the pyramiding will stop. Also, soak him in warm water every day for 20-30 minutes.
