Hi so I recently adopted a baby sulcata who was around 6 months old (so i've been told by the breeder) and he/she is around 5.8cm from the plastron and around 58grams before feeding and approx 61 to 62grams after feeding. So I have seen through a few forums saying that sulcata babies shouldn't be overfed using cuttlebone powder so I want to ask how many grams should i give the lil guy? Because I am worried of overfeeding calcium and bladder stones however I am also worried about MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease) if someone encounters this forum pls reply as soon as possible thank you
How much cuttlebone powder for baby sulcata
- Thread starter Justincl
- Start date
Welcome. You can leave the cuttlebone in there at all times and i just put a pinch of repti cal twice aweek on his food.
Is there a possiblity that his/her beak will become uneven? Because I am rather scared as I hope that he/she lives a happy and long life. Sorry if i'm asking so much questions... i'm very worried
Also a lot of info on other forums are all wrong. Stick to getting ur info from here and u cant go wrong. Good luck and heres a great care sheet from Tom
www.tortoiseforum.org
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...
www.tortoiseforum.org
Questions are good. His beak will be fine.. feed him on a piece of slate or terra cotta saucer
For now i do use 2 slates 1 for feeding and 1 for basking and I'm living in Indonesia however is it safe to use the uva bulb at night as well? Because the temps here are 26 degrees celcius at lowest but I am scared that he/she would get flu again like when i first got him/her home and not to mention that its the rainy season now here
Also I do feed him/her with grinded cuttlebone around 3 days a week (Monday wednesay friday) and vitamin supplement on sunday however im worried that im giving calcium too less as his top plastron has become hard however the middle and bottom part are still kind of soft
Read through that thread i posted for you.. there should be no lights on at night. You can use a CHE on a thermostat for night heat. Ur temps should never drop below 80f. If ur using a Mercury vapor bulb for uvb u should get rid of it and get a long tube style.
A babies plastron will be a bit spongy its normal.
In your personal experience how long do baby sulcatas take on average to harden their plastron?
If you can post some pics of your enclosure we can give u better advice. If you follow that care sheet ur baby will thrive and be happy.
It should be pretty solid by a year old. But even then can be a lil give if pushed hard enough. As long as its just a lil give u have no worries
This is my temporary enclosure for now since he/she is still small but I am planning on getting a bigger container if he/she gets bigger I just placed the cuttlebone inside but when I am feeding him/her is a pinch of cuttlebone powder on the food good? Or is there a certain gram of calcium i should be aware of
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1. You need substrate in there.. orchid bark or cypress mulch.
2. That water bowl is a drowning hazzard.. they can flip onto there backs trying to climb in and out. Use a terra cotta saucer sunk level with the substrate.
3. I would get rid of that enclosure and get something with higher sides so that u can close the top and hang ur lights inside.. ur humidity should be 80%+ and thats impossible with an open top and no substrate
Are u soaking him in warm water everyday?
Ye
Yes twice a day and the waterdish isnt deep its around 0.5cm and he/she actually trained himself/herself how to get in and out and the reason i dont use subtsrate is because the breeder didnt use substrate and i actually am worried that the substrate would get eaten and cause impaction and on average the humidity here is pretty much reaching 80 percent because indonesia is a tropical country and i use tissue on top of the hiding pot to make it humid and at times he/she would take a nap there
Not to mention it is actually hard to obtain most resources from abroad here as moat breeders here use coco husk and I dont use substrate because i am afraid of the enclosure being unclean and i cant see if he/she peed or pooped already and i do wash and use disinfectant on the pvc carpet every week or 2
However i do plan on getting another water dish but I am going to fill it with either coco husk or plantation soil from exoterra when he/she gets bigger as he/she gets more used to it and is less vulnerable to infections and sicknesses and i will be planning on upgrading the enclosure
The water dish is not worth the risk.
90% of breeders start their babies the wrong way.
humidity might be 80% outside.. but inside a plastic container with drying heat lamps i can guarantee its not 80%.. get urself a hygrometer
Ok thx for the advice i'll upgrade everything and i am actually considering on getting a tortoise table when I have collected the funds I appreciate the advice thx so much
