Rescued Sulcata

[TexasHuntress]

I was brought a Sulcata tonight due to this young couple getting busted by their apartment management for the umpteen million reptiles and arachnids they had housed in their apartment. According to this guy they are not allowed to have any at all. They had no where to take this Sulcata. I have no idea how old it is. What I do know is this thing was housed in a closet floor with a bowl of water and being fed coleslaw only. No heat lamp no UVB no outside time nothing. So I was told about this forum by a gentleman that I do business with for all my dart frog needs. This is pretty much going to be a learn as much as I quickly can and try my best to do right by this baby to make sure all its needs are met. I am learning a whole lot by what all yall have discussed. Thank you all for your input and sharing your knowledge for us newbie 101's.

 

[dmmj]

I can't believe the stupidity of that couple keeping a tortoise that grows that big in an apartment. salutations by the way

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Welcome Huntress to The Tortoise Forum. The information you read/find here is for the most part written by active, current keepers who just want to share what they've learned as keepers to help tortoises live the long life they're meant to live, as healthy as they can be. Read the threads in the sulcata section and ask questions when you need answers. You will get answers too. Sometimes not the answers you want, but the proper answer regardless. Welcome to the forum and I'm glad we've got a new member in you. Oh and, we've many keepers in Texas.

 

[TexasHuntress]

Well it started out as his mother's " newest pet" but then her husband's newest pet decided it made a great chew toy so his mother gave him the tortoise expecting him to take care of it. According to the son they have a habit of aquiring exotic pets and they get tired of them and pass them to the next person. The mom found out I would take the tortoise in and told her son to give it to me that it was to go to nobody else. The son likes to sell animals and buy new ones... So you can see where all this is going. He didn't bother doing any research and it took all I had to bite my tongue and not tell him how much of a " wonderful and knowledgeable" person he was. <~ that's typically not one of my better skills. I have no filter when it comes to animals being mistreated.

 

[TexasHuntress]

Welcome Huntress to The Tortoise Forum. The information you read/find here is for the most part written by active, current keepers who just want to share what they've learned as keepers to help tortoises live the long life they're meant to live, as healthy as they can be. Read the threads in the sulcata section and ask questions when you need answers. You will get answers too. Sometimes not the answers you want, but the proper answer regardless. Welcome to the forum and I'm glad we've got a new member in you. Oh and, we've many keepers in Texas.

Thank you sir.

 

[TexasHuntress]

I can't believe the stupidity of that couple keeping a tortoise that grows that big in an apartment. salutations by the way

Thank you.

 

[Speedy-1]

Thank you for rescuing him people like that irritate me to no end ! Why cant they understand there is a level of responsibility that goes along with owning a pet ? Sometimes I think that the pets are just to easy to get , if you have the money you can have one. Proving once again , "just because you can afford something doesn't necessarily mean you should have it " !

 

[AZSid]

Because the needs of a sulcata differ so much depending on their age, that would be a great starting point for us to help. While age cannot be confirmed concisely based on size, posting a pic will give us a better idea of where to get you started.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

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

Please come back with any questions. We are glad to help.

 

[TexasHuntress]

This is her/his size comparison picture

 

[TexasHuntress]

It keeps wanting to eat rocks

 

[MPRC]

Honestly he looks pretty good for the conditions you described!

 

[Markw84]

I agree! From what you described, I thought he would look worse. That's not a bad looking tortoise at all!

 

[Tom]

It keeps wanting to eat rocks

This is likely due to a mineral or fiber deficiency.

Feed more grass and weeds, avoid the grocery store foods, add some calcium supplementation, and go online and order some "MinerAll" from a company called Sticky Tongue Farms. Start with the MinerAll every other day for a couple of weeks and then drop it to twice a week after that.

They can get impacted if allowed to continue eating rocks.

 

[TexasHuntress]

OK good deal. That's what I will do thank you very much.

 

[TexasHuntress]

I already have her on my Repashy superfoods Calcium Plus. I use that on my Dart Frogs. How often should I be dusting her/his food? I did buy her/him a cuttlebone tonight.

 

[Tom]

I already have her on my Repashy superfoods Calcium Plus. I use that on my Dart Frogs. How often should I be dusting her/his food? I did buy her/him a cuttlebone tonight.

Usually twice a week with calcium and once a week with a vitamin supplement.

Calcium can make the rock eating worse. If its due to a mineral imbalance, calcium can make the imbalance worse as it interferes with the absorption of other trace elements and minerals.

 

[TexasHuntress]

One thing if I'm not mistaken they don't need the D3 supplement right? Because they have the indoor (with D3) or outdoor (without d3).
I have her going out twice a day an hour at at a time for sun and grazing OK or do I still need to get her a uv bulb setup?

 

[Tom]

One thing if I'm not mistaken they don't need the D3 supplement right? Because they have the indoor (with D3) or outdoor (without d3).
I have her going out twice a day an hour at at a time for sun and grazing OK or do I still need to get her a uv bulb setup?

With daily sunshine, you don't need indoor UV and you don't need D3 in your supplement.

Although neither will hurt if you still want to use them.

 

[TexasHuntress]

Usually twice a week with calcium and once a week with a vitamin supplement.

Calcium can make the rock eating worse. If its due to a mineral imbalance, calcium can make the imbalance worse as it interferes with the absorption of other trace elements and minerals.

The calcium plus is a calcium/vitamin spu

With daily sunshine, you don't need indoor UV and you don't need D3 in your supplement.

Although neither will hurt if you still want to use them.

With daily sunshine, you don't need indoor UV and you don't need D3 in your supplement.

Although neither will hurt if you still want to use them.

Well that makes my heart happy. At least I'm doing something right for her or him lol