New to Baby Silcata's

[CHANDYFAMLY]

Hello Ya'll, I recently purchased 2 baby Silcata tortises for my kids and I'm glad to have found this web site because it seems like I've been told a lot of bad info up until now.
We love our new little family members and want to take great care of them, so any advice and knowledge is greatly appreciated.
I am posting this today to ask about uvb bulbs. Currently I have the culy long ones that I think put out 10uvb and I was just wondering if this.is adequate?
Thank you in advance for any help you can give!

 

[wellington]

Sulcatas will be big in about 3 years or so and will need room size enclosure each or a big yard separated into two enclosures as they can not live together.
The bulb you are using is not good and has been know to cause eye problems. Get the Arcadia tube fluorescents.
Follow the caresheet and closed chamber threads on this forum.

 

[Tom]

Hello Ya'll, I recently purchased 2 baby Silcata tortises for my kids and I'm glad to have found this web site because it seems like I've been told a lot of bad info up until now.
We love our new little family members and want to take great care of them, so any advice and knowledge is greatly appreciated.
I am posting this today to ask about uvb bulbs. Currently I have the culy long ones that I think put out 10uvb and I was just wondering if this.is adequate?
Thank you in advance for any help you can give!

Hello and welcome.

As you've noticed, most of the care info out in the world is all wrong and terrible. Pet shops sell you all the wrong stuff too and have no idea what they are talking about. Even most breeders do it all wrong.

They should never live in pairs. You'll want to separate your two ASAP.

Here is the correct care info:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Here is the lighting breakdown:
There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

Questions are welcome.

 

[Maddoggy]

Hello I am also an owner of two sulcatas. When I started the forum just a year ago I had ten.When I learned just how much room each adult tortoise needs I was shocked.When I started seeing just how massive and strong a full size male sulcata is I really got concerned.So I reevaluated the idea of keeping sulcatas. I had to rehome a couple subadults and was able to sell the rest.Now I have a very manageable sulcata situation . I strongly urge to ask questions and follow the guidance of this forum . If you go about it the correct way there is nothing like interacting with a creature who looks like a baby dinosaur on a daily basis. If you go abut it the wrong way its heartbreaking.Do yourself , your kids and those two little sulcata baby's a favor and get good solid indoor and outdoor enclosures with the proper temp and humidity. It will make this experience you are about to partake in that much more rewarding. Good Luck