Tips for my undersized Sulcata

[BabyCrush_]

Hi this is Crush, my 3 almost 4 year old sulcata tortoise. I just got him a few days ago from a family member who wasn’t able to care for him the way they wanted to so he was passed down to me. I looked up other tortoises his age and they seem way bigger. He’s barely grown since he was a baby.

They used a regular house light bulb for most his life span, he’s been housed with a bigger Russian tortoise for a year or so of his life. They didn’t have separate hide out or bowls. I’m not sure how often he was fed but I was told the other tortoise bullied him so I’m sure he didn’t get to eat much. Didn’t get soaks as a baby. Covered in fecal matter. He shows signs of pyramiding & respiratory infection (blows bubbles & gasps) plz give me some tips and how I can help him. He’s been surviving his whole life. I want him to thrive. I’m doing me best with his enclosure it’s slowly coming together. He’s very happy. Eating, sleeping, I take him outside for an hour or longer everyday. I live in NV so it’s warm out. I’ve been giving him oat grass, wheat grass, dandelion leaves & romaine lettuce. I’m scared to ruin his shell more by a bad diet so let me know what’s best to feed him. I’ve been soaking him to help him poop. He’s pooped once since the 3 days he’s been with me. So I’m worried about that too

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. Here is the info you need:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Read through each of these at least twice. You'll gain a lot from the second reading. Questions are welcome.

Due to this guy's size and condition, I'd set him up like a small baby.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Oh bless he’s very stunted! Definitely give toms threads a read!

And feel free to check this one out I made, I include lots of visual examples for stuff, typically the age yours is they should be ready to be outside, but as he’s stunted, he’ll benefit from a closed chamber until he’s measuring closer to 10 inches. I give an example on how to do that in this thread, along with the right kind of equipment, appropriately maintaining humidity, correct levels, and there’s a link for some of the diet side of things

Leopard/sulcata starter

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information below on how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for this guy until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give you some ideas! I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to...

tortoiseforum.org

This one is good to go over to avoid incorrect bulbs, materials etc

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope this helps!

 

[wellington]

Follow the links Tom gave you and you will be giving him the best you can
Try to give a more varied diet. His shell/pyramiding is from being raised too dry not from food.
Cactus pads, mulberry leaf, hibiscus leaf and flower, orchard grass hay, mazuri tortoise food, just to name a few.
Good luck keep us posted and with the right care he should start to grow.

 

[Maggie3fan]

Hey hi! You've got a project. He needs room and humidity. For a while soak him daily, use small grade orchid bark for substrate...and keep it damp... what are you keeping him in? I would make sure he has food access all the time, and just for movement etc, make small food piles all around. You can also use Spring Mix while you try to put some weight on. Is there any graze in your yard?