Yes, and how do you know its a he at that size? Have you been flashed? Unless you have been flashed and seen a penis, you usually can't sex them until they reach at least 14 inches. Sometimes not until 16-18 inches if they were fast growers.Hi all
My sulcata is 3 1/2 and he is about 10inches.
I’ve been looking at other pictures and sulcatas seem to be bigger at this age.
Should he be bigger?
Greetings.
Did you get it as a hatchling?
How & where have you been keeping it?
Torts grow differently depending on lots of things. Their innate genetic make-up, food, housing, humidity, etc. There are lots of factors.
What does it weigh?
Upload some pix.
Fruit is bad for them. They should never be fed fruit. It messes up their gut flora and fauna.View attachment 355511
Up until 6 months ago
He was kept in enclosed tank with reptifogger, heat lamp, uvb, soaks daily, organic mixed greens, once in awhile fruit and dehydrated fruit mix from store. Exercise daily. He always seemed to be fine going to bathroom, never has had any signs of being sick, once in awhile he has looked dehydrated so I have soaked him more often during the day and added water to food along with some fruit with more water content.
During summer I put him outside for awhile depending on how hot and then he comes inside and gets soaked.
I’m just not sure what I’m doing wrong? I have researched and tried my best to adjust living situations often to care for him but still I am not sure what I am doing wrong.
Mazuri. Some like it more than others, but any tortoise needs time to be introduced to any new food. If you just put out the new food without gradually mixing it in with old favorites, few tortoises will just walk up and eat something unfamiliar.Also, I did did get him as a hatchling. He will not eat the tortoise food recommended - the one that starts with M - I can’t think of the name I’m sorry.
Maybe I was mixing it with too much water to make it soft for him. Not sure if he would eat it now without water added?
I have neglected giving him calcium sprinkles as recommended as often as I should. I recently gave him cuddle bone that he seems to like.
Fruit is bad for them. They should never be fed fruit. It messes up their gut flora and fauna.
Grocery store foods are not good for them without serious amendments. They should be eating a wide assortment of weeds and grasses, not lettuce from the store.
They should not be breathing wet air from a fogger. That is bad for them too. A closed chamber should not need a fogger. It if it did, then there was too much ventilation.
How have you been heating and lighting? What was the over night low temperature? Where did you get the tortoise?
I always tried the original. I would try to put it in with food I always fed him and he would eat around it.Mazuri. Some like it more than others, but any tortoise needs time to be introduced to any new food. If you just put out the new food without gradually mixing it in with old favorites, few tortoises will just walk up and eat something unfamiliar.
Also, few tortoises like the new LS type without a lengthy introduction. Most of them like the original 5M21 type much better. Which type did you get?
Nobody is born knowing this stuff. I was right where you are back in 1991. I read all the books, talked to breeders and "experts, really tried hard and spared no expense to do it right. But it was all wrong, and it simply didn't work. I had to figure it out for myself over the span of about 20 years. You can skip all that trial and error and just go directly to the good part.Also,
He has been in tortoise table for about a year now. I again read at his age, he doesn’t need as much humidity.
Oh why didn’t I ask you guys 😫
No. That is far too small.Should I put him back in here when he is not exercising?
Thank you for all the adviceNobody is born knowing this stuff. I was right where you are back in 1991. I read all the books, talked to breeders and "experts, really tried hard and spared no expense to do it right. But it was all wrong, and it simply didn't work. I had to figure it out for myself over the span of about 20 years. You can skip all that trial and error and just go directly to the good part.
Pyramiding is caused by growth in conditions that are too dry. As long as they are growing, they should have some humidity at least some of the time. I keep them in humid closed chambers when they are babies, but they just get so big so fast. When I have to move them outside, I humidify their sleeping quarters and that helps.
There is a good chance that he was not started correctly as a baby, and that is likely why the growth is so slow.
Hay is for larger juveniles and adults. Babies can't/shouldn't eat it. I don't even start offering it until they are 12+ inches. When the time comes, Timothy is the wrong kind of hay to use. Orchard grass hay is the way to go, and Bermuda is okay too. Start the introduction to hay by grading a handful, cutting it up into small 1-2 inch pieces, soaking it to re-hydrate it, and mixing tiny amount with the day's green. Start with hardly any at first, and gradually add more and more over a period of weeks and months.
Sounds like you have one of those sulcatas that just doesn't care for Mazuri. That is okay. You don't "need" it. It is just a nice supplemental food to round out the diet. You can feed your tortoise other stuff instead.