New Sulcata owner

[Nyghtryder_9]

Well I'm new here, but have been reading thru alot of posts for a week. I recently got a little sully. My son has named him "SHARK". I'm looking for some feedback and any helpful bits of info I can get.

First,the shop I got him from told me alot of stuff, but come to find out I think they knew as much as I did. I baught the whole set up from them (tank, rep-sand, heat/uvb light, uvb light, under tank heat pad). I took Shark to the vet and they said all was good.

Once i found this sight i saw most dont approve of the heat pads, so i dont use it. I run both lights for 14 hrs, and temps are 95 in the basking area. I have been bathing him for 10 mins everyday. I've been feeding a 50/50 mix of spring sallad and fresh alfalfa (he loves it) with some rep-cal calcium with vit.d (the shop said i didnt need this but from what ive read it thought it was neccesary) along with fresh water. Also the shop said nothing about the humidity, they just said straight sannd was the way to go.

Currently i am building a large table as i will be getting a second sully next month, plus all the benifits of the table to aquarium. I plan on useing a 70/30 mix of organic compost and sand for the substrate. along with the two lights i have i also have a heat glo infared lamp i was going to use.

Any thought would be great being I'm a newbie and want to learn and do things the right way. Sorry for the long story!

SHARK-

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Setup-

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Table in progess-

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[purpod]

Greetings to Shark, your son & You, NR.

Sounds like you are doing the footwork needed; you'll 'prolly find some great ideas on your tort table in the threads about enclosures.

Bestest wishes & again, Welcome ~
Purpod

 

[Meg90]

That's a nice looking tort table you've started!

Just two things to consider before getting another sully:

one, the new one should be quarantined in his own enclosure for 6 mos + to be sure that he is healthy, and thus, cut out the risk that he will infect your existing sully.

and two, Sulcata's grow to be quite large, quite quickly. That tort table with two in it, might only last for 6 or 7 months, before you have to move up to a much bigger size (and you never stop moving up until you have a tort the size of a large trashcan lid! )

Just some things to consider. But quarantining is a must.

Welcome to the forum btw!

 

[chadk]

Looks like a great table in progress. Be sure to provide a humid hide with damp (not dripping) substrate to dig in and sleep in.

What sort of UVB do you have?

Substrate sounds good. You may even consider planting it with tort seed mix.

Food is OK, but you should try to get him on grass hay and cut the alphalpha ASAP. Too much protien and he'll grow too fast. Slow and steady is the key. High fiber diet will do wonders. Timothy hay and orchard grass would be great if you can find it.

Keep up the baths in luke warm water - but maybe go another 5 to 10 mins.

Be sure he has a nice shallow water dish in his enclosure. Fresh clean water at all times. Be sure he can climb in and out easily.

How big is the tort table? I'm thinking it will last a few years. Especially if you get him on a nice high fiber hay diet and cut back on the high protein diet to keep his growth slow and steady.

But you need to be planning for the future. A house tort is not a good idea. They are quite messy and will poo and pee and drag it all over. A safe pen outside would be best depending on where you live and your climate. Then at some point he'll need a full yard. Sulcatas need plenty of exercise and room to explore.

Best of luck!

 

[tortoisenerd]

You've got great advice. Welcome to the forum! Shark is cute.

In my opinion with the UVB you do not need D3, just pure calcium. Do your own research about fat soluble vs. water soluble vitamins, and see if you agree.

Make sure he can actually use that water dish in his enclosure. The ones with ramps or stairs work best typically for such a small tort, but sometimes a plant saucer sunk into the substrate or a pain tray can work. Slate tiles also are great for feeding-more space for them to push the food around, and keeps the beak and nails trimmed. Maybe add in some rocks, fake plants, another hide, etc? You need a hide in both the warm and cool areas, at least. What is your temperature gradient? You want to break up the line of sight so the enclosure seems bigger to them. I agree the table is the way to go. In my opinion, build twice the size you need now and block off half. Then, you already have one expansion ready to go. It's expensive to build new ones even while recycling materials.

I highly suggest not getting another hatchling right now until you have your husbandry and enclosure all set. I agree you'd need a 6 month quarantine--no contact between the two, and no sharing any spaces (such as a yard space they can come into contact with each other's poop). Do more research. Most of the time once they reach sexual maturity, sullys of any sex don't like being housed together without A LOT of space. Could you provide each it's own large yard?

Has the little one been to a vet since you got it? It needs a fecal test at the minimum for parasites, and to be set up as a patient in case of an emergency.

Please explain what two types of lights you have; I don't understand why you have two UVB bulbs. Pet stores don't always give the best advice, and usually only pass along information they are told about how to sell the items. You've already experienced this with the supposed no need for calcium supplement, sand, aquarium, heat pad, and alfalfa. Good job ditching those. You need humidity ASAP to prevent pyramiding.

 

[Nyghtryder_9]

One is a repo-glo 13w UVB bulb I use on the side his food and water are. The second is a 100w blue heat and UVB bulb( can't think of the brand). And I have a infared 100w heat bulb I was going to use in the table. It is 6ft x 28in a big size up from the aquarium. As far as yard space I have 2 acres at my disposal that's just all grass right now so I don't think space will be a issue. But I may just hold out for a bit on another sully till I get the hang of everything!

 

[Meg90]

If any one of those bulbs is a coil bulb, don't use it. They cause blindness in torts....there eyes swell up and close. And with a baby, that would be really bad, because when they can't see, they won't eat, and a little guy can't go long without food.

That large of a table should last your sully atleast a year (I couldn't tell size from the pic!) Its beautiful, btw. What did you make it out of? Is it a shelf? I really like it! I've been thinking of going even bigger for my Greek, and I like that material. How deep is it?

Make sure to post pics once its all set up and ready for him!

(how big is your sully btw? like, how long is he)

 

[dcoolguy68]

A great light to use are the Mercury-Vapor bulbs that have both the heat & sunlight. I have the powersun 100w which is just perfect for my sulcata. Make sure you quarantine the new you're getting. But you don't have to put them in completely separate enclosures. For the new enclosure you're building you can take out the divider that you have temporarily and put a divider right in the middle, but make sure its a solid wall so that the tortoises don't make any contact whatsoever. And you don't have to buy 2 lights just adjust them so that it's over the divider and they can both get equal amount of heat and uv. Once the 6-7 months are over you can just take out the divider. I got that advice from a vet and it worked out well. Good luck with your tortoises!

 

[Meg90]

IMO, that's bad advice....someone here did that, put a divider up, and the new one was sick, and within weeks the had two dead torts. Its not even advised to keep them in the same room.

I think he's on the right track with deciding to get his enclosure and the rest of his supplies correct and ready before thinking about another baby.

 

[tortoisenerd]

I don't get why you have two UVB bulbs...are you sure the heat has UVB too? I would check you have a good temperature gradient with the two bulbs--from the 70s to the 90s. I agree a MVB is a better choice, if you can return the others. Or, replace those after 6 months when the UVB has decayed. The MVBs last for 12 months vs 6 months. I agree that table could be used for both at first, split down the middle. It really won't last long though with two torts....

 

[Nyghtryder_9]

Meg90- I took a 70x28in bookshelf I got at target and just gutted it. Put some silicone along the edges and used a 1/2 laminated particle board for the base. I'm going to build a stand tomorrow and get shark in there.

I don't think I'm going to take the shelf out. I cut it and plan on put the heat/uvb lamp in that section for basking along with a hide. I'll use the infared hear lamp in the middle and the straight UVB lamp over the food water dishes in other end. The UVB is one of those swirly one but I'm going to go get a new one tomorrow too.

I'm going too hold off for sure on getting a second one till after I get my feet wet and have a good grasp on what to do properly.

 

[dcoolguy68]

Cool cool, good luck with your new tortoise and if you have any questions on what to do feel free to ask. enjoy