New Sulcata Owner-Please help!!

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nelsonthetort

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Hi Everyone,
My boyfriend and I just bought a baby Sulcata hatchling on Sunday. He is about 2 months old. He hasn't really been eating, well we don't thing he has been at least. Does anyone know if this is normal? We are getting a little worried about our little Nelson. Does anyone have any suggestions?
We have been feeding him romaine lettuce, carrots, and grass. Should we try something else?
Also should we be putting the calcium powder on his food everyday or every other day?
 

Annieski

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Hi to Nelson's Family and welcome. I only have 1 Sulcata so my experience level is not as high as others on the forum, but for starters--- what is Nelson's living quarters like?--Are you providing heat lamp with uvb---do you have a warm side and a "cool" side with a hide to get out of the heat--do you soak Nelson daily[especially since he is just a baby]? And there a lot more questions---it may help if you told a little more about how you are keeping him--to better answer your concerns.
 

Kristina

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Welcome to the forum!!!

Romaine lettuce and carrots are not the best foods for a baby sulcata. They will sometimes eat grass, but only if it is very fresh, tender young shoots.

I would go to the grocery store and pick up some "spring mix." It is a mix of different lettuces and herbs and greens and can be found in the produce section. Tear the pieces up so that they are smaller than his head. At two months a sulcata isn't very large so he is not going to eat a large amount.

What kind of calcium powder are you using?

As Annieski asked, please tell us a bit more about your set up. If your baby isn't warm enough, he won't eat. What are the temperatures in the enclosure, and what kind of enclosure is it? Have you been soaking your baby?
 

nelsonthetort

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Hi Annieski,
We have Nelson in a 20 gal tank with alfalfa bedding. We have his heat lamp on one side and his hiding place on the other that is not under his heat lamp. We have a heat lamp and a UV light. We do soak him daily. I feel like we might need to get a bigger tank for him even though he is still very little

I was going to go to the grocery store and get mustard and collard greens because that's what they were feeding him at the reptile store where we got him. They also said something about some kind of cactus that they had put in there too along with his food. I will buy some Spring Mix as well while I am at the store and give that to him too.
We have one of those temperature sticker things on his tank and it says that it is between 90-95 degrees.
 

Kristina

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Okay, here is what you need to do first...

Go to a store like Walmart and purchase a plastic storage tote. It does not need to be very deep, a sweater box works wonderful for babies. Alfalfa bedding is not the best choice because it can dry your baby out, and if you mean pellets, they are hard for him to walk on and can eventually cause leg deformities. I personally use coconut coir bedding such as Eco Earth, Forest Floor or Bed A Beast, or regular clean soil. A lot of people here prefer orchid bark or cypress mulch. Whatever substrate you choose needs to be able to be kept moist. Aquariums do not allow for a good heat gradient, and the temperature inside ends up becoming pretty much the same throughout. They also don't allow for good airflow.

Nelson needs a hiding place under his lamp. I would provide two hide boxes, one on the cool side and one on the warm side, and fill them with damp reptile moss. In the wild Nelson would spend most of the day sleeping somewhere dark, humid and safe. Somewhere in the middle you can put a small pile of timothy hay for him to hide under if he wants to.

What are the temps on the warm side?

Keep up the daily soaks, and pick up some spring mix to feed nelson. That will get you off to a good start.
 

nelsonthetort

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Thanks kyryah!
I will definitely get some coconut coir. I was just reading about the bedding and decided that I definitely need to get rid of the alfalfa pellets and change it to something else. I know I have been watching him and it doesn't really look comfortable for him.
Thanks for all the suggestions I am definitely going to try all of them! I am hoping that they will work!
 

Kristina

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Good luck with your baby! There are always people around here when you need help, no question is too small.
 

Annieski

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My Mortimer came to me after being kept in a 10 gallon aquarium for the seven months my son hade him in Michigan. The first thing I did was change to a huge under-the-bed- plastic container and used a substrate of coir fiber [about 75%] and sterile play sand[about 25%]. Morty was almost 9 months when I got him but this was still better than how the boys were keeping him. The spring mix is the easiest way to get a variety of leafy greens in, I found that if I cut everything very small[like dicing] it was easier for him to eat---but he wouldn't eat anything until he was under the "heat" for almost an hour[ I'm not sure about a Hatchling] Continue to read some of the other posts for Sulcatas and I know before long--the more experienced keepers here will be able to help you better than me. Congratulations on your new baby.
 
M

Maggie Cummings

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I had typed out a big post for you but lost it in cyberspace somewhere. I just don't understand how that happens. Anyhow, I see you are getting good advice so I am just going to give you the links that made me lose my first post to you. Yep, you joined the forum and met a crazy lady...

http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/sulcatacare.htm

http://africantortoise.com/

I use cypress mulch for my substrate and I suggest you get your baby off of those rabbit pellets before he gets something called splay leg and it deforms his legs so he has a hard time walking...
For the health of your baby I hope you stay here. Has anybody sent you the Sulcata challenge yet? If not would someone please do that for me? I need to leave now...Welcome to the forum...
 

nelsonthetort

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Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I am going to go to Target, the pet store, and the grocery store right now to get all of these things!! Thanks again. I will put up another post later and let you all now how things are going!
Everyone is so nice and helpful on here I will definitely be back!
 

chadk

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I just copy and paste this response now days :)

Welcome!!!

Read this:
http://www.sulcata-station.org/pdf/hatchfail.pdf
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And some good threads here:

http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-13370.html

http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-13795.ht...ight=moist

I like hides on both sides. A warm humid hide and a cool no so humid hide. Both with diggable substrate inside. Water - i put it close to the edge where it is easy to get to for daily cleaning. Otherwise closer to the warm side is better.

You can cut the hay up in tiny bits and mix with the salad greens.

Get a temp gun or a good guage for measuring temps. I like the $12 accu-rite indoor\outdoor model that allows you to measure the basking spot temp with a probe, and then humidity and temp on the cool end where you place the main unit.

Go easy on the sand. Many of us prefer to skip the sand and use organic soil mixed with the coir.

Keep the substrate moist. Have your lamps on a timer (10 bucks at most stores). Cuttle bone size doesn't really matter. You can even take 2 peices and scrape them together over the salad to get some powder on it.

one of many recent posts on the subject:
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-14025-post-125294.html#pid125294
 
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Scooter

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Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new baby. Please post some pics once you get his new home all set up. We love to see pictures
 

ChiKat

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*gasp* Another Nelson?!
My Russian tortoise's name is Nelson :)

Welcome to the forum!!
 
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