New to the forum have a few questions

[Ivy_Blossom]

Hi all, I love all the good information this forum has, so I figured I'd better join. I have a little Sulcata girl named Ivy. She came home about 8 months ago with a respiratory infection from the pet shop. She is now happy and healthy and loved however, I do have some questions.
She is a fabulous little eater and loves to run all over the place. Since it's starting to get warmer, she seems very hyperactive and scratches and paces her nursery. Is this spring fever? Her temps are great, one side stays about 90-95°and the other is closer to 70-75° she has a hide and a pool, food and water dish as well. She has been a little peach up until the last few days when all she wants to do is run like crazy and I am curious if this is a normal behavior.
My other question is how do you get a picky eater like my little Ivy to eat grass and hay? She was eating garbage iceberg lettuce at the petshop and loves lettuces, tortoise diet, veggies and fruit but I cannot seem to crack the code on getting her to eat grass or hay. I can sneak some in when I hand feed her but she catches on quickly and turns up her nose. I would love some helpful tips or tricks to getting her to eat some of her proper and important high fiber stuff.

 

[Yossarian]

I wouldnt worry about the 'hyperactvity', it is more likely that your tort was underactive previously, small changes in temperature can have a big impact as well, it could also be that it needs more space. Tort activity levels are based heavily on their temperature, and babies also sleep more so as your tort ages it may seem to be more active in that regard. To get the tort to eat new foods like grass, chop the grass up really small and mix it with something the tort likes, at first less grass and increase the amount over time until the tort will eat grass.

I have some concerns however from your pics. For being only 8 months your totoise is pyramidding pretty quickly, this is a concern and indicates that the conditions your tort is living in are too dry, Utah is a dry climate to begin with so you have a challenge meeting the humidity requirements of your tort. If it continues to grow the way it is, by the time your tortoise is full grown it will have very severe pyramidding, and there is evidence that significant pyramiddal growth is detrimental to bone health. I have attached the care sheet for these guys below. Pls have a careful read of it, there is a great deal of misinformation on the internet about how to raise these torts, old bad information is still prevalent and leads to the kind of growth your seeing. This care sheet has current best practice and challenges that old information with new thinking, the testament is that it produces healthy natural looking tortoises again and again.

If you wouldnt mind telling us a little more, Can we see a picture of your enclosure and what substrate and lights are you using?

Oh and FYI, the sex of your animal wont be known for a few years.

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

 

[Tom]

Hi all, I love all the good information this forum has, so I figured I'd better join. I have a little Sulcata girl named Ivy. She came home about 8 months ago with a respiratory infection from the pet shop. She is now happy and healthy and loved however, I do have some questions.
She is a fabulous little eater and loves to run all over the place. Since it's starting to get warmer, she seems very hyperactive and scratches and paces her nursery. Is this spring fever? Her temps are great, one side stays about 90-95°and the other is closer to 70-75° she has a hide and a pool, food and water dish as well. She has been a little peach up until the last few days when all she wants to do is run like crazy and I am curious if this is a normal behavior.
My other question is how do you get a picky eater like my little Ivy to eat grass and hay? She was eating garbage iceberg lettuce at the petshop and loves lettuces, tortoise diet, veggies and fruit but I cannot seem to crack the code on getting her to eat grass or hay. I can sneak some in when I hand feed her but she catches on quickly and turns up her nose. I would love some helpful tips or tricks to getting her to eat some of her proper and important high fiber stuff.

We need to see pics of the enclosure and we need to know what type of lighting and heating you are using.

70-75 is much too cool. Its should never drop below 80 on the cool side, day or night. This is also one of the many reasons the tortoise should not be out loose in the house. Its not safe and can't be made safe, and no amount of supervision will make it safe. Eventually this practice will lead to sickness, injury, or death. It happens constantly here on the forum, and I also see it in the vet hospitals of my vet friends.

Veggies aren't good tortoise food. Fruit should never be fed to sulcatas. Their diet should be grasses, weeds, leaves, succulents and flowers or the right types. It will take time to introduce these better foods since your tortoise was started incorrectly by the breeder and pet store.

The care sheet that Yossarian linked for you should get you on the right track. Questions are welcome!

 

[Ray--Opo]

Welcome, you can grow wheatgrass in 3 or 4 small pots. Plant at different intervals. Use scissors and cut in small pieces on top of the favorite foods. Increase the amount of wheatgrass over time. It took my sully 2 years of grazing outdoors before he started eating grass. Before he would only graze on a few weeds growing amongst the grass. Finally figured out grass was good. It might be a little early for hay.

 

[Maggie3fan]

Too young for hay, too young for sex, but not too young to start pyramiding. I see it has been explained to you by our foremost experts. So I will just add pyramiding is a bad thing and you need to stop it now. Here is Mary Knobbins
she is most probably 8 to 10 years old and weighs just 20 lbs. She was found walking in downtown Portland Oregon. All the new growth is fine. You do not want your tort to grow like this, so you absolutely must to change the way she is kept NOW for the sake of that tortoise's life you don't want her to have life of pain and suffering.
Her jaw is badly over grown and we have been dremeling it for a while now


Mary does not seem to have MBD, Metabolic Bone Disease

So for the life of your baby tortoise, you need to stay here and let us help you before it gets too late