New to the sulcata world

[John84]

hello everyone, my name is John and I recently purchased a baby Sulcata. I'm not sure how old, but the pet store said it was about a 6 - 8 months old. I've had him for a few weeks and want to make sure it's healthy. I have bee needing it non furalized grass from the front yard and every know and then I give it a very small portion of dandion weeds or aloe Vera. Thanks in advance.

 

[Razan]

Cute little one. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can give you a health comment. I will stick with what I know. He's cute.

 

[John84]

Cute little one. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can give you a health comment. I will stick with what I know. He's cute.

Thanks

 

[Razan]

I like how you included a pic of the readable temperature gauge in the photo and part of a water dish in another. Have you seen the diet information page for sulcatas?

 

[John84]

I like how you included a pic of the readable temperature gauge in the photo and part of a water dish in another. Have you seen the diet information page for sulcatas?

Yes I have, well I read @Tom thread. That temp reading is a night reading which at times drops to the lower 70's and the dish has rocks at the bottom to give him traction to get out, but he now had the regular terra cotta dish. The part im having trouble is with its humidity. It usually flexuates between 30 and 70 on his humid side. Thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi John, and welcome to the Forum!

He looks like he's starting to pyramid, so be sure to soak him daily for about 15 or 20 minutes, and moisten the substrate. It would help to cover or partially cover the tank too.

 

[Razan]

Likely Tom and/or Yvonne can give you good advise with the humidity. This forum is super helpful. Reading a lot of old posts can be useful too.

 

[John84]

Hi John, and welcome to the Forum!

He looks like he's starting to pyramid, so be sure to soak him daily for about 15 or 20 minutes, and moisten the substrate. It would help to cover or partially cover the tank too.

That was my fear. I soak the tank 2-4 times a day with the exception of a small section under near the heat lamp. I recently started to cover 1/4 of the tank, but he never goes to the humid side nore to his hide which is in the humid hid. He likes to burrow in a corner near the heat lamp.

 

[mike taylor]

That's because his enclosure isn't harm enough . Go to Home Depot and get two digital temperature /humidity gauge's. Put one on each side of the enclosure . Set the cool side to 80° set the basking temp to 95°/100° . Cover the top of the enclosure . Then all you'll have to do is add water in the corners of the enclosure to keep humidity and temps up . That disk type thermometer are not accurate. Read as much information of Tom's that you can . We all follow Tom's care tips . We all have to adjust the setups to fit our needs . Tom is in California not much humidity ,but it's hot as hell .

 

[tortdad]

70 is too low for a baby. Never below 80 day or night.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome John.

Looks like you baby received the typical dry start. Good care now will help over come the early hardships. The first things I see are you need a much thicker layer of substrate, warmer temperatures, more humidity and more variety in the diet.

That, and much more, is explained here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.78361/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, John and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you and your lovely little sulcata.
You've been given the advice you need already, so cover the enclosure, daily soaks and increase the temps and humidity.
Good luck!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello John welcome to the TFO from AZ. You've got great advice , so just wanted to welcome you to the TFO . Have a great tort day !

 

[John84]

Thanks everyone. @Tom how deep should his substrate be? He has about 3 -5 inches depending on the area of the tank.

 

[Tom]

Thanks everyone. @Tom how deep should his substrate be? He has about 3 -5 inches depending on the area of the tank.

3-5" should be enough, but it looks a lot shallower than that in the first pic where he's resting in the corner of the tank near the thermometer. Optical illusion?

 

[John84]

3-5" should be enough, but it looks a lot shallower than that in the first pic where he's resting in the corner of the tank near the thermometer. Optical illusion?

Yea.. There's a black strip around the the bottom of the tank that's about two inches deep and the substrate is about an inch higher. This is his full current setup @Tom should I have it more covered? Also, there is some sand towards the bottom of the tank that "someone" (gf) put in there. I tried to burry it with more coco coir.

 

[Tom]

I would cover the top more, remove the sand, add more substrate and add a humid hide.

That size tank is about the minimum you could go with. You are going to need something bigger soon.

 

[John84]

I would cover the top more, remove the sand, add more substrate and add a humid hide.

That size tank is about the minimum you could go with. You are going to need something bigger soon.

Ok. Thanks once again. I will wok on that this after work.

 

[John84]

@Tom and @Yvonne G sorry for the constant tags, but I purchased lose coco fiber instead of coco core because the pet store was out of the core. I swapped it out but I didn't soak it prior to placing it in the tank. Is that ok? Also, I how long will the current tank be suitable for? I'm hoping to put little theo in a 4x2 by August then keep going bigger as needed.

 

[Tom]

Coco fiber is the same thing as coir, just not compressed into bricks. It will need to be damp and hand packed, but make sure your temperatures are good day and night. Never below 80.

No way to know how fast yours will grow. A tank that size will only last my babies for a couple of months. I recommend you build something like this: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/ and be done with it. Once he outgrows a 4x8 chamber it will be time to live outside full time anyway.