Chubbs the tegu
Well-Known Member
Mazuri tortoise diet.. the original formula wrks better for me.. mine doesnt like the LS
How big should my sulcata tortoise be?
- Thread starter MilesTheTortoise
- Start date
MilesTheTortoise
New Member
i'll try that ??
What was the source of this baby and how was it started? Few breeders start them correctly.
Most of the care info given for this species is wrong. If you've been letting it drop down to room temp at night and only soaking three times a week, that is part of the problem. This is a tropical species. They need warm nights, not cold. Cold nights are for temperate species.
Here is all the correct care info in one place for you:
Beginner Mistakes
To comment on Tom's article, go here: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-split-Beginner-Mistakes#axzz1tG8s05M5 Over the years many of us, myself included, have made many of these mistakes, and we have certainly seen them made many times by others. With springtime upon us and many new...
tortoiseforum.org
How To Raise A Healthy Sulcata Or Leopard, Version 2.0
It's been three years since the original care sheet, http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-63788.html , and I think its time for a review and an update. A lot of new info has come to light over the last three years and new insight has been gained through numerous experiences. What follows is my...
tortoiseforum.org
For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...
Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...
tortoiseforum.org
MilesTheTortoise
New Member
What was the source of this baby and how was it started? Few breeders start them correctly.
Most of the care info given for this species is wrong. If you've been letting it drop down to room temp at night and only soaking three times a week, that is part of the problem. This is a tropical species. They need warm nights, not cold. Cold nights are for temperate species.
Here is all the correct care info in one place for you:
Beginner Mistakes
To comment on Tom's article, go here: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-split-Beginner-Mistakes#axzz1tG8s05M5 Over the years many of us, myself included, have made many of these mistakes, and we have certainly seen them made many times by others. With springtime upon us and many new...How To Raise A Healthy Sulcata Or Leopard, Version 2.0
It's been three years since the original care sheet, http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-63788.html , and I think its time for a review and an update. A lot of new info has come to light over the last three years and new insight has been gained through numerous experiences. What follows is my...tortoiseforum.orgFor Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...
Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...
tropical? they're from the deserts of africa. i think you might mistaken on what tortoise species i own.What was the source of this baby and how was it started? Few breeders start them correctly.
Most of the care info given for this species is wrong. If you've been letting it drop down to room temp at night and only soaking three times a week, that is part of the problem. This is a tropical species. They need warm nights, not cold. Cold nights are for temperate species.
Here is all the correct care info in one place for you:
Beginner Mistakes
To comment on Tom's article, go here: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-split-Beginner-Mistakes#axzz1tG8s05M5 Over the years many of us, myself included, have made many of these mistakes, and we have certainly seen them made many times by others. With springtime upon us and many new...How To Raise A Healthy Sulcata Or Leopard, Version 2.0
It's been three years since the original care sheet, http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-63788.html , and I think its time for a review and an update. A lot of new info has come to light over the last three years and new insight has been gained through numerous experiences. What follows is my...tortoiseforum.orgFor Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...
Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...
Haven't read more of the posts.....but, explain more on the “cool down”. Sullys need minimum ambiet 80 24/7 so you really shouldn't have cool down periods/locations.
Regarding the “tort tablets” ref’d .... a good handful of softened/wet Mazuri goes a long way to ensuring proper diet.
MilesTheTortoise
New Member
just as in i turn his light off for the night. his light on top of his heat lamp makes a lot of warmth, so i try to diminish it a little.
Wrong. They come from sub-Saharan Africa. Also called the Sahel region. They inhabit grassland and forest edge areas. You need a lot of annual rainfall to sustain grasslands and forests, right? This is NOT a desert species, and desert conditions kill, stunt and malform them.
My friend Tomas Diagne from the African Chelonian Institute lives in South Florida for about half of each year, and his home country of Senegal for the other half. He tells me that sulcata land during the rainy season is hot, humid and muggy like South Florida in summer. These are the conditions that baby sulcatas hatch into in the wild, and these are the conditions that they thrive in in captivity. Monsoon conditions. The books, experts, vets, and breeders have had it wrong for three decades. Following this wrong advice, both the breeders and buyers, is why your baby is still the size of a hatchling at 4-5 months old.
Tropical is everything between the tropic of Capricorn and the tropic of cancer. Most of the sulcata range falls within this region.
If you need more convincing, please ask. Happy to discuss and explain further. Its been a long uphill battle fighting this old, wrong information.
MilesTheTortoise
New Member
all of my knowledge specifically for sulcata tortoises came from local zoos, and pet stores. people have different ideas on how they should/shouldn't be cared for. the factual side, i'll look more into. since my info came directly from a zoo itself, i thought i'd been informed with legit facts about sulcata tortoises.
Zoos get their info from private breeders and keepers, like us here on the forum. They are last in line on the information highway, and most of the reptile keepers working there will tell you that if they are honest.
I can totally understand your thinking there, but as I said, we ALL had the wrong info, we were all taught the wrong info, and we've all been practicing with the wrong info for three decades. This wrong info was based on incorrect assumptions about where they come from and how they live there. For 20 years everything I did, and all the expert advice I followed led to failure. Stunted and pyramided babies. I kept going back and asking all the "experts", breeders, authors, vets, and sellers, and each time they'd tell me what I did wrong and how to do it right. Each subsequent attempt met with the same failure. I failed because the info was flawed, and none of them knew this, and most of them still don't know this.
For the last 10 years, with lots of help and input from many sources, me and many other people all over the world, have figured out what DOES really work and WHY it really does work. The establishment has not been receptive, to put it nicely. I've been insulted, belittled, threatened, dismissed, ignored, and just about everything else short of physical violence. Meanwhile I keep on producing 100s of healthy thriving babies of many species years after year, while their babies fail to thrive, fail to grow, pyramid and often die. This info has been translated in to several other languages and it produces the same success all over the globe.
You've stumbled on this new info here. Many people have not yet. Many people have heard something about this whole humidity and warmth thing a time or two, but dismissed the person telling them as an idiot, or ill-informed nincompoop. In time, they will keep hearing it and eventually figure this out. In the meantime, most babies hatched annually in this country will be started incorrectly by the breeder, and housed incorrectly by the buyer. The result is stunted grow, pyramiding, and sometimes death for the vast majority of baby sulcatas, and several other species too.
Get a scale and weigh your baby. I'll bet is right around 50 grams. It should be around 300-400 at that age, if it had been started correctly and housed well. This thread might offer some more explanation: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/
By contrast, here is how they should be started:
How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings
I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...
tortoiseforum.org
Keep the questions coming. The more of a "Doubting Thomas" you are, the more info will be shared, and the more people can learn.
MilesTheTortoise
New Member
with that being said, it's best to do the research myself than to just rely on what other people have to say. thank you for the links, i DEFINITELY need to educate myself on sulcata tortoises. after all, im very new to this. it's embarrassing to receive the wrong info and roll with it as if it's correct. lesson learned for me haha.Zoos get their info from private breeders and keepers, like us here on the forum. They are last in line on the information highway, and most of the reptile keepers working there will tell you that if they are honest.
I can totally understand your thinking there, but as I said, we ALL had the wrong info, we were all taught the wrong info, and we've all been practicing with the wrong info for three decades. This wrong info was based on incorrect assumptions about where they come from and how they live there. For 20 years everything I did, and all the expert advice I followed led to failure. Stunted and pyramided babies. I kept going back and asking all the "experts", breeders, authors, vets, and sellers, and each time they'd tell me what I did wrong and how to do it right. Each subsequent attempt met with the same failure. I failed because the info was flawed, and none of them knew this, and most of them still don't know this.
For the last 10 years, with lots of help and input from many sources, me and many other people all over the world, have figured out what DOES really work and WHY it really does work. The establishment has not been receptive, to put it nicely. I've been insulted, belittled, threatened, dismissed, ignored, and just about everything else short of physical violence. Meanwhile I keep on producing 100s of healthy thriving babies of many species years after year, while their babies fail to thrive, fail to grow, pyramid and often die. This info has been translated in to several other languages and it produces the same success all over the globe.
You've stumbled on this new info here. Many people have not yet. Many people have heard something about this whole humidity and warmth thing a time or two, but dismissed the person telling them as an idiot, or ill-informed nincompoop. In time, they will keep hearing it and eventually figure this out. In the meantime, most babies hatched annually in this country will be started incorrectly by the breeder, and housed incorrectly by the buyer. The result is stunted grow, pyramiding, and sometimes death for the vast majority of baby sulcatas, and several other species too.
Get a scale and weigh your baby. I'll bet is right around 50 grams. It should be around 300-400 at that age, if it had been started correctly and housed well. This thread might offer some more explanation: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/
By contrast, here is how they should be started:
How To Incubate Eggs And Start Hatchlings
I put my eggs in a plastic shoe box with a lid on it and put the shoe box in the incubator. You can drill a couple of very small holes around the top of the container, but not on the lid. I use vermiculite as an incubation media. I mix it in a 1 : 1 ratio with water by weight for Sulcatas and...
Keep the questions coming. The more of a "Doubting Thomas" you are, the more info will be shared, and the more people can learn.
If you need further convincing, compare a sulcata range map to a climate map of Africa-
Can we see some pictures of your enclosure?
Can we see some pictures of your enclosure?
Dude. You are NOT alone. For 20 years I was taught this wrong info, followed it and dutifully taught it to everyone around me.
The problem with trying to educate yourself is that almost all sources you can find say the same wrong stuff.
Here is an old thread explaining the origin of this "movement":
The End Of Pyramiding
I thought a lot about what to name this thread. I intend for it to go on for several years, so I had to pick something fitting. So be careful how you reply to this thread, as it will be read by many for a long time to come. One way or another, the following will be one more nail in the coffin...
tortoiseforum.org
All I can say is ”Trust in Tom” and what he has to say regarding the proper husbandry for all things Sulcata & Leopards.
✅ High Humidity
✅ Fully Enclosed Enclosure for youngsters...
✅ Daily Soakings , nice long soaks in warm water!
✅ Orchid Bark/Coco/Cypress Mulch Substrate
✅ Good diet, grass, weeds..
✅ Ambient temps > 80F
✅ Large Enclosures!
ps - The Sulcata Bible - https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
✅ High Humidity
✅ Fully Enclosed Enclosure for youngsters...
✅ Daily Soakings , nice long soaks in warm water!
✅ Orchid Bark/Coco/Cypress Mulch Substrate
✅ Good diet, grass, weeds..
✅ Ambient temps > 80F
✅ Large Enclosures!
ps - The Sulcata Bible - https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
Sue Ann
Well-Known Member
Thanks my mind went blank on Mazuri
Hi and welcome...I'd like to say one, maybe two things to you...you came here looking for advice, it's good that you are ...skeptical...however...you are getting advice from people who have 20-30 years of experience raising tortoises. This is probably not exact, but Tom has a creep of about 30 Sulcata, I only have 2 right now, but many in the past. I'm just trying to say to keep an open mind as you will NOT find as current information anywhere in person or on the Web that you will find here. We are and have been on the forefront of changeing tortoise husbandry and raising exceptional healthy tortoises...please stay for the sake of your baby...
