I believe I have a rare sulcata tortoise someone help?

skrapoy

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I’m also in very bad finacial issues if anyone is looking for a this guy a home I believe he is a ungrowing sulcata tortoise we’ve had him for over a year and hasn’t moved at all we’ve had him sense he was a baby and has just never changed and we have done everything correctly IMG_1566164237.153946.jpgIMG_1566164287.706692.jpg
 

skrapoy

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New Orleans
I’ve read it is a thing but it’s very rare and temps are steady 80 I’ve brought him to many places they said he’s extremely happy and healthy but can’t understand why he’s not growing
 

skrapoy

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How do you have him setup ? Enclosure, temps, humidity? I dont think “ungrowing” sulcatas exist unless something is wrong

He loves taking laps I posted pics and it a debatable thing to keep them in a tank but my tank is large and he deff has room to grow he loves taking laps
 

skrapoy

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So many questions here, but you say “...we’ve had him for over a year and hasn’t moved at all..”.
Not sure what you mean.

So, what exactly do you mean that it hasnt moved and is “ungrowing”.

No he moves around a lot and fast to extracts a lot he’s super happy just not growin I saw a forum of a certified vet say it’s very possible for a tortoise to not grow but it’s very rare would it shorten his lifespan? Like just there’s o much I want to know about it
 

skrapoy

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Location (City and/or State)
New Orleans
So many questions here, but you say “...we’ve had him for over a year and hasn’t moved at all..”.
Not sure what you mean.

So, what exactly do you mean that it hasnt moved and is “ungrowing”.

When you pick him up which he seems to not like he starts flaring around lol like I didn’t even know turtles could move as fast as this little dude did
 

skrapoy

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Aug 21, 2018
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Location (City and/or State)
New Orleans
So many questions here, but you say “...we’ve had him for over a year and hasn’t moved at all..”.
Not sure what you mean.

So, what exactly do you mean that it hasnt moved and is “ungrowing”.

Oh when I say moved at all I meant in size
 

Tom

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When they don't grow there is something wrong. There is no "mini sulcata".

If you want our help, we will need more info. Lots of people spend money and think they have "right", only to discover they've read the wrong info and everything is all wrong. The only way for us to know if your set up is right or wrong is for you to tell us.

  1. What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area and overnight low?
  2. What heating and lighting equipment are you using to achieve these temperatures?
  3. What size enclosure?
  4. What substrate?
  5. How often do you soak the baby?
  6. What are you feeding the baby?

A few points for you:
  • Sulcatas are the most common tortoise species in the world now. Not rare at all.
  • A steady 80 is much too cool for this species if you don't have a basking area.
  • Most breeders and sellers start this species all wrong. They are not a "desert" species. The chronic dehydration is the reason why they don't grow. Most of the babies that were kept too dry stall their growth at around 50 grams and they seem normal and healthy. Some survive for over a year. Some eventually begin to recover and grow. Most of them die within a few weeks or months. Because so much time passes after they've left the breeder's hands, the new owner is usually blamed for the death.

Lets start with this info and go from there.
 

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