I brought home a baby sulcata a week ago, he's the first tortoise that I've ever owned and I want to make sure I'm doing everything that I'm supposed to in order to keep him healthy and happy.
I live in the Florida Keys so it's quite warm here year round, but since he's still a hatchling he has an indoor enclosure for now. He does however, go outside at least once a day for around 20 minutes each time. This is primarily when he eats, he grazes my yard and eats mostly clover and weeds, but I've seen him eat grass once or twice. I'm having a hard time getting him to eat indoors, which I'm attributing to him still adjusting to new surroundings. When I do feed him inside he gets grasses and clovers brought in from the yard, as well as a little bit of organic lettuce and spring mix.
His enclosure is about 3x2 feet, which isn't as big as I'd like but since he's still small it'll work for now. I plan to upgrade sometime soon, as well as build an enclosure in the backyard for him to stay in during the day.
He has two hides, a half log structure and an empty clay flower pot, as well as some space underneath two plants that he can hide in if he wants to. There's also a water bowl in the corner of the enclosure that is always full of water, but there are pebbles in the bottom for him to stand on and not be entirely submerged.
Right now his "humid hide" is at 80 degrees and at almost 80% humidity. The warmest part of his enclosure is at around 99-101 degrees, however it's hard to maintain any moisture in that part of the enclosure due to the heat. The cooler area is at around 79-81 degrees and is at 70% humidity. The lamp is on for around 12 hours a day, and at night the temperatures are around 68-70 degrees.
To maintain humidity, I just mist the entire enclosure several times a day, and I mist the tortoise's carapace each time I do so (he does not appreciate this.) There's not a lid to go over the enclosure, is this something I should look into?
I soak him in a tub of very shallow warm water underneath the heat lamp for about 10 minutes everyday, which is usually when he excretes waste. This is apparently normal, and I change the water out after that. I've also found him soaking in his water dish once on his own accord, but I'm not sure if that's harmful or not because the water isn't very warm.
As for his health, so far he appears to be doing okay. He sleeps a lot, but I've read that most babies do, and he's the most active when I take him outside. He's done what I believe is sneezing a few times, but I've also read that even healthy tortoises sometimes sneeze.
He does do this odd thing that I've never seen anyone else talk about, and he's done it since the day I brought him home on 9/2. He turns his head to the side and scratches his face on his arms. I'm not sure why he does this, but I'm hoping it's not anything serious.
Anyways, I'll post photos of his enclosure and of him, and any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you!
I live in the Florida Keys so it's quite warm here year round, but since he's still a hatchling he has an indoor enclosure for now. He does however, go outside at least once a day for around 20 minutes each time. This is primarily when he eats, he grazes my yard and eats mostly clover and weeds, but I've seen him eat grass once or twice. I'm having a hard time getting him to eat indoors, which I'm attributing to him still adjusting to new surroundings. When I do feed him inside he gets grasses and clovers brought in from the yard, as well as a little bit of organic lettuce and spring mix.
His enclosure is about 3x2 feet, which isn't as big as I'd like but since he's still small it'll work for now. I plan to upgrade sometime soon, as well as build an enclosure in the backyard for him to stay in during the day.
He has two hides, a half log structure and an empty clay flower pot, as well as some space underneath two plants that he can hide in if he wants to. There's also a water bowl in the corner of the enclosure that is always full of water, but there are pebbles in the bottom for him to stand on and not be entirely submerged.
Right now his "humid hide" is at 80 degrees and at almost 80% humidity. The warmest part of his enclosure is at around 99-101 degrees, however it's hard to maintain any moisture in that part of the enclosure due to the heat. The cooler area is at around 79-81 degrees and is at 70% humidity. The lamp is on for around 12 hours a day, and at night the temperatures are around 68-70 degrees.
To maintain humidity, I just mist the entire enclosure several times a day, and I mist the tortoise's carapace each time I do so (he does not appreciate this.) There's not a lid to go over the enclosure, is this something I should look into?
I soak him in a tub of very shallow warm water underneath the heat lamp for about 10 minutes everyday, which is usually when he excretes waste. This is apparently normal, and I change the water out after that. I've also found him soaking in his water dish once on his own accord, but I'm not sure if that's harmful or not because the water isn't very warm.
As for his health, so far he appears to be doing okay. He sleeps a lot, but I've read that most babies do, and he's the most active when I take him outside. He's done what I believe is sneezing a few times, but I've also read that even healthy tortoises sometimes sneeze.
He does do this odd thing that I've never seen anyone else talk about, and he's done it since the day I brought him home on 9/2. He turns his head to the side and scratches his face on his arms. I'm not sure why he does this, but I'm hoping it's not anything serious.
Anyways, I'll post photos of his enclosure and of him, and any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you!
