I'm new here (introduction)

[Laurasue1982]

Hello everyone,
I'm laura, I live 45 min north of houston tx. I've always wanted a tortoise but I have never felt ready. July 4th my husband ran into a couple at the gas station asking for gas. He filled up the tank and the guy showed him a baby tourtise. The couple were living in their car with 2 cats, a prairie dog, a dog and this little guy. The guy didn't want to sell but my husband knowing it wasn't a great home for it he talked him into selling the baby. I'm now a proud owner of a sulcata tortoise. That night i was up until dawn researching them and came to realize what work it will be raising a hatchling. It went from living in my drawer that night to a lasagna dish to box and now has a huge home. He resided in my drawer until his home came in the mail yesterday. I have one area at 68 And the other at 95. He has a basking light that stays on 24/7 And a heating one that goes on and off. I have 2 temp gauges and a humidity gauge that stays around 80 to 90%. I've been feeding it mustard greens and kale along with orchid and alfalfa hay. It took a day for it to want to eat this becaise the previous idiots only fed it iceberg. I change the water out about 4 times a day and spray everything down. 50/50 organic top soil and coconut fiber is what I've used for the ground. I have foil over the enclosure to keep the humidity in. Am I doing ok so far?? Oh and I have calcium I dust his food with twice a week. (Only had him a few days so it's been once). I also soak him in chin high water at 85 for 20 min. Any advice will be amazing!

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. The enclosure needs to be no lower then 80 day and night.
He also needs to be in a closed chamber. Please read our caresheet and closed chamber thread.
Get that heat up though asap.

 

[Ray--Opo]

Welcome! You should put a flat stone for him to bask on. 68 is way to cold. Nothing below 80 and basking area up to 104. If the bulb you have is the coil type get rid of it. It is hard on their eyes. If that is tomato in the food dish. I have heard that tomato is not good. I think it's the seeds. Find your species here and look at the care sheets. It is wonderful you saved the little guy. Plan ahead for a bigger enclosure because they grow like weeds. Hopefully someone with a little more experience will chime in. I haven't figured out how to share links to make it easier for you. But again look at the care sheets for sulcata's. Good luck with your new tort. Do you have a name yet?

 

[Ray--Opo]

Maybe also do soaks for 30 min. Keeping the water warm. The way I manage to keep the water warm is with a sock filled with rice (uncooked). It took some trial and error but with the container I use and my microwave. I heat the sock for 2 1/2 min. Then set the tub on top. The heat dissipates from underneath without overheating Opo's bottom side

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi and welcome!

We have a couple of very good threads for you to read. You'll find them pinned to the top of our Sulcata section.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. Thank you for rescuing this poor little tortoise.

Most of what you find in the course of doing research on how to care for this species is old, out-dated, often repeated, and wrong. I'm glad you found us!

Here are some tips from what I see in your post:

1. No soil. Too messy and you can't know what composted material it is made of. Fine grade orchid bar (aka: fir bark) works best. I buy it in bulk at local garden centers. OSH sometimes sells it too, but you usually won't find it at Lowes or HD.
2. Grocery store foods aren't the best. You can use them for variety, and if you can't find anything better, but here is a lit of better stuff: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
3. No hay for babies. Wait until he is about 12" to introduce hay.
4. 68 is way too cold for this tropical species. No lower than 80.
5. They need it dark at night, but still warm. This is best accomplished with a ceramic heating element set on a thermostat.
6. Basking bulb should be on a timer for 12 hours a day.

Here is the care info:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

Please feel free to ask lots of questions. We are all here to talk tortoises.

 

[Carol S]

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[Laurasue1982]

Wow! Thank you so much! I don't feed it tomatos and I have a coil but it's coated. I'm trying to get it right and having my husband picking up some stuff tonight. I'm going to take out the insert and put in an upside down tub so the area will stay around 80. I will stivknto this site for advice. Tom, I'm reading everything you have and won't disappoint. Thank you

 

[Laurasue1982]

Well, since I've read everyone's comments I've made tremendous changes. I have been able to keep the humidity around 80 to 85 in little's "open" enclosure, basking hits between 99 and 101, I have a timer that turns on and off every 12 hours and another timer that turns on the ceramic heating element. I am still using the organic top soil mixed with coconut fiber and fine grade orchid bark. I put orchid moss "snuggly" under the water bowl (keeps our little from tracking everything in the water and it also puts water back into the moss when little walks out). I added more moss and a second water source. I took out the slide from my tort house that divides the enclosure and made it one big space adding a plastic container for a hide box, i cut a hole in it and filled it with the same moss and flooring. I've read the more active the better. Well, I think someone put an energizer battery in this one! I bought tort seeds and have been giving it a mixture of the recommended grass and weeds I have in my back yard (never been treated). I take our little outside every day to hang out with me for 30 min to an hour (in and out of the sun as it pleases). I soak every morning at 745am and I usually have to change the water right after because of pee or poop. Man can this tort poop! <3... Any other suggestions would be amazing. Here's a pic of slow poke snug as a bug in a rug!

 

[Diamond]

He looks like he's settled in nicely. Glad he found a great home!

 

[Krazyturtlelady]

Also glad you found him. He or she is a lucky little tort!

 

[Laurasue1982]

New updates! It's been a few weeks and I've made some pretty awesome changes! I tried orchid bark (fine grade) and it would dry up fast. I'm using organic top soil with spag. Moss and coconut fiber. It holds the humidity in amazingly. I also put moss under the water dish to keep it clean when little goes in. (Like a door mat). The bowl only gets cleaned once a day vs 6 times a day, lol.
. Stays clean. I have 2 different temp gauges and a humidity gauge. I also planted a mixture of sulcata grass that hasn't sprouted yet for grazing. It's been 3 weeks and our slow poke already comes to me when I call and sees my face. Also, I have started a garden for it and am transitioning slowly from store bought to natural.