sheerpanicbarbie
New Member
I wanted to introduce myself, Rachel, and my male Sulcata, Tom Bombadil. We live in NW Oregon and got Tom in late December 2022 as a hatchling, and he weighed 63 grams. He easily fit into the palm of my hand. I followed @Tom here for advice, and today Tom Bombadil weighs 26.75lbs and has a 20.5 inch carapice. My $75 internet tortoise outgrew our house quickly and is now in his own heated building, and we're many thousands of dollars into this venture. (Strong word of caution here for anyone thinking about getting a Sulcata in a cooler climate!)
My question is this... at Tom's size, how often do I need to be soaking him? He's in a 12x12 enclosure for winter (next winter he'll have an adjacent building that's 10x20 to roam in as well, as the buildings are connected). We keep his enclosure at 86 degrees, and he has a basking spot that he likes to sit under. The substrate is fir bark (12 inches), and it's very moist under the top layer from being hosed down. I have a bucket of water in the room for some humidity, but I know the humidity is quite a bit lower than it was when he was tiny (>80% at all times for the first 20 months). His sleeping box is more humid due to the enclosed space, though. He has a large terra cotta dish of water that he has constant access to, but it's only about 1.5 inches deep. He regularly poops and releases urates that are the consistency of Elmer's glue, and he's usually doing this in his fir bark rather than during soaks. I have been soaking him once per week indoors in a concrete mixing pan, but it's obviously getting much harder with his size and weight. I'd love to hear advice. I read that young tortoises should be soaked a few times a week, but those articles then refer to Sulcatas in the 5-15 lb range. With Tom pushing 30 lbs already, I don't know if that makes a difference?
Tom's diet right now in winter is cut grass from the yard, orchard grass, Mazuri pellets, and a few grocery store greens that I supplement with various Kapidolo Farms mixes. In summer, Tom gets a more varied diet including lots of prickly pear, but grass is still his staple. What do you guys think? (The attached comparison photo is the same little terra cotta dish, 23 months apart.)
My question is this... at Tom's size, how often do I need to be soaking him? He's in a 12x12 enclosure for winter (next winter he'll have an adjacent building that's 10x20 to roam in as well, as the buildings are connected). We keep his enclosure at 86 degrees, and he has a basking spot that he likes to sit under. The substrate is fir bark (12 inches), and it's very moist under the top layer from being hosed down. I have a bucket of water in the room for some humidity, but I know the humidity is quite a bit lower than it was when he was tiny (>80% at all times for the first 20 months). His sleeping box is more humid due to the enclosed space, though. He has a large terra cotta dish of water that he has constant access to, but it's only about 1.5 inches deep. He regularly poops and releases urates that are the consistency of Elmer's glue, and he's usually doing this in his fir bark rather than during soaks. I have been soaking him once per week indoors in a concrete mixing pan, but it's obviously getting much harder with his size and weight. I'd love to hear advice. I read that young tortoises should be soaked a few times a week, but those articles then refer to Sulcatas in the 5-15 lb range. With Tom pushing 30 lbs already, I don't know if that makes a difference?
Tom's diet right now in winter is cut grass from the yard, orchard grass, Mazuri pellets, and a few grocery store greens that I supplement with various Kapidolo Farms mixes. In summer, Tom gets a more varied diet including lots of prickly pear, but grass is still his staple. What do you guys think? (The attached comparison photo is the same little terra cotta dish, 23 months apart.)
I'm glad I'm not the only one up here trying to make this work!!!
