Newbie buying to setup

[Mel1984]

So I’ve been doing tons of reading. Please confirm this is what I need, I do not want pyramiding. It’s a 2 month sulcata. Not picking up till I’m setup.

- enclosure with no open glass
- humidity 80% w a humidifier/ mister
- moist cypress mulch bedding
- water dish that it can’t drown in
- limestone type food platter
-hutt
-temp gauge
-uvb ceramic light ( is this on 24hr?)
- orchard grass

 

[wellington]

No mister.
The enclosure needs to be closed all around whether glass, wood or plastic, a closed chamber.
I prefer coconut coir with orchid bark on top or just one of them.
Clay saucer for water. Some also use them for food. I prefer a flat piece of slate or a flatter plastic plate. Nothing has to be limestone.
No orchard grass hay for babies
Tube fluorescent for uvb
Incandescent FLOOD bulb for basking
Ceramic heat emitter for any needed day heat and for night heat on a thermostat.
Temps never lower than 80 day and night
Basking temp 95-100
Humidity 80% by dampening substrate.

 

[Mel1984]

No mister.
The enclosure needs to be closed all around whether glass, wood or plastic, a closed chamber.
I prefer coconut coir with orchid bark on top or just one of them.
Clay saucer for water. Some also use them for food. I prefer a flat piece of slate or a flatter plastic plate. Nothing has to be limestone.
No orchard grass hay for babies
Tube fluorescent for uvb
Incandescent FLOOD bulb for basking
Ceramic heat emitter for any needed day heat and for night heat on a thermostat.
Temps never lower than 80 day and night
Basking temp 95-100
Humidity 80% by dampening substrate.

What are you feeding your babies?

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

What are you feeding your babies?

You might find this thread helpful: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[wellington]

What are you feeding your babies?

I have adult leopards, but similar care as sulcata. I'm in Chicago. When they were babies, I fed any safe weeds, flowers and leaves I could find. I also added soaked mazuri and cactus pads. For grocery greens, I fed spring mix minus spinach, escarole, arugula, endive, small amounts of kale, collard and mustard greens and added any stuff I dried or froze from summer.
Hay is for adults. You can try feeding orchard grass hay, but it needs to be chopped up small and soaked. Adults can eat it without cutting and soaked
You will need a large heated shed in about 3 years or less for your sulcata to survive your Wisconsin winters. When he's around 10 inches long.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome! Hopefully you’ll find these two threads below useful! The first goes over set up and I’ve actually included a equipment list with it🙂

Leopard/sulcata starter

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information below on how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for this guy until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give you some ideas! I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to...

tortoiseforum.org

This one goes over common errors to avoid😊

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Tom]

So I’ve been doing tons of reading. Please confirm this is what I need, I do not want pyramiding. It’s a 2 month sulcata. Not picking up till I’m setup.

- enclosure with no open glass
- humidity 80% w a humidifier/ mister
- moist cypress mulch bedding
- water dish that it can’t drown in
- limestone type food platter
-hutt
-temp gauge
-uvb ceramic light ( is this on 24hr?)
- orchard grass

Hello and welcome! We will be glad to help.

-What do you mean "no open glass"? If you mean see through portions of the enclosure, that is an old myth and it doesn't bother tortoises. The problem with glass is that is part of an open topped aquarium, which won't work very well due to size and lack of humidity.

-Yes humidity should be 80% or higher, but you should not use a mister or humidifier. Humidity should be maintained by using the correct type of enclosure. A large closed chamber is what you need.

-Cypress mulch is fine, but I prefer orchid bark.

-Use a terra cotta saucer sunk into the substrate for food and water.

-Use the flat limestone rock as a basking area, not for food. The food will just be pushed off the sides and into the substrate.

-Not just a "hut". You need a humid hide or two.

-Multiple temp gauges.

-Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.htmlA good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

-Orchard grass and orchard grass hay is for large adults, not for babies. Babies need weeds, flowers, leaves, freshly sprouted soft grasses and succulents. Grocery store greens are fine, but you must add in the correct amendments to make up for the short comings of lettuces.

-Are you aware that you will need a 4x8 foot closed chamber for this baby within a few months of purchase? Do you have room for that?

You are off to a good start, and you have found to only place on the internet with the right care info, so that is good. Here is the bad news now: You have chosen the wrong species to work with. There is no practical way to house a large sulcata in a Wisconsin winter. When housed and cared for properly, this species will need to live outside in a 50x50 foot pen in a warm climate in about a year. Some incorrect website or videos may tell you that you will have five years to sort this out, but that is wrong. You might have five years if you feed it all wrong and care for it poorly, as they recommend.

You should really look into other species that will be more practical and manageable in your climate. We can make suggestions, or you can look around yourself and feel free to ask questions about any species that interests you.

 

[Mel1984]

I have a massive area to work with for housing.

Hello and welcome! We will be glad to help.

-What do you mean "no open glass"? If you mean see through portions of the enclosure, that is an old myth and it doesn't bother tortoises. The problem with glass is that is part of an open topped aquarium, which won't work very well due to size and lack of humidity.

-Yes humidity should be 80% or higher, but you should not use a mister or humidifier. Humidity should be maintained by using the correct type of enclosure. A large closed chamber is what you need.

-Cypress mulch is fine, but I prefer orchid bark.

-Use a terra cotta saucer sunk into the substrate for food and water.

-Use the flat limestone rock as a basking area, not for food. The food will just be pushed off the sides and into the substrate.

-Not just a "hut". You need a humid hide or two.

-Multiple temp gauges.

-Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.htmlA good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

-Orchard grass and orchard grass hay is for large adults, not for babies. Babies need weeds, flowers, leaves, freshly sprouted soft grasses and succulents. Grocery store greens are fine, but you must add in the correct amendments to make up for the short comings of lettuces.

-Are you aware that you will need a 4x8 foot closed chamber for this baby within a few months of purchase? Do you have room for that?

You are off to a good start, and you have found to only place on the internet with the right care info, so that is good. Here is the bad news now: You have chosen the wrong species to work with. There is no practical way to house a large sulcata in a Wisconsin winter. When housed and cared for properly, this species will need to live outside in a 50x50 foot pen in a warm climate in about a year. Some incorrect website or videos may tell you that you will have five years to sort this out, but that is wrong. You might have five years if you feed it all wrong and care for it poorly, as they recommend.

You should really look into other species that will be more practical and manageable in your climate. We can make suggestions, or you can look around yourself and feel free to ask questions about any species that interests you.

yes I have a very large inside and outside area available. Thank you for the information. I’m trying to do it correctly as I see lots of mixed information.

 

[Mel1984]

Hello and welcome! Hopefully you’ll find these two threads below useful! The first goes over set up and I’ve actually included a equipment list with it🙂

Leopard/sulcata starter

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information below on how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for this guy until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give you some ideas! I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to...

tortoiseforum.org

This one goes over common errors to avoid😊

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Thank you.