Hi All- New to Forum and Sulcata Tortoise Care

[Paul Runyon]

I have been doing a ton of reading on this site. I live in Arizona and grass is not easy to come by in my area. I assume I will be relying on "grocery store" food. Does anyone have any other ideas or helpful thoughts? Currently, I have tortoise pellets and a layer of Bermuda grass as a substrate. Armistice, our new friend, like the grass so far. Thanks for any replies in advance!

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. Optunia cactus, I know you have it easy growing that. Maybe @Neal who also lives in AZ can help with east to grow tort food for your area.

 

[Tom]

I'm in Phoenix right now and there is grass everywhere here. It can be done. You might need some shade cloth and extra water in summer is all.

Here is all the sulcata info, including a diet sheet with all sorts of suggestions.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive, escarole and spring mix. Amend the grocery store greens by adding grass, blended grass hay, or soaked Zoomed Grassland pellets.

 

[Neal]

What city are you in?

Assuming you're in the valley, grass will be hard to grow this time of year. I've planted Rye as late as January and still had some come up, but that's about all that I am aware of that will grow this time of year. In the spring I would recommend planting some Bermuda. It needs a lot of heat and direct sunlight, but once it's started it should be easy to maintain just about anywhere in the Phoenix area.

We have a lot of winter weeds that grow in the valley. Mallow is a favorite of mine. If you have some growing in your area, and it is growing in an area that is clean of pesticides, fertilizers, etc...I would feed your tortoise a lot of that over the winter along with what was recommended above.

Are the tortoise pellets you're using as substrate alfalfa pellets?

 

[Trtl3L0v3r]

I'm in Phoenix right now and there is grass everywhere here. It can be done. You might need some shade cloth and extra water in summer is all.

Here is all the sulcata info, including a diet sheet with all sorts of suggestions.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive, escarole and spring mix. Amend the grocery store greens by adding grass, blended grass hay, or soaked Zoomed Grassland pellets.

I have a big patch of grass in my back yard. That seems to be all Crush will eat. When I try other greens, even hollyhock flowers, she is not at all interested. I measured her today and she is 4 1/4 inches. That is straight across on carapace. The person I got her from said she is two years old but the measurement doesn't match.

 

[Tom]

I have a big patch of grass in my back yard. That seems to be all Crush will eat. When I try other greens, even hollyhock flowers, she is not at all interested. I measured her today and she is 4 1/4 inches. That is straight across on carapace. The person I got her froView attachment 358112m said she is two years old but the measurement doesn't match.

People don't start the babies correctly and they don't house and care for them correctly. Slow pyramided growth is the typical result, so 2 years old at this size is likely under those circumstances. House the tortoise like this, and the growth will pick up:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Sink that terra cotta saucer into the ground more. That lip is too high.

Tortoises don't like new foods. You have to take the time to slowly introduce new foods over a period of weeks or months. Start by mincing up their favorite greens. Then mince and mix in a tiny tiny amount of the new item. There should be almost none of the new item. Maybe 1%. Just a few flecks. Over time add more and more of the new item until they get used to the taste, smell and texture.

 

[Maggie3fan]

I seriously like the name Crush. The measurement is from front to back. You smash (gently) his face into the wall then you measure front to back...it's called straight carapace length

 

[Trtl3L0v3r]

People don't start the babies correctly and they don't house and care for them correctly. Slow pyramided growth is the typical result, so 2 years old at this size is likely under those circumstances. House the tortoise like this, and the growth will pick up:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Sink that terra cotta saucer into the ground more. That lip is too high.

Tortoises don't like new foods. You have to take the time to slowly introduce new foods over a period of weeks or months. Start by mincing up their favorite greens. Then mince and mix in a tiny tiny amount of the new item. There should be almost none of the new item. Maybe 1%. Just a few flecks. Over time add more and more of the new item until they get used to the taste, smell and texture.

The previous owner kept her indoors and the water bowl was soooo tiny. The fake log was so small she had no place to hide whatsoever.i now have her outside and she seems to be doing well. Her water bowl is smaller and more sunken in. The one in the previous picture is for my 3 toed box turtle who is much bigger. I've included pictures of her little snuggle spot she picked out and her setup for food and water. She is not housed near the box turtle, they each have their own domain. She is quite far from the grass patch now. But she seems to be a good traveler when she does come out. I had to convince her to move from under the log pile cause as you know here in Phoenix that sun is relentless. The pile of logs had the majority of the HOT mid and late day sun.

People don't start the babies correctly and they don't house and care for them correctly. Slow pyramided growth is the typical result, so 2 years old at this size is likely under those circumstances. House the tortoise like this, and the growth will pick up:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Sink that terra cotta saucer into the ground more. That lip is too high.

Tortoises don't like new foods. You have to take the time to slowly introduce new foods over a period of weeks or months. Start by mincing up their favorite greens. Then mince and mix in a tiny tiny amount of the new item. There should be almost none of the new item. Maybe 1%. Just a few flecks. Over time add more and more of the new item until they get used to the taste, smell and texture.

 

[Tom]

The previous owner kept her indoors and the water bowl was soooo tiny. The fake log was so small she had no place to hide whatsoever.i now have her outside and she seems to be doing well. Her water bowl is smaller and more sunken in. The one in the previous picture is for my 3 toed box turtle who is much bigger. I've included pictures of her little snuggle spot she picked out and her setup for food and water. She is not housed near the box turtle, they each have their own domain. She is quite far from the grass patch now. But she seems to be a good traveler when she does come out. I had to convince her to move from under the log pile cause as you know here in Phoenix that sun is relentless. The pile of logs had the majority of the HOT mid and late day sun.

Your tortoise is too small to live outside full time. Its not good for them. You need a large warm humid indoor closed camber until the tortoise reaches about 10 inches or so. They are not a desert species, and they hatch at the start of the super humid hot rainy monsoon season in their native country. I've done multiple side-by-side experiments with groups of sulcata clutch mates to reach this conclusion. Same results every time. Indoor groups grow three times faster on the same amount of food, and completely smooth compared to the pyramiding that happens on their outdoor housed siblings. Outdoors full time, with a burrow for the summer months and a night box for the other months, is fine for adults, but not little ones.

Also, where you are, its too hot during the day and too cool at night most of the year, so the tortoise needs a well insulated temperature controlled night box once it does finally move outside. When its 110 outside, my boxes don't get over 90. When its 30 on those occasional cold nights in winter, the boxes stay at 80-86. Here are two examples:

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

Double Door Night Box

As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...

tortoiseforum.org