New baby sulcata owner asking for advice please!

[Lynniebeth2147]

Hi! I got my sulcata hatchling, Spikes, on New Year's Eve from a pet store. I love him a lot, he's energetic and friendly. I've done a lot of research on how to take proper care of him, but I can't really decide which is best for him. I need other tortoise parents' advice and critique on how I'm raising him. I want him to thrive and be a happy and healthy tortoise. I'm willing to do whatever it takes!

Feeding: I feed him a mixture of kale, romaine lettuce, mustard greens and grasses with a dash of tortoise vitamins and artificial tortoise 'veggie food'. I feed him once a day and I always dust his food lightly with calcium powder.

Water: I refill his water bowl every morning with cold water. I spray his shell and his skin with warm/hot water once a day. I soak him hot water in a large, plastic container three times a week (which he doesn't like lol), but afterwards I coat his shell and his skin in a light layer of conditioner I got from the pet store which is supposed to help his shell stay strong and his skin hydrated.

Lighting: I have a screen top, and I live in Alabama (a rather warm state) but lately we've been getting cold temps. and snow. I have a U.V. bulb sitting on the top, and I turn it on when the sun comes up and turn it off when the sun goes down. I have a basking red blub located on the other side of the tank and I leave it on for about 10 hours durring the day, and sometimes I leave it on at night if my apartment is a little chilly. My problem is, he likes to bask a lot, but I feel like the basking light rays are not really affecting him.. should I move it closer to him? Dangle it maybe three-four inches away from him? It concerns me.

Handling: I try to handle him for at least 15 minutes a day, I try to handle him more and get him more used to me. He crawls backwards a lot and he crawls really fast for a tortoise. He's very energetic and friendly. I can't really tell if my tortoise is happy or he's just indifferent.. I try to be the best mommy I can possibly be but I need more information on him, despite hours of research. He likes to play with my roomate's crested geckos sometimes.. he seems lonely though. I have thought of maybe getting another sulcata hatchling companion for him.

Enclosure: I have a 10 gallon aquarium/enclosure for him with a screen top. On the right side I have at the top a U.V. light. On the bottom I have a hiding spot for him (which is like a tunnel made of twigs), and a blue water bowl with little steps for easy access right next to it. On the other side, on the top I have a basking light and on the bottom I have an area where he eats. I use reptile carpet substrate, I have two pieces that fit my enclosure and I wash one when it appears dirty and put the other clean piece in there. (I make sure not to use any types of soap that can harm my little guy.)

So anyways, you can tell I'm very serious about taking care of my sweet Spikes! I just need you guyses advice on what I could do better! THANK YOU SO MUCH FROM ME AND SPIKES! (I will put up pictures of him and his enclosure very soon!)

 

[Jacqui]

Hi and welcome! What a nice way to start a new year off. I love seeing your wanting to learn and improve things. I see a lot of possible issues, but nothing a bit of tweaking won't fix... first off, I think a 10 gal tank is too small for even a newly hatched sulcata, let alone to give all the things and temps he needs in that small of space. I would suggest up grading him to something larger.

You say the UVB light sits on top of the screen? What size are the openings in the screen? The finer the mesh the less the rays can get through, until the really fine screen ones almost completely cancel out using a UVB blulb even. Lights come with a suggested amount of inches to be placed from your tortoise, getting it too low will cause more problems.

Why add cold water? If you give him warm water in his waterbowl, then he might also like to use it for a self soak. It will get cold on it's own fast enough.

I would use a wider variety of greens and start trying to get things like weeds, leaves, even spineless cactus into his diet and lose the tortoise veggies. The main question is: are you saying you give him calcium powder every day?

I would also suggest switching the carpet for another type of bedding/substrate. One he can dig in, walk easily on and will hold humdity in. At this point it also sounds like his humdity levels might be low. Do you know his humdity and his temperatures?

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. Ditto with what Jacqui said. Also, calcium, no more then twice a week. Also, please read Toms threads below in my post for roper housing and raising your sulcata

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ .I feel your trieing your best and your giving the tort all the love it needs . And yes it needs some improvements .

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. I'll just go down your list.

Food: Here is a diet sheet for them, and cut back on the calcium. A small amount of calcium twice a week is all you need. You can leave a cuttle bone in there for good measure.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-76744.html

Water: Soak every day, make sure the temperature is not too cold and not too warm and not too deep. You shouldn't need the VitaShell, but I don't think it will hurt anything if you use it once a week like the directions recommend.

Lighting: You need some serious help here. Please click the first link in my signature and read that. Specifically, red bulbs are not good for daytime use. I don't like them at night either. Regular "white" bulbs should be used for day time. They need night heat, but it needs to be dark too. This night heat is best provided by a ceramic heating element on a thermostat. What sort of UV bulb are you using? The coil types can burn their eyes and shouldn't be used. You need to know your four temperatures. Warm side, cool side, basking spot and night. You will need a digital thermometer with a remote probe and/or a temp gun for this. Adjust as needed.

Handling: You can handle him if you want, but its not needed. By three years old most of them are very friendly and outgoing with or without handling. He does NOT want a companion. They do not get lonely and other tortoises are not seen as "friends". They prefer to be the sole king of the castle with no competitors or intruders.

Enclosure: 10 gallons is much too small for even a day old hatchling. They need at least a 40 and 60-100 is better. By the time you add in all the stuff, there is no room to walk in a 10 gallon and it is very difficult to create a thermal gradient in such a small space. Here comes some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Your set up is all wrong in nearly every way. Wrong substrate, wrong lighting, wrong size, wrong water bowl, wrong hide, etc. I'm not saying that to hurt your feelings. I'm saying it to help you create a set up that is ALL right and help you grow a healthy happy baby. Sorry for the bluntness. I'm short on time. All of this is thoroughly explained here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-79895.html
Just click and read.

I hope all this helps, and please come back with any questions or points that need clarification. I'm happy to help with anything that is not clear after reading through the above linked threads.

 

[Lynniebeth2147]

Thank you guys for the advice! I got a themometer, it says its 90 degrees in there on his warm side.. is that too hot? I'll make sure not to give him calcium powder but twice a week now for sure & soak him everyday. Going to the pet store after work to get a larger aquarium. How does my setup look so far? Btw, I got rid of the aspen hay and got reptile carpet bc he kept eating the hay. Any good recomendations for subscrate?