Sir Tortellini

[Blondefondew]

Hello everyone!

My daughter got me a sully hatchling for my birthday 2 weeks ago and I have a few questions. I live in South Florida where obviously, its pretty humid and warm. How much sun/outside time is enough or too much? I have a kiddie pool for him where he spends his days in my screened in patio. He starts out in the morning sun for a few hours then goes in the shade for the rest of the day as I'm afraid he will get too hot/dehydrated. I soak him every morning for 10-15 minutes, spray his forest floor substrate and provide fresh water every morning in his bowl. I bring him in at night and provide a UVB/heat lamp for a few hours 85-90 degrees then a night lamp around 80. Humidity stays around 70-80. He grazes outside for about 15 minutes twice a day. Twice a day I provide a mix of collard greens, kale, carrots, spring mix, strawberries (minimal), and a few other things but mostly he eats grass and weeds. I cut fresh grass, cloves, weeds and throw them in his pool daily for him.

How much calcium? I have the powder calcium but I don't know if he is getting enough or too much. I sprinkle it on his food every other day but he never eats it all. Should he have a vitamin supplement or he getting enough in his diet?

Urine/BM's/urates. I have only seen his poop once and it was dark and resembled a hamsters poop! He urinated on me once, it was clear and had urates in it. His bedding is forest floor so I unless I see him go to the bathroom, I don't really know what he is doing. Any recommendations/suggestions?

 

[Tippiethetortoise]

Such a cutie!! I'll leave the experts to your questions

 

[robopetz]

What a perfect little sully you have. Sounds like you are doing good. I would change up his diet a little though. Read through the sticky's at the top for a guide in nutrition. Such a great pic!

 

[Stuart S.]

Congratulations on your new baby!

About the calcium, make sure that the calcium you bought has D3 in it which is key in preventing MBD. What I do when I feed my baby is a put the greens in the dish and then I put a few soaked ZooMed natural grassland tortoise pellets and mazuri pellets (mazuri-every other day or so...) on top of the greens, then I sprinkle on the calcium. I'll then mix it all up good so it blends well and he digs right in. The grassland pellets are crucial for babies because they have key nutrients that they need, the mazuri is good for growth and once your baby starts eating it, he won't be able to get enough. Ive attached the links for the grassland pellets and the correct mazuri pellets. There are 3 kinds of tortoise pellets and I bought the wrong 2 first before finally getting the right kind. Buy the original pellets, the pellets are the biggest but when soaked babies can dig right in, the 2 to stay away from is the "small tortoise diet" and the "LS", both pellets are too small and way too hard, they may have worked for some folks but for the most part from what I've heard and experienced, it's not worth trying out...

Good luck!

http://zoomed.com/db/products/EntryDetail.php?SearchID=3&DatabaseID=2&EntryID=228

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FTAGQNU/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

 

[Bee62]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
Staying outside when it`s warm ( about 77 F ) and getting natural sun is the best for every tortoise, even for a hatchling. Make sure that your baby always have shadow to hide from the sun. Sprinkle the soil in the outdoor enclosure every day with water for enough humididy. Weeds and gras are good for your baby tort. Any fruits, carrots and kale should be feed very, very few and not daily.
Make sure that the enclosure of your baby tort is safe against any predators, even birds.
Getting natural sun is the best way that your tortoise can produce vitamin D by himself. When you feed him small pieces of cuttlefish bones, the baby is able to eat as much as he needs. Believe me, they know what they need, in the right dosis. You don`t have to sprinkle calcium powder above the greens if you offer your baby tort small cuttlebone pieces.
Good luck with your baby. It`s a cutie !

 

[Blondefondew]

Congratulations on your new baby!

About the calcium, make sure that the calcium you bought has D3 in it which is key in preventing MBD. What I do when I feed my baby is a put the greens in the dish and then I put a few soaked ZooMed natural grassland tortoise pellets and mazuri pellets (mazuri-every other day or so...) on top of the greens, then I sprinkle on the calcium. I'll then mix it all up good so it blends well and he digs right in. The grassland pellets are crucial for babies because they have key nutrients that they need, the mazuri is good for growth and once your baby starts eating it, he won't be able to get enough. Ive attached the links for the grassland pellets and the correct mazuri pellets. There are 3 kinds of tortoise pellets and I bought the wrong 2 first before finally getting the right kind. Buy the original pellets, the pellets are the biggest but when soaked babies can dig right in, the 2 to stay away from is the "small tortoise diet" and the "LS", both pellets are too small and way too hard, they may have worked for some folks but for the most part from what I've heard and experienced, it's not worth trying out...

Good luck!

http://zoomed.com/db/products/EntryDetail.php?SearchID=3&DatabaseID=2&EntryID=228

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FTAGQNU/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Thank you for this! I am going to the store for pellets today. I ordered a couple grass seed mixes so that I can grown my own. I'm not sure he likes the grass in my backyard, I think its St. Augustine. He likes the cloves. Found some prickly pear but he doesn't seem interested, I will keep trying. Tried hibiscus, he took a nap on it!

 

[Blondefondew]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
Staying outside when it`s warm ( about 77 F ) and getting natural sun is the best for every tortoise, even for a hatchling. Make sure that your baby always have shadow to hide from the sun. Sprinkle the soil in the outdoor enclosure every day with water for enough humididy. Weeds and gras are good for your baby tort. Any fruits, carrots and kale should be feed very, very few and not daily.
Make sure that the enclosure of your baby tort is safe against any predators, even birds.
Getting natural sun is the best way that your tortoise can produce vitamin D by himself. When you feed him small pieces of cuttlefish bones, the baby is able to eat as much as he needs. Believe me, they know what they need, in the right dosis. You don`t have to sprinkle calcium powder above the greens if you offer your baby tort small cuttlebone pieces.
Good luck with your baby. It`s a cutie !

Thank you!! He seems to be loving it outside! We have a large screened in porch and he is in a baby pool will food, water, shelter and forest floor. The humidity is holding steady at 80% (I live in South Florida so its very humid here!) and the temp anywhere from 80-90 during the day and about 75 at night so I turn his night light on. I turn on his day bulb in the morning for some UVB's and put him in the sun when I can but I don't want to forget and leave him out there so I tend to keep him in the shaded area.