My Sulcata Tries to Eat Every Substrate!

cloverandquetzal

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Hello all,

I have a young sulcata tortoise who eats every substrate that I try to put in her tub. Every. Single. Substrate. What should I do? One time I had cleaned her tub and put a towel down so she had a foundation, yet she tore it apart and tried to eat the strings. Don't worry, she is healthy and fine (I visit the veterinarian whenever I worry). She has attempted to eat cypress mulch and dried sphagnum moss that was moistened to be put in her moist hide. Any suggestions?

(P.S: I have also seen her try to eat velcro that is attached to her tub when I had to take one of her thermometers off for a second. I'm home most of the day and tend to watch her like a hawk).

Thank you all in advance!
 

wellington

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Are you feeding her enough? I pile of food at least the size of her twice a day. If she eats it all feed more. I feed my 1 1/2 year old twice a day. When he is older, around 2 years I will feed once a day as much as he can eat, making sure there is always a tad left over.
 

cloverandquetzal

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Are you feeding her enough? I pile of food at least the size of her twice a day. If she eats it all feed more. I feed my 1 1/2 year old twice a day. When he is older, around 2 years I will feed once a day as much as he can eat, making sure there is always a tad left over.

Yes, I do feed her enough and always have lots of finely chopped orchard hay available (although I know juveniles typically don't gravitate towards hay). What do you feed your youngling?
 

wellington

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All the grocery greens I can buy, Mazuri and cactus. In summer months I try to feed more natural weeds leaves and flowers I have growing.
There is a supplement that many have had good luck with when their torts have been trying to eat weird things. It's Miner-all see if you that will help.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/salt-mineral-blocks.54399/
 

cloverandquetzal

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All the grocery greens I can buy, Mazuri and cactus. In summer months I try to feed more natural weeds leaves and flowers I have growing.
There is a supplement that many have had good luck with when their torts have been trying to eat weird things. It's Miner-all see if you that will help.

Okay, thank you! I'll look into that. :)
 

Tom

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Hello and welcome.

Let's start with a few questions to gain a better understanding:
What substrates have you tried?
What do you typically feed your tortoise besides offer the hay?
Are there leftovers at the end of the day?
Any supplements? How much and how often?
What type of heating and lighting? Red bulbs? What type of UV bulb?
What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking area, overnight low?
What size tortoise and what size enclosure?
Where are you?

A picture of the enclosure might help too.
 

cloverandquetzal

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Hello and welcome.

Let's start with a few questions to gain a better understanding:
What substrates have you tried?
What do you typically feed your tortoise besides offer the hay?
Are there leftovers at the end of the day?
Any supplements? How much and how often?
What type of heating and lighting? Red bulbs? What type of UV bulb?
What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking area, overnight low?
What size tortoise and what size enclosure?
Where are you?

A picture of the enclosure might help too.

1. I have tried coconut coir (but then realized it is too dry for them), cypress mulch, sphagnum moss, and now have given up (hay makes up the majority of her enclosure -- which is unfortunate because I want her to have a substrate she can make burrows in).
2. Yes, I do. I offer dark greens like collard greens, prickly pear cactus, occasion radish tops, and occasion bok choy, and commerical grassland tortoise pellets (by Zoo Med). What do you suggest?
3. At the end of the day there is either nothing left or very little.
4. Yes, I do give her supplements. I use Repashy SuperVeggie about 2 times a week, dust her food in a multivitamin 1-2 times a week, and use the Repashy Grassland Grazer power to gel on her food 1-2 times a week. Should I be doing this more?
5. I have one light, it is the Zoo Med Powersun 100W. What do you recommend? I've been trying my best with this tortoise, as she came from pretty bad conditions after having been left in a tank by my brother. I'm trying to educate myself the best I can, but I still need help.
6. The warmest side gets into the high 90's (it's where the light is) and the cool side gets in the 70's. I have a large flat rock for her basking area and it sits close enough to the light so that it is warm. It stays in the 60's at night, the lowest would maybe be the 50's.
7. She is about a year and a half, I think. My brother purchased her as an impulse buy but no longer wanted to take care of her. The enclosure is 42"L x 24"W x 9" D. We are going to get her a bigger tub soon.
8. I live in California in an apartment.

When it is 70 degrees Fahrenheit and higher, I put her tub out on the balcony. I have yet to find a park/grass area around that is pesticide free. ;c
 

eric joranson

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are you wetting down the c. coir? Till it becomes almost a soil like texture.....right out of the bag; yes it would be too dry...but if you really wet it down it works well at holding humidity. You do have to periodically add water to it; mix it up. Keep it at least 4 inches deep though out. Its perfect for digging The trouble with hay; if its in an humid enclosure; its subject to molding. Besides the one UV bulb I would recommend adding a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) for night time; keep temps up with no light. 50-60F is too low for night time temps.
 

cloverandquetzal

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are you wetting down the c. coir? Till it becomes almost a soil like texture.....right out of the bag; yes it would be too dry...but if you really wet it down it works well at holding humidity. You do have to periodically add water to it; mix it up. Keep it at least 4 inches deep though out. Its perfect for digging The trouble with hay; if its in an humid enclosure; its subject to molding. Besides the one UV bulb I would recommend adding a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) for night time; keep temps up with no light. 50-60F is too low for night time temps.

No, I did not wet the coconut coir. So, do you prefer moistened coconut coir over something like moistened eco Earth? Do those substrates mold? Don't worry, I always clean her enclosure and am very aware that hay can mold. Okay, thank you. That is very helpful. :)
 

eric joranson

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eco earth is c coir.......both are mold resistant
....but when little bits of food get into it; those areas can get moldy. So clean up after they eat. (my favorite substrate is fine orchard bark)
 

cloverandquetzal

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eco earth is c coir.......both are mold resistant
....but when little bits of food get into it; those areas can get moldy. So clean up after they eat. (my favorite substrate is fine orchard bark)

Oh okay, I thought so but I wasn't sure. Good to know. Thank you very much. I hope she doesn't attempt to eat it...
 

Tom

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1. I have tried coconut coir (but then realized it is too dry for them), cypress mulch, sphagnum moss, and now have given up (hay makes up the majority of her enclosure -- which is unfortunate because I want her to have a substrate she can make burrows in).
2. Yes, I do. I offer dark greens like collard greens, prickly pear cactus, occasion radish tops, and occasion bok choy, and commerical grassland tortoise pellets (by Zoo Med). What do you suggest?
3. At the end of the day there is either nothing left or very little.
4. Yes, I do give her supplements. I use Repashy SuperVeggie about 2 times a week, dust her food in a multivitamin 1-2 times a week, and use the Repashy Grassland Grazer power to gel on her food 1-2 times a week. Should I be doing this more?
5. I have one light, it is the Zoo Med Powersun 100W. What do you recommend? I've been trying my best with this tortoise, as she came from pretty bad conditions after having been left in a tank by my brother. I'm trying to educate myself the best I can, but I still need help.
6. The warmest side gets into the high 90's (it's where the light is) and the cool side gets in the 70's. I have a large flat rock for her basking area and it sits close enough to the light so that it is warm. It stays in the 60's at night, the lowest would maybe be the 50's.
7. She is about a year and a half, I think. My brother purchased her as an impulse buy but no longer wanted to take care of her. The enclosure is 42"L x 24"W x 9" D. We are going to get her a bigger tub soon.
8. I live in California in an apartment.

When it is 70 degrees Fahrenheit and higher, I put her tub out on the balcony. I have yet to find a park/grass area around that is pesticide free. ;c


Okay. I'm seeing more now. Lots of problems here, but don't feel bad as there is a lot of bad info floating around out there in the world. We are here to help, but to help we will have to point of the issues.

1. Coir needs to be damp as Eric has explained. However coir is too messy and I don't like to use for sulcatas. Fine grade orchid bark works the best.. You can get it very expensively at the pet store, or you can get very cheaply at a garden center. You won't find it in the garden center of a hardware store like Home Depot. You need a plant nursery or garden center. Don't be afraid to special order it.
2. You need more variety. Grass, weeds, leaves and flowers. Its all explained here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
3. They should have enough to graze on all day. You don't want them to run out.
4. That sounds like way too much supplementation going on. Once or twice a week with calcium carbonate powder ( I like the RepCal stuff.), and once a week with a vitamin supplement, if at all. Too much supplementation can cause imbalances which lead them to eat things that they shouldn't. Like substrate.
5. All the lighting stuff, and a whole lot more, is explained here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
6. This is a tropical species. Night temp should not drop below 80. If its dropping into the 50s and 60s at night you are lucky the tortoise is still alive. Are you sure it is a sulcata? Can you post a pic so we can be sure?
7. That enclosure sounds way too small for a 1.5 year old. What size is the tortoise? You don't need a tub, you need a large closed chamber. Its explained in the thread above.


Here is one more to offer some more tips:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Come back with all your questions after you read those links.
 

cloverandquetzal

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Okay. I'm seeing more now. Lots of problems here, but don't feel bad as there is a lot of bad info floating around out there in the world. We are here to help, but to help we will have to point of the issues.

1. Coir needs to be damp as Eric has explained. However coir is too messy and I don't like to use for sulcatas. Fine grade orchid bark works the best.. You can get it very expensively at the pet store, or you can get very cheaply at a garden center. You won't find it in the garden center of a hardware store like Home Depot. You need a plant nursery or garden center. Don't be afraid to special order it.
2. You need more variety. Grass, weeds, leaves and flowers. Its all explained here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
3. They should have enough to graze on all day. You don't want them to run out.
4. That sounds like way too much supplementation going on. Once or twice a week with calcium carbonate powder ( I like the RepCal stuff.), and once a week with a vitamin supplement, if at all. Too much supplementation can cause imbalances which lead them to eat things that they shouldn't. Like substrate.
5. All the lighting stuff, and a whole lot more, is explained here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
6. This is a tropical species. Night temp should not drop below 80. If its dropping into the 50s and 60s at night you are lucky the tortoise is still alive. Are you sure it is a sulcata? Can you post a pic so we can be sure?
7. That enclosure sounds way too small for a 1.5 year old. What size is the tortoise? You don't need a tub, you need a large closed chamber. Its explained in the thread above.


Here is one more to offer some more tips:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Come back with all your questions after you read those links.

Okay, thank you very much. What if I can't get my hands on grass, weeds, leaves, and flowers? I do feed her wheat grass. How would I make a bigger enclosure for her? Can you send me a picture of what a large closed chamber should look like? I'm about to cry... I don't mean to have her in bad conditions. Like I said, I got her from my brother who didn't really care for her. I'm really trying and I'm willing to get everything she could possibly need.
 

cloverandquetzal

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I don't know what to do. I'm in tears. I want her to have the best life possible and if I can't give that to her, I'm not even sure who would take her. I feel so terrible.
 

Tom

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Okay, thank you very much. What if I can't get my hands on grass, weeds, leaves, and flowers? I do feed her wheat grass. How would I make a bigger enclosure for her? Can you send me a picture of what a large closed chamber should look like? I'm about to cry... I don't mean to have her in bad conditions. Like I said, I got her from my brother who didn't really care for her. I'm really trying and I'm willing to get everything she could possibly need.

Nothing to be upset about. We will help you. It is clear that your heart is in the right place and you just need some info.

Here is a large closed chamber:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/

Here is another example, but just look at the pics and disregard the thread about the experiment:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/2015-growth-experiment.119874/

Increasing fiber and variety in the diet should make the tortoise less likely to sample the substrate. I'd stop all the supplements for a week or two also, to let the tortoise's system balance out and normalize. Its best to grow these items yourself or find them in a friend or neighbor's back yard that isn't treated with a bunch of toxic chemicals.

Don't cry. Just read the threads and make improvements where you can. Ask questions. We won't get annoyed. We are here to talk tortoises and your questions will fuel the conversation.
 

eric joranson

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I don't know what to do. I'm in tears. I want her to have the best life possible and if I can't give that to her, I'm not even sure who would take her. I feel so terrible.
Don't feel bad; every member here was a beginner at one time; and we are all here to help you. Do not hesitate to ask. I know its all a little overwhelming at first; but with all the good guidance you will get here; you soon will find yourself into a routine that will seem perfectly normal. But it takes time; so be patient. We are all still learning from one another. And we do not always agree on things either; but all will express their opinions and you get to make the final call. Read all the care sheets; and all about enclosures.and then hit us with any question. The only bad question is the one you never ask. Focus first on getting good lights and heat.....then substrate and enclosure; daily soaks; and then diet. (PS if you got the C coir; eco earth; it is messy to some; but most washes off in daily soak...and like kids; I think tortoise like to get a little dirty now and then). :)
 

RosemaryDW

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[QUOTE="eric joranson, post: 1483251]

Focus first on getting good lights and heat.....then substrate and enclosure; daily soaks; and then diet. [/QUOTE]

Ditto!

One thing at a time. We'd still love to see picture of your tortoise and enclosure; then we can give better feedback.
 

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