charles leek
New Member
i have found shell size for length but what about width and how tall i am making outside pen and need to know how big to make door for a full size tort.
shell sizes on full grown sulcata
- Thread starter charles leek
- Start date
I don`t know. My torts are still young but I know who could help:
@Big Charlie
@Tom
@Cowboy_Ken
@Yvonne G
They all have adult sullys. Please help.
@Big Charlie
@Tom
@Cowboy_Ken
@Yvonne G
They all have adult sullys. Please help.
My largest male is 19 years old. He is 160lbs.
He is 28" long
20" wide
14" tall when laying flat on his plastron.
When walking, he stands about 19" tall
My oldest male is 28 years old and more of a "normal" size. About 120 lbs.
25" long
18" wide
12" high
When I built my latest enclosure I made the doors 26" wide and 20" tall. And now with the door flaps, my big guys ducks down as he walks inside!!
He is 28" long
20" wide
14" tall when laying flat on his plastron.
When walking, he stands about 19" tall
My oldest male is 28 years old and more of a "normal" size. About 120 lbs.
25" long
18" wide
12" high
When I built my latest enclosure I made the doors 26" wide and 20" tall. And now with the door flaps, my big guys ducks down as he walks inside!!
The biggest "normal" males I've seen top out at about 32" long and 26" wide. Most of these are the type that was originally imported from Mali. The big males have a relatively low profiled carapace and they usually top out around 120-130 pounds.
The other type of sulcata which is seen far less often is the "Sudan" type. These one are similar in length and width, but they tend to have a much taller, more rounded carapace. Large males can easily reach 250 pounds. In rare cases they can get even bigger. I've seen one that I'd conservatively estimate at 400 pounds based on size comparison in my head to a 400 pound aldabra that I'd recently handled.
There has been much mixing of the two types, so in-betweens show up from time to time.
I make my doors 26" wide and 18" tall, but non of mine are giants yet. I have a male and female Sudan, and I'm waiting to see what the male does size wise. He's 5 years old now and around 40-45 pounds. He lives outside and eats weeds and grass, with occasional mulberry or grape leaves and an opuntia pad now and then.
The other type of sulcata which is seen far less often is the "Sudan" type. These one are similar in length and width, but they tend to have a much taller, more rounded carapace. Large males can easily reach 250 pounds. In rare cases they can get even bigger. I've seen one that I'd conservatively estimate at 400 pounds based on size comparison in my head to a 400 pound aldabra that I'd recently handled.
There has been much mixing of the two types, so in-betweens show up from time to time.
I make my doors 26" wide and 18" tall, but non of mine are giants yet. I have a male and female Sudan, and I'm waiting to see what the male does size wise. He's 5 years old now and around 40-45 pounds. He lives outside and eats weeds and grass, with occasional mulberry or grape leaves and an opuntia pad now and then.
For the door opening I've just gone with the, " 2"-3" bigger overall approach. Then as time/growth goes by I just enlarge the opening. Currently, I've no "large" sulcata at my place. People see my 35-40lb. male and think he's huge mainly I believe because they are comparing it to a russian tortoise in their mind. You know, the old "all tortoises are the same" attitude.
charles leek
New Member
thanks i want to poor concrete so i needed a place to start for long term planing
