New to Forum and SULCATAS....some advice please...

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Cre8ruckas

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Hello im new to the forum. Recently My Fiance got a baby sulcata and so far we have 30gallon aquarium, 75w basking lamp, 100 Black night heat bulb, but when we got him the guy had him/her with aspen snake bedding (shredded) and the baby tort was caught picking at it and munching on it alittle. so until we go to the store to pick something up we were wondering on whats the best type of bedding should we use??? so far temp is about 80-85 in the tank, water dish, hide box, basking lamp, black heat lamp (black heat lamp on 24/7) and newspaper for bedding at the moment...anything were missing?
Thanks a ton.

this is our first sulcata, kept box, sliders, painters pretty much my whole life so new to the sulcatas.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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Get cypress mulch if you can find it. Some like to use coir and mix it with play sand. You can find it in bricks at the pet store and the cypress mulch is cheaper at Home Depot or Lowes. I use cypress mulch. Get a 100 watt basking light...MVB... your guy will be better off. Here's a link to a care sheet with more information then you need to keep your baby smooth and healthy. This should answer all your questions, but continue to ask what you need to know here. We are here to help you, welcome to the forum...
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Cre8aruckus:

Welcome to the forum!! May we know your name and where you're from?
 

Cre8ruckas

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will post pix tomorrow, gotta use the my phone camera not available right now. Names' John and my Fiance Crystal. From Philly, pa. .

Thanks i will pick up some cypress mulch tomorrow!
 

Tom

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Hello and welcome. If you need the black light on 24/7 for heat, then you need to replace it with a Ceramic Heating Element that does not give off any light. The "colored" lights make things look funny to torts and that's probably why he was eating his substrate.

The internet is full of out-dated and just plain wrong info, so I typed up this for baby sulcatas:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies

Just curious, what are your plans for him during winter in a few years when he's 100+ pounds?
 

RV's mom

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Howdy right back atcha! welcome to the forum!! what did you name your little one?

teri
 
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Maggie Cummings

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Tom said:
Hello and welcome. If you need the black light on 24/7 for heat, then you need to replace it with a Ceramic Heating Element that does not give off any light. The "colored" lights make things look funny to torts and that's probably why he was eating his substrate.

The internet is full of out-dated and just plain wrong info, so I typed up this for baby sulcatas:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies

Just curious, what are your plans for him during winter in a few years when he's 100+ pounds?

Yvonne and I have been using black light bulbs for years without any problems. You are talking about the red bulbs giving off odd color and ONE person who's tortoise has started eating the substrate. I had a yearling who too a couple of bites of the substrate but has since gone back to eating his food. So please don't start telling newbies to stop using the black light bulbs because I will be telling them to use it and you and I will have at it...I promise...The black light bulb does not give off a funny color and does not make food look funny because when a regular bulb is turned on you can't see the black light bulb at all and you should only offer food after the regular bulb is turned on.
 

Yvonne G

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I'm afraid I have to agree with Maggie on this one, Tom. If folks use a black light bulb for heat at night, the tortoise will be asleep in its hiding place. If they leave the black light on during the day, then their regular light or their UV light is also on. The day light negates the color effects of the black light.
 

Tom

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Well you two use them if you like, I don't like them on during the day. I can see the colored light coming off of them, so I know the tort can too. And Maggie, I've seen at least a dozen torts over the years nibling on substrate under colored lights and they stop under a regular bulb. Glad it works for you, but it doesn't always work for everybody. I don't mind if you guys recommend people use them, but I still recommend they don't, especially if there is a problem like the one the OP is having. Good lord, we don't all have to agree on everything all the time.:)
 
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Maggie Cummings

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The black light bulbs put off a light in a spectrum that cannot be seen by tortoises eyes. Yes, you can see the light but they can't, and then when you turn on a regular light the light from the black light bulb cannot be seen. I have only seen one tort under my care eat substrate and he stopped after a couple of weeks. I believe it was caused from the antibiotics he was on upset his gut flora and he was trying to get his stomach right again. You haven't protested the use of black light bulbs all this time you've been on the forum...in fact, I think you recommended them at one point...mayhaps we need to move this to the debatable section instead of hijacking this thread.
 

Tom

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maggie3fan said:
The black light bulbs put off a light in a spectrum that cannot be seen by tortoises eyes. Yes, you can see the light but they can't, and then when you turn on a regular light the light from the black light bulb cannot be seen. I have only seen one tort under my care eat substrate and he stopped after a couple of weeks. I believe it was caused from the antibiotics he was on upset his gut flora and he was trying to get his stomach right again. You haven't protested the use of black light bulbs all this time you've been on the forum...in fact, I think you recommended them at one point...mayhaps we need to move this to the debatable section instead of hijacking this thread.

I've recommended them for, and always assumed they are used, only at night. Not for daytime use. I'll join in if you start a new thread, but I still think this does pertain to the OP and hope the O. poster finds it helpful. If torts can see a wider spectrum of light than we can, what makes you think they can't see "black" light? Also, there are a wide variety of different types of bulbs on the market called "black" lights and some people might not end up with the specific one that you have used successfully. Whereas all CHEs give off heat, but no light and so any of them will work for anybody. Utmost respect intended here for both Maggie and Yvonne, just sharing my opinion with the hopes of helping out Cre8Rukas.
 

tortoises101

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I agree with Tom about the bulbs. I heard that black bulbs will emit harmful amounts of UVA and frequent use may harm their vision. I don't use any of the red bulbs either, they are disruptive to tortoises. Just my two cents though, keepers will obviously have different opinions.
 

Cre8ruckas

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ok well i cant find any cypress mulch ANYWHERE it's 30degrees here in philly and snow so everyone is very slim on garden supplies How about ECO EARTH or Bed a beast??? How's this stuff for a baby sulcata??? Thanks a million for all the responses!!!

how about this stuff....zoo med forest floor bedding???, says 100% cypress mulch.

http://www.petco.com/product/6347/Zoo-Med-Forest-Floor-Bedding.aspx
 

Tom

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Any of the above are fine. I use something similar to the bed a beast with mine.
 

Cre8ruckas

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ok, so now the humidity is only at 35% in the tank, so i added a xmas cactus plant, and working on getting some little potted spider plants in there, and hopefully when i pick up the cypress bedding today that will raise it a bit, anything else i can try. I cant exactly cover the tanks top due to the 2 light fixtures. working on getting pix up. the humidity should be above 40% right?

thanks a million again! Sorry for all the NOOB questions.
 

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tortoises101 said:
I heard that black bulbs will emit harmful amounts of UVA and frequent use may harm their vision.

What you've heard is wrong. A regular incandescent black light bulb that you can buy at Wal-Mart for $3 only emits one tenth of a percent of UVA. Per Wiki: Incandescent

A black light may also be formed by simply using Wood's glass as the envelope for a common incandescent bulb. This was the method that was used to create the very first black light sources. Although it remains a cheaper alternative to the fluorescent method, it is exceptionally inefficient at producing UV light since most of its electromagnetic energy has to be trapped. Due to its black body spectrum, an incandescent light radiates less than 0.1% of its energy as UV light. Incandescent UV bulbs, due to the necessary absorption of the visible light, become very hot during use. This heat is, in fact, encouraged in such bulbs, since a hotter filament increases the proportion of UVA in the black-body radiation emitted. This high running-temperature drastically reduces the life of the lamp, however, from a typical 1000 hours to around 100 hours.
 
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