Species of my sulcata?

[huntevans20]

I know it can get really annoying with all the conflicting info, but I'm glad that you ae receptive to the help being offered.

It can get very confusing with different people contradicting each other, but we've all been down this road before and we can look back at where you are now. I've personally made the mistakes you are making now, and some of the people commenting here on your thread have too. We all followed that old wrong advice from people like Kenan who sound like they know what they are talking about, but really don't. He's not a bad guy. I've met him. He means well, and he makes videos with high production value, but he just doesn't know what he doesn't know.

I had a conversation similar to this one with another member recently. I was telling them how to care for their leopard tortoise, the right way, and they mentioned Kenan too. Then they had an epiphany when they watched the video with Kenan treating 5 sick leopard tortoises in his tortoise infirmary. All five leopards were heavily pyramided. None of my leopards are pyramided. None of my sulcatas either. Growing a smooth tortoise in humid Florida is easy. Growing one here in the CA desert is not. None of my leopards are sick. I don't even have an infirmary because none of my dozens of tortoises ever get sick.

We all mean well. We're just trying to prevent you from making the mistakes that some of us have already made. After you finish the care sheet, please come back and ask all your questions. We are happy to explain further.

And your sulcata is normal colored. Here are some of mine that hatched a month ago for comparison:
View attachment 295228

Hey man i appreciate it. It’s so hard to take advice on here just because i see one thing that NEEDS TO BE DONE! Then the next person says that’s totally wrong. I am looking to separate them soon and build a new enclosure. I just want to find the right enclosure to re create. If you don’t mind. Could you pm me a photo of yours or another enclosure that you believe meets all of the needs of the torts? Thank you!

 

[Tom]

Hey man i appreciate it. It’s so hard to take advice on here just because i see one thing that NEEDS TO BE DONE! Then the next person says that’s totally wrong. I am looking to separate them soon and build a new enclosure. I just want to find the right enclosure to re create. If you don’t mind. Could you pm me a photo of yours or another enclosure that you believe meets all of the needs of the torts? Thank you!

Here is a thread I did on mine:

New Stack of Animal Plastics CLosed Chambers

AKA: Tom's baby emporium. @GStars asked for a pic on my new baby raising enclosures the other day. I only had a partial, but I took a fuller one today. Each cage is 96x30 and divided in the middle into two 48x30 cages for starting babies. The colored tape on each upper right corner shows the...

tortoiseforum.org

These enclosures are excellent, but they take months to get. Our very own @Markw84 now makes his own of the same type of material and they are simply fantastic. They have the added benefit of being easy and relatively cheap to expand as your babies grow. Mark's enclosures are specifically designed to create optimal growing conditions for both of your species and they come with all the thermostats, heating and lighting at a very reasonable price. Cheaper than what you can buy it all for yourself.

 

[huntevans20]

Here is a thread I did on mine:

New Stack of Animal Plastics CLosed Chambers

AKA: Tom's baby emporium. @GStars asked for a pic on my new baby raising enclosures the other day. I only had a partial, but I took a fuller one today. Each cage is 96x30 and divided in the middle into two 48x30 cages for starting babies. The colored tape on each upper right corner shows the...

tortoiseforum.org

These enclosures are excellent, but they take months to get. Our very own @Markw84 now makes his own of the same type of material and they are simply fantastic. They have the added benefit of being easy and relatively cheap to expand as your babies grow. Mark's enclosures are specifically designed to create optimal growing conditions for both of your species and they come with all the thermostats, heating and lighting at a very reasonable price. Cheaper than what you can buy it all for yourself.

Amazing! Thank you

 

[huntevans20]

Amazing! Thank you

Where can i purchase one?

 

[Tom]

Where can i purchase one?

One of Mark's? Send him a message here on the forum and he'll email you the info and prices. His enclosures are the closest thing to prefect I've ever seen. Every detail is thought through and optimized for tortoise care.

 

[huntevans20]

One of Mark's? Send him a message here on the forum and he'll email you the info and prices. His enclosures are the closest thing to prefect I've ever seen. Every detail is thought through and optimized for tortoise care.

Thank you very much

 

[vladimir]

@huntevans20 You can;'t go wrong with following Tom's advice.

 

[huntevans20]

@huntevans20 You can;'t go wrong with following Tom's advice.

Working on getting an enclosure as we speak! A really appreciate Tom

 

[SKOLsuper]

Hello. I was hoping someone could help me identify my sulcata. We bought him at a local pet store and i have noticed he is extremely light in coloration compared to others that i have seen in person and on YouTube etc. i looked up ivory babies and he seems to match their coloration more than anything. I could be totally wrong! Just wanting to check! Thank you in advance for the help! View attachment 294997

 

[SKOLsuper]

Hello. I was hoping someone could help me identify my sulcata. We bought him at a local pet store and i have noticed he is extremely light in coloration compared to others that i have seen in person and on YouTube etc. i looked up ivory babies and he seems to match their coloration more than anything. I could be totally wrong! Just wanting to check! Thank you in advance for the help! View attachment 294997

Looks like a pretty normal sulcata just like my one when he was small

 

[LasTortugasNinja]

@huntevans20 You can;'t go wrong with following Tom's advice.

I second.. or third... not quite sure how many have agreed... Tom is the go-to-guy for sulcata advice, and most torts. I've worked with reptiles for over 30 years and my knowledge is a pop-up book compared to Tom's. Any questions, hit him up.

 

[Melissacoop]

I followed Toms advice after struggling to keep humidity up the first month when I got my baby Sulcata. He was in an open table just as Kenan demonstrated. It was kinda stressful in the beginning, I admit, to get all the conflicting info and try to figure out what method to go with. Constantly changing things, etc. I drove my husband crazy!
We finally built the closed chamber, the right substrate, ( using Coco coir mixed with Organic top soil) and sphagnum moss in his hide. Finally, I am able to relax and enjoy him. The humidity maintains over 60% on its own and I just water the plants and pour water in the moss about once or twice a week and then it jumps to 80-95% depending on how much water I add. I also am on several Facebook groups and the info being given to newbies is just plain wrong. I like to see everybody’s pictures of their torts but don’t listen to any advice being given. The members of this group have proven results and this is where I come to for answers. I just stumbled on this post and got a solution to a problem I was having without even asking the question. My enclosure was getting too hot and I just read Toms post about putting the basking light on a thermostat which I did think of but didn’t know if it was advisable. Now I know. Thank you Tom.