New School Sulcata Care

[Bunny]

I had to start this thread because it seems so much has changed since I was caring for my hatchling. I thought maybe we could compile a kind of "best practices" thread?

Playsand and impaction-- Your thoughts? When he was wee everything I read (I belonged to other forums then) suggested a mixture of playsand and organic soil (-perlite) was ideal. I read that the major issue with playsand was the atrophy of limbs, I guess because a tort can't get sufficient traction to build up muscle tone?

Enclosures-- I was chastised repeatedly for my 20 gallon long set up so switched to an open air rabbit/small animal type enclosure when he is inside. Now it seems that research indicates that higher humidity is desirable which may explain why Bunny has some pyramiding. Arrrgh!

Water dishes-- I never kept a water dish with my hatchling, instead I soaked him for 15+ minutes a few times a week. I was told the increased humidity from the water dish could cause (of all things) PYRAMIDING! I have one in with him now, while he is inside (his outdoor enclosure has one but I rarely fill it as I live in a high humidity part of FL.) I still soak him-- around once a week.

Feeding-- All this talk of collards and other greens on here has me perplexed. I have never fed Bunny anything but grass, flowers and flower leaves and weeds. Occasionally he gets veggies and fruits but those instances are pretty rare. His main diet is dandelion weeds, clover and grass. Has that changed too?

Anyways, Bunny will be 3 soon. I'd like to fix whatever damage my bad practices have caused. What do you suggest?

Bunny and I thank you!

 

[Rhyno47]

You have to moisten to sand/dirt mixture so it becomes dense. This increases humidity and gives great traction. Plus water bowls dont give off much humidity. If it is placed under a heat lamp I suppose it would but you should have the water bowl on the cool end of the enclosure. Also the higher the walls of the enclosure the more humidity is held. A rabbit cage only has about 4 - 5 inches.

 

[Bunny]

Sooo, I should? Wet down the playsand in his enclosure?

What about increasing his humidity? Should I worry about that now that he is almost three?

 

[Rhyno47]

Too much is really hard to obtain. Trust me. Just moisten the substrate so that if you grab it and squeeze it will not drip but hold its shape once let go.

 

[TortieGal]

Now is a great time to go buy a Christmas tree bin at Fred Meyer or Wal mart they make great enclosures. Scroll down a little at the sulcata main page and read the Christmas tree bin topic it has some great pictures.

 

[dmmj]

Diet sounds great IMO. What I basically feed mine, except I also feed him grape leaves.

 

[Crazy1]

Bunny I’m not sure I got the chance to say Welcome to the forum. So Welcome
Sounds like you are working hard at taking good care of your Sully.

Sand can cause impaction if eaten that is why most keepers suggest you mix it with something else like organic potting soil or dirt or Cypress mulch. My preference is Cypress mulch. The humidity should be about 70% for hatchlings and even juveniles.

Your diet sounds fine. Most hatchlings won’t eat grass starting out. But if your juvenile is that is great. You might want to add grape leaves and mulberry leaves if you have access to them from time to time.

Yes things are constantly changing. But as of now, it has been found that humidity, diet, exercise, and amount of UVB (sunlight) all play a very important roll in raising a smooth shelled tortoise.

No pyramiding can be reversed but the new growth can come in smooth that will lessen the look of the pyramiding that may have already happened. I would love to see a picture of your tort. Please post one. If you can post pics of its habitat that would be awesome.