New Sulcata owner

[revdrlon]

Hi guys, my name is Chris and I am in Florida. I recently got my first tortoise and it is a Sulcata. I was told at the shop i got him at that he was 3 months old. I have read countless FAQ's online and I believe I am doing things right. I am curious about the optimal temps in his enclosure as every article seems to differ on it. I am getting a temp gun in the mail tomorow to be able to check it. Right now i am going by the height/power chart on the box the basking bulb came in and it should be about 95 degrees under the basking bulb. Let me tell you about his setup and you guys can tell me what I am doing wrong. Right now i have him in a 2x3 rubbermaid moving container. (Within the next 6 months or so i will be building a tortoise table for him.) His substrate is the same stuff they had him on in the shop which is a woody type of sand substance about the grain of large grain sugar, I am concerned about this because it is very dry and i am soon going to upgrade to the compressed coconut bark and topsoil (the coconut bark is coming with my temp gun and should be here tomorrow) I have a 100 watt basking lamp at 12 inches on one end and a 10.0 cfl uvb bulb at 12 inches in the middle of the crate. i have two of the zoo med rock bowls one of them is short and flat for food and the other is slightly taller for water (he can still get in it though) I know i am not doing the food right but as soon as i can get to the store i am going to get him some spring mix. right now i am feeding him a mix of romaine and dandelion greens mixxed with some soaked grassland tortoise pellets from zoo-med. i feed him a chopped mix of it so the pieces are about 1 inch by 1 inch. i also have some of the vitamin powder that i dust the mixture with. I Soak him for about 20 minutes every other day and he seems to be getting along fine but he seems to sleep a lot. I cant think of any more I can put in here but I am concerned about him even though he shows no signs of stress or any problems. I refuse to be a bad pet owner so if you see anything that needs improving upon then please let me know and feel free to be brutal about it. I will include pictures of the setup and tort soon.

-Chris

 

[revdrlon]

Here are those pics

 

[revdrlon]

I forgot to mention his little ball and the hiding spot I made for him.

 

[Laura]

hi, have you read the sulcata thread? Humidty is needed... and changing the subtrate... what is his diet?

 

[DvotedMOMMY]

Congrats! He's a cutie!

Don't be too worried. I recently got a Leopard Tort hatchling, I got him/her at a month old, and he/she is now 2 months. I was very worried about EVERYTHING! Lighting/heating/temps/substrate mostly! Haha.. Everything is going VERY well, and my tort has already grown a lot in a month! He/she eats like a piggy, I may name it "Chompers" haha.. In the morning, at feeding time,I lean over the cage, call to him/her,, "Morning Fatso,, come and eat.. Come on baby"...etc, and wiggle the food way across the other side of enclosure, and the little stinker comes running! He seems to LOVE to eat from my hand, and in not scared of me when I have food! Lol

I went through a few different substrates in trial and error, and I AND the tort prefer the coconut coir. I have Orchid Bark too, which looks very nice, but the pieces are too big, I need to find a better size, or more ground consistency.
I use Orchid Moss in the Humid Hide, as I was told it doesn't mold. It's his FAVORITE place to be! I have a log hide, and a plastic igloo-looking hide, (some say it's good to have 2 hides, one on the warm side, one on the cooler side) and he ONLY uses the plastic, humid hide! Haha.. He loves it, I guess it's cozy! I will soon need the next size up!

Definitely read all you can on here, don't just take one article, or one persons ideas, or recommendations and go with it. I found SO many different opinions at first, it was so confusing, especially substrate! So I tried a few, and the coco coir "for me" is the best, and the only areas my tort lounges in!
I had plain old organic soil underneath the orchid bark, but I am getting rid of it, because it has some tiny white bugs/gnats in it, which don't seem to really come up, or bother the tort, but I moved a rock today, and found them bad under it, and in creeps me out! they seem to stay deep in the soil, but still,, yuck! I am going to go completely coco coir, and finer orchard bark. I may even make a small flat rocky area or path just for difference in terrain..

Like I said, don't worry! Your tort will be fine! Your on the right track! The coir, lighting/heat, and soaks/spay him down a couple times a day, your good to go!

Good luck with everything, and be sure to post pics, pics, Ohh,,, and MORE PICS!! We love us some pics!

 

[Tom]

Turn that Cfl off immediately. They can damage their eyes and or blind them.

Most of the info out there in the world for raising sulcata babies is outdated and or just plain wrong. No one knows what the babies do in the wild, so all the talk about mimicking "wild" conditions is based on fantasy and speculation. I based my care sheet on 20 years of failure and a few years of finally figuring it out and getting it right. We don't know what wild babies do, but we DO know what works and what doesn't work in captivity. My methods work and result in healthy, smooth babies. You can see the results in dozens of tortoises right here on this forum. Here are a bunch of threads that I put together to help people:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Helpful-Threads#axzz1qpvYz4BW

Also, soak that baby every day for the next few months, especially since he's had a dry start.

 

[BrookeB]

Welcome I found that these guys on the forum are nice and bossy sometimes I love it... I'm a hard head and these guys know how to tell you what to do... AND it works!! my girls are on the Tom wet therapy and are doing great! I soak all three of them 2x a day and mist them and their home.... My sulcata hatchling still sleeps a lot but she is a little more active now... Good luck with your baby and Welcome

 

[dmarcus]

Hello Chris and welcome...

 

[XXAPAINKILLERXX]

Cool looking lilttle Dude.. Got 2 just like him

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here they go

 

[cemmons12]

Hello Chris from Florida! I too am Chris from Florida, but transplanted to Indiana by my not so bright parents! you have a cute Sully. Trust me, take Toms advice, he is very smart when it comes to Sulcata's!! As far as substrate, I use eco earth coco coir and small pieces and small amount of timothy hay cob as my 14 month old sully Cooper eats it now and has been eating it for about 4 months or so. Your little one won't eat it just yet but I would guess he will as he gets bigger. Good luck and please read Toms threads he posted for you!

 

[mary t]

I agree, I have a 6 year old sully I rescue and Tom has been a god send for me.. I am in Lakeland Florida and mine is outside but you will still get a lot of great advise here. Mine had blossomed since I introduced her to more humidity.. I know weird to say that here in Florida but she was raised very very dry... Good luck.. Where in Florida are you?

 

[l0velesly]

Your sulcata is a cutie... but he looks a little dry. Up the humidity.. your enclosure looks very dry as well. Spray him with water periodically. Also, include spring mix in his diet!

 

[revdrlon]

Thanks for all the responses, i have switched out the substrate with the coco coir and topsoil and he seems to be much happier, he is digging a hole in one corner of the tub and is being a lot more active, the humidity is much better now and i have started soaking him a bit more.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the good news.

 

[cmosuna]

Welcome I found that these guys on the forum are nice and bossy sometimes I love it... I'm a hard head and these guys know how to tell you what to do... AND it works!! my girls are on the Tom wet therapy and are doing great! I soak all three of them 2x a day and mist them and their home.... My sulcata hatchling still sleeps a lot but she is a little more active now... Good luck with your baby and Welcome

Yeah I have been learning a lot readings Toms stuff too. He's my new hero (and that was not said sarcastically)

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[revdrlon]

I gave him some wild grape leaves and clover and some dandelion leaves today and he is eating them like a madman. I am down to about 10% romaine at this point, shouldn't be much longer until he is weened off it completely.

 

[Tom]

That's great news! Nice job.

 

[revdrlon]

I cannot believe how much he is eating! He goes over and gets a bite and then goes to the other end of the enclosure then he turns right back around and goes back for more. He is loving the wild grape leaves and it is sooo adorable when he eats a clover.

 

[Morty the Torty]

You're doing a great job every morning I soak my sulcata and go on the forum your diet sounds pretty good so far, you can also give hibiscus flowers and leaves. Morty likes the red ones also lawn weeds are great, and they're free you'll love the coir, I just fill up a cup of nice warm water and dump it in every few days when you notice the top drying out. And always dump out his old water into the coir when you're changing his bowl out you'll love this place!