Sulcata Essentials

[barcodehandy]

Alright, so I finally got my dream tort: a sulcata

Now, I have experience with other torts, but I am by no means an expert, and I have such a horrid fear of him pyramiding when he gets older.

He's only about 2-1/2" right now, and I'm feeding him on a steady diet of romaine lettuce, prickly pear cactus bits, and on a semi-daily basis provide it with some calcium power.

Tank has UVA lighting

so, from all this information, does it sound like I am raising a healthy tort? Or do I need to add/subtract anything to the mixture?

I just want to make sure I don't screw him up with pyramiding, I'd feel so bad

 

[Jentortmom]

Try adding some variety to the diet... Grasses, hays, dandelions, weeds, spring mix, etc. Also try taking him out a couple times a week for a munch in the grass and some real sun...

 

[Shawn and Dianne]

Hopefully someone will correct me if i am wrong, but I have been told that they need UVB lighting, not UVA.
Depending on where you live you can grow other kinds of food, I have some hibiscus and grass mix growing for my sulcata, as well as naturally growing grass and clover.
Good luck, and have fun!
This is sulcata website that has good info on everything: http://sulcata-station.org/

Dianne

 

[Yvonne G]

For my grass-eating babies, I buy a 1lb bag of "Salad Style Hay" from Carolinapetsupply.com. I cut up some greens, or use the boxed greens from the grocery store called "Spring Mix" , wet the greens then sprinkle a small bit of the hay over the top. Wetting the greens causes the hay to stick. This way the baby gets the roughage he requires. He won't be able to pick through and not eat the hay. I have a young Manouria that was fed only romaine lettuce and he is pretty deformed. Romaine is only one step above iceburg lettuce...not much nutrition and lots of water.

Yvonne

 

[drgnfly2265]

I used to feed my sulcata a lot of romaine. But now he gets grass, weeds, flowers, some veggies, and hay. He seemed a little stubbern switching over from the romaine. But now he's happy (and I'm happy because now I don't have to spend money on that).

_______________________________________________________

1 Sulcata (Bowser)

www.myspace.com/bowsertortoise

 

[Jentortmom]

Hopefully someone will correct me if i am wrong, but I have been told that they need UVB lighting, not UVA.
Depending on where you live you can grow other kinds of food, I have some hibiscus and grass mix growing for my sulcata, as well as naturally growing grass and clover.
Good luck, and have fun!
This is sulcata website that has good info on everything: http://sulcata-station.org/

Dianne

That is cool that sulcata station is back up and running again!!! No more archives!!

 

[Laura]

This time of year Squash is pretty cheap in the store or very easy to grow. Lots of dif varieties. Colors. Spring Mix baby greens you can get at most stores or Costco these days for decent price. or grown your own.. its great for when they are small. once they get bigger.. plan to have a Huge yard you can let grow wild for them to graze, or you will go broke!! getting them used to eating hay is good. You can get a whole bale of hay for $16 or so. 100 pounds. Most feed stores will let you get their broken bales or parts of for cheap or even free. just be carefull with what is being swept up off the floor and dont get moldy stuff!!

 

[Laura]

oh,, and another essential... SUN!!! the real thing! Outdoor time is a must!!

 

[jasso2]

i feed mines kale and mustard green mostly...is that bad???

 

[Sardinecan]

Congrats on your new tort. You'll need UVB instead of UVA. Most reptile stores should sell reptile lights which is UVB. Well at least in my side of the world that's where we can find UVB lights. However there is nothing like a hours of unfiltered sunlight a day.

Give him a variety of greens, but stay away from spinach. They are high in oxalates which bind calcium & reduce absorption.

 

[Crazy1]

barcodehandy and jasso2,
Food - a variety of food is a must. Most torts that get only one or two greens seem to not form well and they get stuck on that food. examples; Kale is low in iodine, Romane low in minierals including calcium.
Here are some sites for food:
http://www.turtlecafe.com/sulcata_and_leopard_tortoise_care.htm
http://www.sulcata-station.org/
http://africantortoise.com/diet.htm

Humidity - They also need some humidity. In the desert of Africa they will dig down 6 to 10 feet or more to find a cooler damper place to sit out the intense mid-day heat. They have found that without humidity your tort can pyramid. Tortoises raised in environments with 45-99% humidity had less abnormal shell growth than those raised in drier conditions.
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=17&cat=1797&articleid=2434

Lighting - Also UVB or sunlight is a must. I use a T-Rex Mercury Vapor bulb which provides Heat and UVB/UVA. Or you can use a Mega Ray bulb. Sunlight is always best if you can get your little one out for a few hours a day that would be great. Just make sure it has a place to get out of the sun if it gets to intense for him and that he has water. Here are some sites for bulbs and bulb info;
http://www.reptiledepot.com/mercury.html
http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=435&rssid=l6d237gl0of4egt0tutsg0jre4
http://carolinapetsupply.com/uvb_output_of_bulbs.htm
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor-summary.htm
http://www.reptileuv.com/


Here is some info on Pyramiding
http://africantortoise.com/pyramiding_in_tortoises.htm
http://www.reptileuvinfo.com/docs/humidity-pyrmiding-sulcata-tortois.pdf
http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1465735,1466000

Hatchling failure syndrome:
http://www.sulcata-station.org/hatchfail.html


Hope this helps. Please be aware I am no expert so I have provided sites to back up and go more indepth on each subject.