new to forum. sulcata owner. animal lover

[gustaf]

Hi guys. Im new to this forum. I have browsed some article and posts and decided to join in. I have recently purchased a 19.5 in. 10 year old Male sulcata. He weighs 36 lbs. I live near tampa florida. I want to make sure i give him the best possible care. There is a lot of contradictory info out there. Im hoping to get it sorted out. I know there is a lot of tort experience here. I look foreward to meeting fellow enthusiasts and learning more about tortoises, part of God's awesome creation.

 

[Jacqui]

Hi and welcome to the crazy and yet wonderful world of tortoises! What made you decide to not only get a tortoise, but a bigger one at that?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Gustaf, and welcome to the Forum!!

Here's something that is NOT controversial: Keep your tortoise outside in a well-planted pasture and let him graze to his heart's content! You live in a wonderful climate for tortoises. If your nights get a bit cool, you can just add some sort of heat source to his night time house. A CHE would probably do it. (ceramic heat emitter)

 

[gustaf]

Hi and thanks for the welcome. The bigger the better. I live on a place with about 15 acres of grass. I have the room. I just about completed a tortoise proof enclosure that is about 100' by 140'. I think that will be sufficient. If not i can expand. I have actually had a couple sulcatas in the past. Not the best luck though. I had a 12" sulcata for a couple years that my daughter inadvertantly allowed to escape. I never saw him again. Then i got a hatchling for christmas and it died. That was very discouraging because i made sure to do everything right in my husbandry and i still lost the little guy. We recently moved to florida and i still havent lost the desire to have one of the awesome creatures so i decided to go for it again. I have more room, a better climate, and i am a little better off financially so if need be i can take him to a vet.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. Sorry about your past torts. Glad you still had the urge and got another to share your life with. Would love pics of the tort and enclosure, it sounds nice.

 

[gustaf]

Thanks for the welcome and i couldnt agree with you more. I will do just that. He already has a large enlcosure 100 x 140 ft. Full of grass and some other weeds and some clover. I figure that is the closest i can come to mimicking the torts natural environment. I can expand if need be. Im hoping that will be enough for one to two large sulcatas.

 

[Jacqui]

I think the enclosure is a little too small.... just teasing. I too would love to see what it looks like.

 

[gustaf]

Thanks i will try to figure out how to upload some pics in a day or so.

---

Lol. I just want there to be enough room that the grass will have time to grow back instead of the grassy yard turning into a dirt yard.

 

[Tom]

Im hoping that will be enough for one to two large sulcatas.

Two would be a bad idea. Sulcatas don't usually get along well in pairs. Singles, or groups with one male.

 

[sibi]

Hi and welcome to this great forum! You have room to get a few more sullies Hope you do get more. They are awesome animals!!!

 

[gustaf]

Here is a pic of sully. I will send some close ups later. Hes had some shell issues i want someone elses expert opinion on.

 

[mike taylor]

He's not bad looking . Looks like he was kept dry when he was younger. He has the dry carapace just like my rescue here is a picture. They are around the same size . Welcome to the forum.

 

[gustaf]

He was kept in a group with other males and was mounted by other larger males. Not just a couple times but by the looks of his shell quite often for quite some time. He has deep wear marks on some of his scutes. It looks like it has pretty much healed but will they ever build up thicker and look any better? I see that the new growth area at the worn scute looks kinda lumpy. Im thinking since the scute was pretty much worn to the bone, the new growth may stick out above the worn spot. It may look wierd. Hopefully it will work itself out and look alright over time. It may take a few years. And does his beak look ok? Well he does not have to worry about getting taken advantage of anymore by other guys.

---

He looks like he has some fairly mild pyramidding from when he was young. His more recent growth seems to be better. He is smoothing out. I will make sure his next ten years of growth will be better for him. I probably should have posted these last posts under the tortoise health section. I just didnt want to confuse and lose you all who are in this thread.

 

[mike taylor]

Re: RE: new to forum. sulcata owner. animal lover

He was kept in a group with other males and was mounted by other larger males. Not just a couple times but by the looks of his shell quite often for quite some time. He has deep wear marks on some of his scutes. It looks like it has pretty much healed but will they ever build up thicker and look any better? I see that the new growth area at the worn scute looks kinda lumpy. Im thinking since the scute was pretty much worn to the bone, the new growth may stick out above the worn spot. It may look wierd. Hopefully it will work itself out and look alright over time. It may take a few years. And does his beak look ok? Well he does not have to worry about getting taken advantage of anymore by other guys.

---

He looks like he has some fairly mild pyramidding from when he was young. His more recent growth seems to be better. He is smoothing out. I will make sure his next ten years of growth will be better for him. I probably should have posted these last posts under the tortoise health section. I just didnt want to confuse and lose you all who are in this thread.

---

No the scutes will not heal up and look normal. But he is a nice looking tortoise. I like the rescues . They look tough . My guy also has wear marks on his scutes .

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ
Great looking tort have fun with it

 

[gustaf]

Thanks