New with question

[amglpn]

Im a new baby sulcata owner. I know i posted i was getting a 5 year old but that one didnt work out. (lady wanted to control how i did everything with the tortoise, even though she kept it in a med size kiddie pool in her garage!!) I went and got a baby heres Little Foot (guessimating 2-3 months old)

So on to my question, Do i need a light on at night and if i do what kind? Is having a light on at night bad? If im not suppose to have a light what keeps the heat up? A CHE bulb? Also i got him on saturday and sunday he pooped like 4 times but nothing since, ive been soaking him but only like 10mins everyday. Please any advice is welcome i believe he had a dry start (pyrimiding and they had no water where they kept him) and i want to do the best i can with him. Thanks

 

[Bee62]

Hello,

when you want the best for your baby read all the care sheets that are on the top of this sulcata forum and follow the advices. There you`ll get the newest and best informations how to raise a healthy tortoise.
To answer your question: Tortoises need to sleep in the dark. Light at night will disturb them. Please turn off the lights at night.
But your tortoise needs warmth at night. Never let the temps drop below 80 F at night. For keeping the warmth you need a che ( ceramic heat emitter ) for the night.
Do your tortoise eat ? How high are the temps in the enclosure ? Can you show us some pics of the enclosure.
How high is the humidity ? All these facts we need to know to find out what might be wrong with your tort.

 

[amglpn]

Ive been reading but its soooo much info i think im second guessing if im doing things right. The temps are 85-91 degrees one end and 92-95 hot spot with cold side 80-82 and the hide is constant 82. The humidity is in range of 70-89%.

this is to show pyramiding

this one shows his size compared to the stove burner

this is half the enclosure

this is the other half. I took one of the whole thing but it looks really small, its 40 gal aquarium.

i think the hide is too big for the cage, it is holding at 82 degrees but it takes up alot of room and the lids are kinda big the white one is from cool whip and the blue one is larger. (i ordered 2 terra cotta saucers just waiting on delivery)

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

The feeding of fruit to a sulcata of any age is a no-no. They lack the digestive system for the sugars contained in fruits, causing diarrhea and encouraging internal parasites to flourish.

 

[Bee62]

Ive been reading but its soooo much info i think im second guessing if im doing things right. The temps are 85-91 degrees one end and 92-95 hot spot with cold side 80-82 and the hide is constant 82. The humidity is in range of 70-89%.

this is to show pyramiding

this one shows his size compared to the stove burner

this is half the enclosure

this is the other half. I took one of the whole thing but it looks really small, its 40 gal aquarium.

i think the hide is too big for the cage, it is holding at 82 degrees but it takes up alot of room and the lids are kinda big the white one is from cool whip and the blue one is larger. (i ordered 2 terra cotta saucers just waiting on delivery)

Your temps and the humidity are right. A cage for a sulcata can never be too big.... They need space to walk around ( for strong muscles ). Mayby you can buy a bigger enclosure in a few months. Your tortoise looks older than 2 - 3 months and he has already a bad pyramiding. But with good care, high humidity and daily soaks the shell will get smoother because he is still growing.
When you give him a smaller hide, there will be more space to walk, but your on the right way with all the advices from the care sheets.

 

[amglpn]

i only gave half a grape as a home coming gift lol and i try to take him out of the cage twice a day to walk around in a kiddie pool for exercise. Once outside for about an hour and once inside but only like 20-30 mins cuz i dont want him getting to cold. Today him expelled urates and they are more gritty and solid then what i read about them but i have been doing daily 30 min soaks, what more can/should i do?. Another question is i think he looks older too anyway to find out?

 

[amglpn]

ps thank you for the advice

 

[daniellenc]

If you provide a weight and shell length people can give you a better guess. Hard urates usually mean dehydration so upping the humidity should help.

 

[Markw84]

Your tortoise is at least 2 years old. It takes a long time for growth like that to develop and it must be very slow growth, and very dry conditions to allow it to grow like that. You will want to do as much as possible to continue to really hydrate the tortoise, keep humidity well up, and get it eating a very good, well balanced diet. It sounds like you have a good start to doing those things.

If you have not had a chance, please take the time to STUDY this post and implement the husbandry practices outlined. Do not take any advice from whomever you got that tortoise from. Follow these guides on this forum...

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

 

[Bee62]

That fits together: The pyramided shell and gritty urates. Your tortoise has been kept to dry.
Follow @Mark84 advice trying to hydrate the tort well with long soaks, fresh greens sprinkled with water and high humidity in the enclosure. But please don`t forget the night temps, that they should not get to low.

Where do you live and what are your outside temps ? Your thoughts are right that the tort should not get to cold outside. This tropical species need warm temps every time or it will get sick.

 

[Tom]

In addition to the CHE set on a thermostat for maintaining night heat, you also need a UV source of this tortoise inside.

The hide is not too large for this cage. The cage is far too small for the hide and for this tortoise. He needs something much larger.

Here is all the info in one place:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[amglpn]

Thanks for the replies I really appreciate them. Couple more questions and answers to your questions. I live in sw florida and take him outside everyday for at least 1 hour so I think that covers the UV light, am I correct? I know the cage could be bigger but thats what I got for now. I have read and re read your topics Tom but sometimes its nice to get a little direct communication on things hence joining a forum. I also let him roam around inside about 30 mins daily for exercise in a large kiddie pool supervised (since i got dogs). I got him from a pet store and their were 13 others all similar in size, he was the biggest one. I dont know what to do if he is older like Mark said. doesnt the care change after they are around 2?? I soak him daily but should I add pedilyte to his soaks? What else can I do? Since yesterday i have been putting his food in the middle of lid with water also hoping he gets more water this way? I havent seen him drink at all.

 

[Markw84]

Yes, the outside time will satisfy any UVB needs. As long as you are getting the tortoise out a total of a few hours a week, there would be no need for artificial UVB. In Florida, you would be getting more than that for sure!

Size is more of a consideration than Age. Once a tortoise is 8"-12" it just makes more sense to house it outside as sulcatas are very active and need room to march around and exercise. Your tortoise has just had such a dry start, I would make every effort to give it soaks and keep it in high humidity as much as possible for now. Indoors in a kiddie pool would not be best for that. Make its enclosure a warm and humid place for it to start to grow normally again. In Florida, you should have nice humid weather outside now. Make a nice secure enclosure there, as big as possible and start giving your tortoise 3 - 4 hours a day out there if possible. When you bring it in, soak it for 30 - 45 minutes in warm water deep enough to comes up to where the top of the marginal scutes meet the costal scutes. I think most people tend to soak in water too shallow to get the best effect for the tortoise. Once soaked, back to the nice, humid enclosure with a nice plate of food!

 

[amglpn]

oops forgot to add outside temps here is sw fl are high 80's-90's and high humidity all day and night lol.
Thanks again guys!

 

[Markw84]

oops forgot to add outside temps here is sw fl are high 80's-90's and high humidity all day and night lol.
Thanks again guys!

If you are still checking back on this post... Please keep in mind the temp and humidity "officially" for your area is often very different than where the tortoise is. Dry ground, grass, open sun, next to a fence or board, inside, under a lamp... All produce very different temps and humidity from what "sw fl" is! You must check the conditions where the tortoise is sitting to see what is going on.

 

[amglpn]

thanks @Markw84 , that's good info for me to keep in mind