Hi. I have been doing my research for a while now, and am ready to start looking for a reliable breeder to purchase a sulcata tortoise to purchase. I live in central Texas and would like to be able to drive to the breeder and pick the baby up, but I am also willing to order online but am sceptical of doing that for live animals. Please and thank you for any and all information!
Looking for good information and a reliable breeder.
- Thread starter Justin A
- Start date
Sulcatas breed in winter. I'll have regular babies available in March or April. I have some Sudan sucata babies available right now. See the Sudan babies here: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/sudan-sulcatas-this-never-gets-old.184832/
Almost no one starts sulcata babies correctly and a large percentage of them never see their first birthday. Bad care advice is rampant, and there is currently a horrible disease that we believe is originating at one of the country's mass producers and being spread everywhere by tortoise website re-sellers. Be very careful where you buy right now.
Here is what happens when they are started in the typical wrong way:
tortoiseforum.org
By contrast, here is how they should be started:
tortoiseforum.org
And finally, here is the current and correct care info:
tortoiseforum.org
Questions and conversation are welcome.
Almost no one starts sulcata babies correctly and a large percentage of them never see their first birthday. Bad care advice is rampant, and there is currently a horrible disease that we believe is originating at one of the country's mass producers and being spread everywhere by tortoise website re-sellers. Be very careful where you buy right now.
Here is what happens when they are started in the typical wrong way:
"Hatchling Failure Syndrome"
I've heard this term for many years and I don't like it. Its a way to excuse our ignorance and failure. I will agree that an occasional hatchling is born that is just not going to make it no matter what anybody does, but MOST of them, if they make it full term and hatch, SHOULD survive and...
tortoiseforum.org
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
And finally, here is the current and correct care info:
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...
tortoiseforum.org
Questions and conversation are welcome.
@Tom This is the first I hear of a disease being spread by a mass producer. I wonder if that information should be made public in order to protect the consumer?
Working on this with a few others. There is more info to gather before we make a public statement I think. We've traced several back to one breeder, and it is possible/likely that the others came from him too, but we want to verify, if possible, first. My recommendation is to simply not buy a sulcata right now unless you are sure the breeder you are buying from bred the baby themselves, and have not had any new tortoises come into their collection for a while.
Just like the last time I dealt with this issue, there is a lot of collateral damage, and I don't want to ruin someone's livelihood for no good reason. Some good people, in addition to the tortoise buyers, are caught in this ugly crossfire.
Welcome
