Sulcata baby and opinions

[NSH]

Hello to all forum members, this is great place to find right information for (us) new tortoise keepers

We have bought baby sulcata, right now he's 3 months old, 76 gramms and 7 cm long. He's eating fine and he's quite active. I have question about his shell because i think that he's going to be pyramided... what do you guys think? He is now 3 weeks in our care and have everything that he need, we have list of food, temp and housing from this forum and sulcata station.

Thank you

 

[dmmj]

I don't see anything to worry about yet, keep him humid and he should grow fine.

 

[NSH]

Thank you, we will try Every morning, we mist oposite site of his burrow and this is light misting.

 

[Arizona Sulcata]

I disagree, pyramiding has definitely started. Also information on the Sulcata Station can be outdated. How often are you soaking and for how long? What are your humidity levels at? It's still early enough things can turn around.

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

I agree with Austin. The pyramiding is already starting but its only a little bit and it can be easily be stopped in its tracks with soakings every day for around 30 minutes and keeping it around 70% humidity in his enclosure.

 

[NSH]

Thank you on your oppinions I have thinking the same way because i have seen layers on his shell (plates looks like pyramid)

Humidity is from 8am to 17pm about 75-80%, rest of the day and night is about 50-60%. We soak him about 1x daily for about 15 minutes, he also have access to natural sunlight outside for 30min to 1 hour.

We will do an update in a few weeks, thank you once again on your help guys

 

[Dizisdalife]

I agree with Austin and Elliot. There is some pyramiding starting. I would increase the soak time to at least 20 min and do it twice a day. In the pictures the substrate looks dry. Even though your humidity levels seem okay, I would make sure the substrate is plenty moist. I would also mist the shell (and entire enclosure) throughout the day. The lamps really dry out the shell. It wouldn't hurt to have a humid hide (plastic tote box with damp substrate) in the enclosure.

 

[Zamric]

you might also try Vita-Shell if you have access to a petstore! this will help his shell when the humidity drops. I use it once a week on my yearlings and you can see how good they look in my signature!

for recent close ups

 

[NSH]

Thank you on your advices, he has humid box (hide place) and picture was taken before morning misting. We are keeping half of his enclosure lightli moist, and other side is a little bit dryer.

 

[lovelyrosepetal]

I have read mixed reviews on the vita shell. I have read an experiment that Tom did that said vita shell made no difference and only makes the shell look pretty while it is on but has no affect on pyramiding. I would save my money and just keep spraying with warm water a lot through out the day.

 

[Tom]

Here's what I see: The first couple of growth rings were stacking and this tortoise was well on his way to pyramid city. However, the newer growth looks much smoother. Because you caught it early and are doing ALL the right things, I think you will have a nice smooth juvenile and a gorgeous adult. In cases like this, I prefer to go a little overboard with the soaks, shell spraying and humidity, because it is much harder to STOP pyramiding in progress than it is to PREVENT pyramiding in the first place. That will be up to you. I always like to throw in the caution, that if you go "wet", keep it warm day and night.

 

[ra94131]

I have read mixed reviews on the vita shell. I have read an experiment that Tom did that said vita shell made no difference and only makes the shell look pretty while it is on but has no affect on pyramiding. I would save my money and just keep spraying with warm water a lot through out the day.

I've read most of the same things, but I think there may be a place for VitaShell, if used in moderation. (ie. Don't just "goop" the stuff on and leave it or use it every single day.) My practice is to use it shortly after a soak in the evening once or twice a week and then verify that any excess is absorbed or wiped off before the next soak.

The stuff is cheap and lasts forever for a hatchling. Worst case scenario, your tortoise just looks pretty. (And Zamric's boy WalkingRock looks awesome and was apparently brought up on the stuff.)

If you're a breeder VitaShell probably isn't worth your time, but if you've only got one or two (very spoiled) tortoises, then it isn't a bad product to use in my opinion.

 

[NSH]

Thanks to all of You from botom of our heart. Here in Croatia we don't have any quality literature or people with experiance who we could trust, so thank you guys, you helped a lot

We will do a monthly update on our Slavko who also says thank You on his special way

 

[lovelyrosepetal]

That would be great! Congratulations on your baby and can't wait to hear/see more.

 

[Zamric]

The stuff is cheap and lasts forever for a hatchling. Worst case scenario, your tortoise just looks pretty. (And Zamric's boy WalkingRock looks awesome and was apparently brought up on the stuff.)

If you're a breeder VitaShell probably isn't worth your time, but if you've only got one or two (very spoiled) tortoises, then it isn't a bad product to use in my opinion.

WalkingRock was raised with Vita-Shell but he was also raised "Old School" dry conditions! That is why I use it even tho I use "High Humidity" conditions! It obviously is doing somthing good!

 

[NSH]

Hello to all

Just to do a quick update on our baby sulcata. He's growing real fast, eating well all kind of grass, flowers and other safe stuff, but... he doesn't like mazuri. Do you have any sugestions how to make his food more attractive? We try allready to mix with his favourite food but no success.

Anyway what do you think about his pyramiding? I think that things are the same, we soak him 2x daily and misting his cage. He has grown from 02.09 until today about 1,5 cm and gain 7-8 gramms, is this ok?

 

[Dizisdalife]

He is growing and that is good. Since they all grow at different rates any increase is okay. The new growth looks to be smooth. That's good. Keep doing what you have been doing. Some tortoises take to Mazuri right away and some never develop a taste for it. I would offer him some from time to time until he decides if it is good for him. Are you soaking the pellets before feeding them to your tortoise?

 

[Tom]

He looks great.

For the Mazuri: Chop up a bunch of his favorite greens really fine. I mean mince it up. Then soak one pellet of Mazuri in some water in a bottle cap or something like that. Once the Mazuri is soft, mush it all up with the greens. Mix it really well. Do this several days in a row. If he chooses to skip it a day or two, no problem. Once he sees that nothing else is coming, he will start eating it all up. Gradually add more Mazuri and less greens. Once you get him eating Mazuri, I like to feed it to them only once or twice a week.

 

[mainey34]

First of all hello and welcome. I agree with tom. Just keep up with the hydration, lots of natural sunlight. Plenty of greens. He is young and if you keep this up you should have a smooth adult sulcata. I don't believe the vita shell will do very much at this point. I consistently spray mine. Good luck to you.

 

[mctlong]

Great pic, btw! LOVE that you caught him sticking out his little tongue.