Hello!

[chaseswife]

Hi! I am new to the forums. I have a baby sulcata. He was given to us on September 6th. This is our very first tortoise. His name is Shrimp. He is about 2 inches long, 1.5 ounces, and already loves for me to pet his little head.
We live in Arizona. I have 5 2 - legged monsters, but no other actual pets.

I have been reading all the sulcata info I can get my hands on. This forum has so much great info on it! But my husband isn't too fond of it. What was given to us on the pretense that it would be a very cheap pet and super be easy to care for is turning out to need more money than he wants me spending on a pet.

 

[G-stars]

Welcome. Tortoises sure are a lot more expensive then we think. Especially that little guy you have there. Once he's an adult he will be pounding down food.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from PHX, AZ . I have 2 different types of box turtles , 5 different types of water turtles , and 8 different types of torts . And I spend $100 . 00 every two weeks getting produce delivered to me . So what is so expensive with 1 little cute baby tort


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[chaseswife]

Well- I think you are right. And once I get the habitat set up perfectly and all the initial costs taken care of the expense will drop down a lot. I have been reading all of Tom's tortoise care sheets and realizing how drastically just about everything I initially planned needs to change. But husband didn't even want Shrimp to begin with- before I started spending more money. He keeps telling everyone that his name is "Soup". He even re - labeled our bag of greens in the fridge as "soup food". He also thinks he is very funny.

 

[G-stars]

Sounds like my kind of humor. My gf doesn't think I'm funny either.

 

[(r.t)]

You have got a very big tortoise, it will eat a lot once it has grown. But apart from the enclosure and food once you have all the main expenses paid it won't be that expensive.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Do you have a yard? Maybe you could get your kids interested in starting a little tortoise food garden. You could by a plastic "kiddie" pool for now, punch some holes in the bottom and throw in some garden soil and seeds. The whole thing should set you back about $20 and in a month or so, should begin paying you back. I've got a whole backyard section growing food for our animals. We have a LOT of animals. Kids are grown.

 

[wellington]

Hello,and Welcome Your husband and I wouldn't get alone for two seconds, although I do think the soup thing is kinda funny, as long as he is not a jerk to the tortoise and does not stop you from providing it with what it needs and deserves. Just tell hubby, the cost will be the same as you spend now, because your cutting down and his needs and wants to provide for the torts He should find that funny, same sense if humor he has Remind him, you brought the tort into your life, the tort didn't bring you into his life. Its now your responsibility to give the best care possible or to rehome him to someone that will.
The initial cost is the biggest part of the expense. After that it's then just mostly food and a bulb every 6-12 months. If you can get the tort outside for natural UVB 3-4 times a week for about an hour or so, you won't need a UVB light for inside, money saved there. Ceramic heat emitters last a very long time and are not that expensive, so that's a cheap one time purchase(for a long time anyway) for heat when needed. Toms closed chamber makes keeping heat and humidity cheaper, less electric used. Growing food cheaper then buying and when the tort gets bigger, your hubby will save money on gas for the lawn mower

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Once the tortoise is living outside all the time, there really isn't much of a $$ outlay anymore...barring a vet visit. Get started right now on your outdoor pasture for him, and when he's big enough to live outside, he's going to graze on the grass and weeds and really won't required you spending any more money.

The initial outlay when setting up a baby tortoise gets to be quite expensive. But that's not how it's going to be for the rest of the tortoise's life.

 

[chaseswife]

Ha! I don't even get along with the husband a lot of the time! But be really does have a good heart, he is a good provider- and while he will do a lot of complaining, eye rolling, and talking about tortoise soup- he doesn't ever stop me from doing what I want and he would never hurt an animal. I would not have stayed him him through these last 12 years and 5 children if he was the type of man that hurts animals or people.

I do have a good sized back yard- it isn't acres or anything, but I think there will be plenty of room for 1 big tortoise. I am planning on growing plants for Shrimp and getting some pots or flats going that I can rotate through his habitat.

But first- i need to change his home so that it is enclosed. I was thinking shower curtain with tent poles, pvc, or even just wooden dowels from the craft section at Walmart. This IS getting done today. Any ideas you want to throw out before I go shopping for supplies? This is the enclosure that we were given with Shrimp. It is 32x45 inches but it isn't a rectangle so that makes it a tiny bit more complicated. It sits under the edge of the counter- so it has a 9.5 inch ledge that I can use to help support the enclosure.

 

[Yvonne G]

Wow! That's a nice little habitat for a baby sulcata. It must be a kiddie sand box, huh?

Try to get the waterer down deeper into the substrate so the baby doesn't have to climb to get into it. And your light is up too high.

 

[Jodie]

The pet store got me with my 1st Leopard tort to. They actually told me he would thrive on neglect. I now have 6 and there is no neglect in their lives. Your husband sounds a lot like mine. They have to talk tough to offset their true wonderfulness. Welcome to the forum. It is very luck for your little one that you found it quickly after getting him/ her.

 

[chaseswife]

Just got back from Walmart. My available supplies for making the tortoise tent: 2 clear plastic shower curtains, 13 wooden dowels, a mini hacksaw, plastic cable ties, duct tape, fishing line, and velcro. Now I just need my 2 year old to go down for her nap before I start playing with the dowels to make the frame. Buying 13 "swords" with her with me at Walmart was. .. an adventure that doesn't need to be repeated.

I will also lower the light and push the water dish down lower. We're you talking about the big water dish? That was one of the first things I added after reading on here. I went for the bigger one, but shrimp was having a hard time climbing out so I added the rocks to the bottom.

And yes- it is supposed to be sand box. It came free with the tortoise, so I am trying to make it work even though there are other options that would work better as a closed environment.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Chaseswife
My wife don't care about my torts either but I tell her if her first husband had torts he wouldn't of had the time to chase his secatary after 17 years of marriage . Cause I don't have time to look at other ladies . All my time goes to my work and torts .
And G-star I hope you are reading this also .


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[bouaboua]

Hello and welcome.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you can't get the dowels to work, you can try something with PVC pipe. It's really easy to fit pipe together with all the little fittings that come with it.

 

[chaseswife]

I was really hoping to just use what I can get close by and not have to run to home depot. The duct tape seems to be working pretty good for the joints so far.

 

[chaseswife]

I need a few more hands- I think I need to work on it when my 11 year old daughter is home. She is my oldest, very skilled with duct tape, and my best partner in crime.

 

[pam]

Welcome