New Tortise Mom

[Debratm]

Hi my name is Debra and I am the the turtle Mom of a baby sulcata. I got her from a reptile show on Sunday and she is precious. I have to tell you that I am nervous about raising my new baby. I have read so much information that I completely confused. What one person recommends another says absolutely not! So I took the recommendation of the person who sold her to me. She said to put her in a glass tank for now and provide a coconut bedding which I did and I have her food trays in there as well. Today when I came home there were ants in the tank. Have any of you had this problem?

I have cleaned out the tank but do you think that the ants will hurt her?

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum Debra

That would depend on the type of ant.

Danny

 

[terryo]

Welcome Debra. If you go to the Sulcata section on this forum, there is lots of good info there. Someone should come along to help you.

 

[Isa]

Welcome to the forum! I am sure you will find all the answers to your questions here

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Debra:

Welcome to the forum!!

You CAN use a glass tank, but I much prefer a large plastic tub. You can get a bigger habitat if you go plastic. The bigger it is, the easier for you to have a hot end and a room temperature end.

Black ants won't cause any problems, but the red ants could kill your baby.

Go buy a big plastic tub...the biggest one you can afford, scrap all your substrate and start over. Before you fill the tub, turn it upside down and give it a good spray all over the outside of it with ant killer, being careful to not get any inside the tub.

Then add your substrate and moisten it. The way to have a smooth-growing shell on your baby is to keep him in moist substrate...or a humid habitat.

After you've been here a while and get good at navigating around our site, I'd love to see pictures of your little guy.

 

[Tom]

Hi Debra. Are you the one who found me at the end of the Pomona show on Sunday? I hope so.

Yes, ants will hurt your baby. You need to trace the line of them back to where they are coming into the house and either plug the hole or use a tiny spritz of insecticide in the hole to stop them. Then just use a wet rag and wipe up the ones already in the house. Windex works great at killing them and removing their scent trails with a minimum of toxicity around your baby tortoise. Of course, remove the baby from the area while you do these things.

Sulcatas and Leopard tortoises became popular and went "mainstream" in the late 80's or early 90's. Everyone from that era, including top breeders and pros, housed them and cared for them incorrectly. Me included. Only in the last few years have we really started to figure out how to do it right and we still have a long way to go and many questions to be answered. Sadly, many breeders are still in those "dark ages" and just don't know any better. I wish I could get them all on this forum! Unfortunately, I saw a lot of this old fashioned, inappropriate tortoise keeping at the show this weekend and a lot of people, walking around with poorly started, dehydrated babies. I saw pyramided babies that still had their eggtooth attached. So sad. It doesn't have to be that way. I did my best to help these people, but many of those babies won't make it. If you are who I think you are, you do not fall into this latter category. Your baby looked pretty good, even though it was on rabbit pellets.

Anyhow, for you, here are some tips:

Substrate: Use a humid substrate. Cypress mulch, orchid bark, plain soil, sphagnum moss or coco coir all work great. Avoid sand. Too much risk of eye irritation or impaction. Use a humid hide box like this:
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-12542.html?highlight=humid+hide+boxes

Housing: Glass tanks are fine, but plastic tubs are better, cheaper and usually bigger. I use glass too, but look out for flipping, and stress caused by your tort trying to walk through the glass constantly. A visual barrier will usually stop both of these. I use tape and a brown paper bag cut to size. You only need to cove the bottom 4-6" or so. Here's an example of a simple (but not attractive) sulcata set-up, just to give you some ideas:
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-13375.html


Heating and lighting: Get a flat rock or a piece of slate and put it on one end of your enclosure. Mount your bulb directly over this and, "Voila", you've created your basking spot and warm end of your enclosure. Basking spot should be around 100, but only directly under the bulb. Raise or lower your bulb to get the right temp and check it with an infared temp gun or a remote probe from a thermometer. The cool, other side, of the enclosure should stay 75-80 around the clock for a baby. Use a night bulb or CHE (ceramic heating element) if necessary to maintain these temps. Don't let your baby get cold AND damp at the same time! When they get a little bigger, 6-8", you can let things dry up a bit and start letting the night temps drop a bit lower. It is hard to do this in a small glass tank. What kind of bulb you use depends on many factors. IMO the best way is to use a small regular incandescent flood or spot bulb from the hardware store for indoors and put them out in the sun regularly for UV and exercise. Here's some simple ideas for safe outdoor enclosures.
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-14680.html?highlight=sunning+enclosure

Hydration: Critically important for babies. You should be doing daily, shallow, warm water soaks for 10-15 minutes. The humidity from your substrate and humid hide box will also help prevent dehydration. I also recommend spraying the shell with plain water 3-4 times a day. I also spray their food with water before and as they eat it. Get a terra cotta plant saucer and sink it into your substrate after you thoroughly wash it with soapy hot water and rinse it. This makes a great water dish that they can climb in and out of.

Diet: Spring mix is easy and a good start. Other leafy greens are great too. Weeds and grass are best, but make sure any and all foods have no pesticides or chemicals on them. Also look into grape, rose and hibiscus leaves and flowers, cactus (de-spined), and supplement with Mazuri and or Zoo-med grassland tortoise food. Dry horse hay is also a great food, but not until your baby gets much bigger.

Supplements: This is a matter of much debate and controversy. Some people use none. Some people use a lot, every day. Both have healthy animals. I believe the answer is somewhere between these two extremes for most people. I use calcium with no D3 twice a week and vitamins once a week. For people who live in areas with frozen winters, I recommend Ca WITH D3 over winter.

SUNSHINE: Early and often. I like about an hour or two a day for little ones, but just do it as much as you can. BE CAREFUL AND SAFE ABOUT IT!!! The enclosure should be half shade and watch out for predators and escape attempts.

 

[pugsandkids]

FYI for ants. I found a "natural" ant killer by Ortho "ecosense" that's mainly soybean oil. I'm super paranoid about poisons and chemicals around my kids and animals. This worked really well when I found ants on the march across the dining room and onto the table!

Congratulations on your new baby