Reassure me ????

[Willow_sulcata]

I have had my baby sulcata around 2-3 month and built a table/enclosure from bits of wood, just need to know this enclosure is correct as I'm quite worried , I have a UV light and a 35W halogen spotlight for basking, I have wood shavings on one side (cold side) and tortoise soil on the hot side. Here's pictures any tips will help

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome to the best forum for the most up to date information on tort care. I am in the UK too. Have you found the caresheet for sullies yet? That will tell you all about recommended temps humidity, diet, substrate etc. You will also find great ideas in the Enclosures thread too and the Beginners Mistakes is very useful for avoiding the same mistakes as others (see link below).
People are always tweaking their enclosures to get it right. Wood shavings may be too dry as substrate but the one thing that caught my eye as a potential problem is the water dish. It may just be the angle of the pic but the sides look quite steep to me so possibly a flipping hazard. A terracotta plant saucer big enough for self soaking and sunk level with the substrate may be easier and safer for your tort to get in an out of. A digital temp gun is also fantastic for spot checking the 4 temps, as is a digital humidity meter.
I'm sure a sully owner with far more experience will be along soon with great advice to make a happy healthy home for your tort.

 

[Jodie]

Your enclosure looks nice. It is better than a lot of first enclosures we see. I second the water dish advice. The dial thermometer is very inaccurate. Get a digital one. Your enclosure will hold heat and humidity much better if you enclosure it.
This is what I did with my tables.

 

[Willow_sulcata]

Hi and welcome to the best forum for the most up to date information on tort care. I am in the UK too. Have you found the caresheet for sullies yet? That will tell you all about recommended temps humidity, diet, substrate etc. You will also find great ideas in the Enclosures thread too and the Beginners Mistakes is very useful for avoiding the same mistakes as others (see link below).
People are always tweaking their enclosures to get it right. Wood shavings may be too dry as substrate but the one thing that caught my eye as a potential problem is the water dish. It may just be the angle of the pic but the sides look quite steep to me so possibly a flipping hazard. A terracotta plant saucer big enough for self soaking and sunk level with the substrate may be easier and safer for your tort to get in an out of. A digital temp gun is also fantastic for spot checking the 4 temps, as is a digital humidity meter.
I'm sure a sully owner with far more experience will be along soon with great advice to make a happy healthy home for your tort.

Thank you so much this has put my mind at rest and I will use a shallow dish or maybe create some sort of ramp with bits of slate around the existing dish

 

[Yvonne G]

That one heat light looks to be hanging awfully close to the top of the tortoise's shell. That might be a burning problem.

 

[Lyn W]

Thank you so much this has put my mind at rest and I will use a shallow dish or maybe create some sort of ramp with bits of slate around the existing dish

You're welcome but it's not just the getting in that could be a problem but the getting out - because they are rigid if they flip backwards when trying to get out they could drown so it would be better to be safe than sorry and opt for the cheap shallow plant saucer with good traction for little feet.

 

[Willow_sulcata]

Your enclosure looks nice. It is better than a lot of first enclosures we see. I second the water dish advice. The dial thermometer is very inaccurate. Get a digital one. Your enclosure will hold heat and humidity much better if you enclosure it.
This is what I did with my tables.
View attachment 160156

Hi thanks for your reply , I will order a temp gun off eBay right this minute actually and get a digital temp/humid thermometer , when I can measure the humidity I will experiment with different things , thanks so much !!

 

[Willow_sulcata]

You're welcome but it's not just the getting in that could be a problem but the getting out - because they are rigid if they flip backwards when trying to get out they could drown so it would be better to be safe than sorry and opt for the cheap shallow plant saucer with good traction for little feet.

Ahh yea I see what you mean , yea I will just do that thanks )

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I'm guessing your humidity is kinda low, should be in the neighborhood of 80 to 85%. Cute habitat tho, and welcome

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

It looks like you've gotten all the old out-dated advice and if you want your tortoise to grow up healthy and not pyramided, you'll need to make some changes. I hate delivering this kind of soul-crushing bad new, but you need to know in order to help your tortoise.

1. Open tables are not suitable for this species unless the whole room is warm and 80% humid all day and night.
2. You should not use spot bulbs for basking as they concentrate too much heat into one small area. Use a flood bulb to make a larger basking area instead.
3. Sulcatas should not have a cold side. No area of the enclosure should dip below 80, day or night, for a baby. This is best accomplished with a ceramic heating element or two set on a thermostat.
4. Likewise, sulcatas hatch at the start of the African rainy season and they ned high humidity to thrive on grow smoothly. You won't be able to offer much humidity at all with dry substrate and an open top.

Other members also pointed out some other problems like the dishes and thermometer, that need to be changed.

I'm sorry I didn't have the reassurance you were looking for, but better you find these things out now, rather learning them the hard way down the road.

These will spell it all out for you:
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/