Housing a Sulcata outside year-round.

[dakotanivens]

I thought the adults were the ones that ate the grasses and hay, babies do it, too? Today was the first full day of me having him.. and I didn't put the mix in until after his bath, which I guess tired him out a bit, hahaha. They are very adventurous in the most. I'll put his mix in tomorrow before he wakes so he has time to find it when he goes on an adventure.

Fellow Tiliqua keeper, woo! lol I just acquired my sixth one..

 

[mainey34]

Yes, baby tortoises eat weeds and grasses also..

 

[dakotanivens]

..and they eat everyday, from what I understand.. right?

Could I just chop/cut up clovers/weeds from the yard and hay as a staple instead of the "Spring Mix"?

Not including pesticides what would be toxic to them? I know onion is very toxic to BTS, one other thing that is on the tip of my tongue.

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Again, sorry! This tortoise was very unexpected, and making sure everything is perfect.

 

[Tom]

You'll need to use the right weeds, but yes, that's the best way to go. Grass, weeds, hibiscus, grape and mulberry leaves, spineless opuntia cactus pads, endive, escarole, nasturtiums, gazanias, geraniums, roses bushes, clover, dandelion, sowthistle, plantain weeds, filaree, mallow, etc.

They usually won't eat dry grass hay until they are about 12"+. You can blend it up, rehydrate it and mix it in with the regular food if you like though. Its good for them.

Is he staying warm at night?

 

[dakotanivens]

Yeah, right at 80 or so. I thought I posted this, or I'm just not seeing this it.. (I'm not used to this type set-up on forums.)

Could I just house him inside where is at a good nighttime temperature, and leave him out in the day? My room is already a little high during the day, and adding another heating lamp will just be too hard for my skinks. The livingroom is 78 all day long, so a little too cool so can't keep him in there. Outside is around 80, until the sun actually comes in the cage and it gets about 95 on the hot side.

Again, I'm hoping for the well-being of the little dude, but I have to keep into consideration of my skinks, also.

And thanks everyone! I feel soooo much better about this. At first, I thought I was in over my head. Tortoises are A LOT different than skinks.. :|

 

[Tom]

My preference would be the warmer temps of your room. You can use a low wattage flood bulb for warmth. A 50 watt will work just fine if you lower it down a bit. This is an option you don't really have with the skinks. A single 50 watt bulb should not drive the heat up in your room all that much.

I don't like to leave young ones out all day. It seems to be hard on them and makes them grow much slower. An hour or so a day does the trick for me. No big deal if you need to skip a day now and then.

 

[dakotanivens]

A 50 watt for a 95 degree basking spot? o-o whoa..

Or are you saying just let him bask when I take the little dude out, and just use the lamp as some type of warmer?

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You guys are LIFE SAVERS. :shy:

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It's all so confusing.. I read some people house babies outside, some don't.. some feed strictly "Spring Mix", some pick the food out of the yard. Why is there so much variance in the answers?

Although, I think I got the diet down pretty good.

..just they are so non-forgiving with the temperatures. I wish I would have came here BEFORE I got the little dude. I wasn't even expecting to come home with an animal, let alone 4 of them.

 

[dakotanivens]

Another question about supplements:

I understand they need calcium, but is it with D3? I have 3 big bottles of it already, since my babies (skinks) need it to prevent MBD.

Sorry for soooo many questions, just thinking of as many as possible.. while you guys are sleeping, lol.

I will not be buying a UVB bulb of any sort, going to take the little dude out on the patio and let him roam.

What is this about a cuttlebone?

 

[dakotanivens]

Okay, does this food look decent? I know it was a little much.. lol.

Turns out he did eat, just didn't see him. I sprinkled a little Ca on this salad stuff, and found it on his mouth when I went and checked on him.

It seems that the pellets retained the heat from the day. I measured it with my temperature gun, and was right at 80.. lol.

--- This is just temporary. We plan to buy some awesome hides for him to hide in or rumage around. I plan to replace the pellets since you guys says it molds..? Something to that manner, although the cage will never be wet, if I do decide to keep him outside.. (I have someone PM'ing me about what they do to keep their babies outside..)

You can actually see condensation under the food bowl on the top left.

 

[Tom]

A 50 watt for a 95 degree basking spot? o-o whoa..

Or are you saying just let him bask when I take the little dude out, and just use the lamp as some type of warmer?

---

You guys are LIFE SAVERS. :shy:

---

It's all so confusing.. I read some people house babies outside, some don't.. some feed strictly "Spring Mix", some pick the food out of the yard. Why is there so much variance in the answers?

Although, I think I got the diet down pretty good.

..just they are so non-forgiving with the temperatures. I wish I would have came here BEFORE I got the little dude. I wasn't even expecting to come home with an animal, let alone 4 of them.

---

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If he's indoors, he needs and ambient of 80ish AND a spot where he can warm up to around 100. The basking lamp gives him this option. When he is outdoors he can use a sunny spot in the enclosure for this purpose.

I would not leave a hatchling out all day. I have found it to be not so great for them.

 

[wildchild6771]

I keep my 4 week old sulcata outside all day. Main reason is that it's at my work (plant nursery) and I keep a constant eye on it. Plus I've got endless amount of food supply. It has its own box with shade and natural light. I've been doing this for a while and my torts seem to love it out here. I'd rather not keep it indoors with heat lamps because I wouldn't be able to take care of it as well as I do at work. Am I doing the right thing?

 

[dakotanivens]

@wildchild6771 - You aren't the only one.. someone PM'd me about how they do it..

 

[wildchild6771]

It gets pretty hot where I live, even at night it's pretty warm. With my other tortoise I always moved her indoors on the cooler nights, then moved her in completely inside during the winter where she decided to hibernate. I plan to do the same with my sulcata, though give it some heat lamps in the winter because I know they won't really hibernate.

 

[SANDRA_MEISSNEST]

I hand mine out 24/7 when they were like 4 inches tall..never had a problem,just when its cold u need a heater.
Im in south florida.
Dont know what other ppl say or think,but thats what i do,my 3 sullies were and are never sick.huminidy is perfect outside

Sent from my ZTE N9120 using TortForum mobile app

 

[Tom]

Am I doing the right thing?

In my opinion no. They fare better when housed indoors in more stable conditions when they are babies in my experience. It does depend on where you are too. If you live somewhere hot and dry, its worse than somewhere hot and humid.

This does not mean its wrong. It just means that you can expect your baby to grow slower than average and depending on your set up and location, you can expect some pyramiding.

 

[WalterSulcata]

Am I doing the right thing?

This does not mean its wrong. It just means that you can expect your baby to grow slower than average and depending on your set up and location, you can expect some pyramiding.

Hello Tom,

I have been reading what you recommend. I have a question, why do you expect pyramiding if the baby is outdoors 24/7. Like specifically why would that cause pyramiding if you are still able to maintain tight control of the important parameters. Also, I guess the use of the term outdoors is a little ambiguous, as there are so many climates we are talking about. Thanks.

 

[dakotanivens]

I just checked the humidity, and it is 94%.. is that too high? Or pretty good?

 

[WalterSulcata]

My humidity is always at least 80 - 85 % and temps are 83-95 degrees 365 days, 24/7. Sun 360 days per year at the equator. There is no way I can do better indoors. Night time lows are never below 80 , even in winter. Inside is AC, low humidity, 24/7 with humidity 30% and temp of 68-70 degrees. So for me , outside is a much more reasonable choice.

 

[Tom]

Walter, Dakota, and Wildchild,
Try this: Get six hatchlings and set them up in the best way you know how in an outdoor set-up. Then get six more and set them up in a closed chamber following my set up indoors. Take weekly weights on each and compare. Speaking from first hand experience doing the above many many times with 100's of individual tortoises and speaking with other seasoned tortoise keepers about their similar experiences, I can tell you that indoors will provide safer, better, more stable conditions for a tiny hatchling. Its not necessarily "bad" for them to be outside, if you can provide the right conditions in your given climate and housing situation, but I have always unanimously found indoors to work better for them. All of mine are going to end up outside full time eventually, but the mostly indoor head start has always been very beneficial for all of mine.

Walter, Where are you with this perfect weather 24/7. I know of no place on earth with such a perfect climate. Hawaii? Somewhere in the Philippines maybe? What about your night time lows? Do you have winter there?

 

[mainey34]

My humidity is always at least 80 - 85 % and temps are 83-95 degrees 365 days, 24/7. Sun 360 days per year at the equator. There is no way I can do better indoors. Night time lows are never below 80 , even in winter. Inside is AC, low humidity, 24/7 with humidity 30% and temp of 68-70 degrees. So for me , outside is a much more reasonable choice.

Where do you live that you have such perfect conditions for torts. I would love to see your torts also...