New Sulcata Owner - Almost!

[DawnH]

Hi everyone, I am the very excited/soon to be new owner of a 1 month old Sulcata. He/she arrives Tuesday! I have been bugging people over at the Tortoise Enclosure Lighting thread (thank you to those for putting up with me) and I have some... {GASP!} more questions...

I bought a seed mix for Sulcatas that I will be putting in our terrarium for our little guy (gal?) The "plan" is to plant it in a homemade gardening tray and rotate trays as needed. One in, one growing. What type of soil can/should I use? I am assuming that my old stand by "Miracle Grow" is a no no?

Also (don't laugh) how do you go about naming your tort? What if I name her a girl name and it ends up she is a HE? What if I name it a boy name and it is a GIRL? I have these visions of he/she laying on a psychiatrists couch. Yes. These are the things that keep me up at night.

Thanks for putting up with me!

Dawn

 

[Tom]

Where are you getting your tortoise? The majority of people still start them all wrong and it often leads to heartbreak. Lets make sure you are getting one from a decent source to avoid a tragedy.

Have you read this yet?
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-23493.html

Don't buy a dry one.

 

[DawnH]

Lance Lindgren is mailing my tort Monday!

---

...is this good or bad?

 

[Laura]

have everything ready before it gets there!
names... the animal doesn't care.. pick one you like.. if sex matters.. then pick a name that goes both ways..
I don't know who Lance is.. Member? Online? craiglist?

 

[DawnH]

He has ads on here for Sulcatas. What about the soil for planting, any suggestions
? I was just joking in regards to the name/sex thing.

 

[Yvonne G]

Oh, that's our own "Lancecham" with the picture of all those baby sulcatas in the For Sale section. This should be fine. Welcome to the Forum! and good luck with your new baby.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Dawn and welcome to the TFO. And good luck with your new tort and many years of happiness

 

[samsmom]

i use organic soil purchased from Lowe's, you can also coco coir! what substrate are you using in your enclosure?

---

btw-i named my sulcata samson and if he turns out to be a girl then she'll be samantha!

 

[DawnH]

Thank you everyone! Samsmom - I will be using Coco Coir as the substrate!