Pyramiding in young Sulcata and outdoor enclosure

Tortoise Pierre

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Apr 19, 2014
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Dana Point
Hi there! I am fairly new here and have been reading up and am worried about my Sulcata. I see all these smooth shelled tortoises and wonder why mine has never looked that way! I just want to make sure I am caring for him the best I can.

The picture is him from a week or two ago. I have been spraying him now because I know he needs more humidity, and will post a more recent photo tomorrow.

The original buyers said his substrate should be hay, but about a month ago I changed it to orchard grass hay and he seems much happier. I have a UVB light and a basking bulb and he has constant access to water.

I'm also building him a tortoise table/enclosure for outside so he will have lots more room to roam, and I can I've him humid areas with different substrates. If anyone has any tips on what's best to do this, please let me know.

I apologize for everything in this one thread! You guys are all so kind to answer everything, thank you!
 

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Tortoise Pierre

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18
Location (City and/or State)
Dana Point
Here are two more recent pictures of him. I usually have him in a large terra-cotta dish, but that was being washed!
 

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lismar79

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Good luck & welcome to the forum. Its a great place to learn!
 

Dizisdalife

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For an indoor enclosure I like coconut coir as a substrate. It's messy at first, but once packed down it's pretty good. For an outdoor enclosure I like plain dirt with lots of plants to hold in humidity and provide hiding spots. Your tortoise has a pattern of pyramiding that is not going to be easy to stop. If you were to keep it in a closed chamber that can hold the humidity at 80% or above it would help immensely. Be sure the lights and heating elements are totally inside the chamber and high enough that they don't create hot spots on the tortoise's shell. Here is a link to a discussion on closed chambers.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
 

Tortoise Pierre

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Apr 19, 2014
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Dana Point
thank you so much for all your help, I am hoping with creating his outdoor closed chambers I can increase the humidity immensely to help his shell.
 
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