Hello, looking for help with our baby sulcata. We got him about 6 weeks ago and he was about 6 weeks old, so he’s about 3 months now. Other than some small fluctuations he has not gained any weight and is still 25g, the same as he was 6 weeks ago.
He’s in a glass enclosure, open top, but we try to keep it as covered as possible. Next I am going to work on making some kind of plexiglass top to cover it even better. Temp is maintained at about 80-90 with a ceramic heater and temp probe. The basking like is a ZooMed 75w spot lamp, the rock underneath gets to about 100-110. The tube light is a ReptiHome UVA UVB 10.0, both are on all day and turned off at night.
Humidity is 50-80%, maintained by spraying down the enclosure once or twice a day. Substrate is coco chips and some ‘dirt’, which we keep visibly moist. Hoping that building a better top will help keep the humidity higher. Also have a humidity hide.
We keep a shallow water dish in the enclosure and try to keep it clean. We soak him in the sink for ~20 mins every day followed by 20 minutes outdoors in the sun.
He does eat, although not a whole lot, and is fairly picky. Right now he will eat rose petals, some leaves, grape vine leaves, a little bit of fescue and Bermuda grass. He will eat spring mix, but we haven’t given him much of that trying to focus on eating the grass. Should we give more just to get him eating?I planted a patch of Bermuda in the enclosure hoping he would graze on it, but he very rarely does. I put ZooMed grassland tortoise pellets in, moistened, but I haven’t really seen him eat any of it. I also sprinkle calcium powder on his leaves/grass a couple times a week. We don’t give him any other fruits/vegetables other than maybe some carrots in the lettuce mix.
Last note, his poop was dark and firm at first, but today I noticed it more green and ‘slimy’, like a booger. Still held together, not runny, but not firm either.
The only thing I can think of that we haven’t done is test for parasites. Anything else obvious I’m missing? What can we do to help him gain weight?
Thanks
Craig
He’s in a glass enclosure, open top, but we try to keep it as covered as possible. Next I am going to work on making some kind of plexiglass top to cover it even better. Temp is maintained at about 80-90 with a ceramic heater and temp probe. The basking like is a ZooMed 75w spot lamp, the rock underneath gets to about 100-110. The tube light is a ReptiHome UVA UVB 10.0, both are on all day and turned off at night.
Humidity is 50-80%, maintained by spraying down the enclosure once or twice a day. Substrate is coco chips and some ‘dirt’, which we keep visibly moist. Hoping that building a better top will help keep the humidity higher. Also have a humidity hide.
We keep a shallow water dish in the enclosure and try to keep it clean. We soak him in the sink for ~20 mins every day followed by 20 minutes outdoors in the sun.
He does eat, although not a whole lot, and is fairly picky. Right now he will eat rose petals, some leaves, grape vine leaves, a little bit of fescue and Bermuda grass. He will eat spring mix, but we haven’t given him much of that trying to focus on eating the grass. Should we give more just to get him eating?I planted a patch of Bermuda in the enclosure hoping he would graze on it, but he very rarely does. I put ZooMed grassland tortoise pellets in, moistened, but I haven’t really seen him eat any of it. I also sprinkle calcium powder on his leaves/grass a couple times a week. We don’t give him any other fruits/vegetables other than maybe some carrots in the lettuce mix.
Last note, his poop was dark and firm at first, but today I noticed it more green and ‘slimy’, like a booger. Still held together, not runny, but not firm either.
The only thing I can think of that we haven’t done is test for parasites. Anything else obvious I’m missing? What can we do to help him gain weight?
Thanks
Craig
