benlacy2112
New Member
Hello!
I've been watching several posts on the forum, and I think I've made a few good decisions, and a few bad ones. We purchased a very young sulcata for my daughter over the holidays, and unfortunately she's lost interest, but I've fallen in love with the species.
I did my best to give him/her a good environment, but he/she passed away two weeks ago :-(
We were all pretty devastated, and since then I've been digging in on how to raise a sulcata. There are so many conflicting opinions out there, but it seems that Tom on this forum knows what's going on. (Thanks Tom, for all your insightful posts and recommendations!)
I bought a 40 gallon terrarium, filled it with about 4" of cypress mulch, and put thermometers and humidity sensors at both ends. I also put a few flat stones, and a nice cave-like enclosure toward the cool side.
I purchased a "well-started 6-month-old sulcata" from tortoisetown.com, and the little guy arrived last Wednesday. We named him Travis, and he's eating like a pig! He has romaine, kale, dandelion flowers, grass (from our untreated yard), and the occasional strawberry for a treat. His daytime temps are 80 at the low end, and ~100 under the UVB bulb (Farenheight, of course
. Humidity is only around 30% usually. At night, he usually burrows a couple inches into his cypress mulch, and the temps are around 70, with humidity at ~60%.
I change his water dish out every day, and give him fresh food twice a day. He eats pretty much all of his breakfast, but not all of his dinner. I sprinkle calcium powder on all of his food, and give him a few gel treats, which he seems to devour pretty quickly.
He defecates about twice, thrice a day. Today, he pooped in my daughter's hand while she was holding him! :-D
I've started working on the layout for his outdoor enclosure, which I assume he'll need in the next 1-3 years.
Anyway, just wanted to post this and say hello to everyone, after lurking for a few months.
Cheers!
Ben
![travis.png travis.png](https://data.www.tortoiseforum.org/attachments/190/190589-baff41a2c3185cbaf4ff802659d1aad6.jpg)
I've been watching several posts on the forum, and I think I've made a few good decisions, and a few bad ones. We purchased a very young sulcata for my daughter over the holidays, and unfortunately she's lost interest, but I've fallen in love with the species.
I did my best to give him/her a good environment, but he/she passed away two weeks ago :-(
We were all pretty devastated, and since then I've been digging in on how to raise a sulcata. There are so many conflicting opinions out there, but it seems that Tom on this forum knows what's going on. (Thanks Tom, for all your insightful posts and recommendations!)
I bought a 40 gallon terrarium, filled it with about 4" of cypress mulch, and put thermometers and humidity sensors at both ends. I also put a few flat stones, and a nice cave-like enclosure toward the cool side.
I purchased a "well-started 6-month-old sulcata" from tortoisetown.com, and the little guy arrived last Wednesday. We named him Travis, and he's eating like a pig! He has romaine, kale, dandelion flowers, grass (from our untreated yard), and the occasional strawberry for a treat. His daytime temps are 80 at the low end, and ~100 under the UVB bulb (Farenheight, of course
I change his water dish out every day, and give him fresh food twice a day. He eats pretty much all of his breakfast, but not all of his dinner. I sprinkle calcium powder on all of his food, and give him a few gel treats, which he seems to devour pretty quickly.
He defecates about twice, thrice a day. Today, he pooped in my daughter's hand while she was holding him! :-D
I've started working on the layout for his outdoor enclosure, which I assume he'll need in the next 1-3 years.
Anyway, just wanted to post this and say hello to everyone, after lurking for a few months.
Cheers!
Ben
![travis.png travis.png](https://data.www.tortoiseforum.org/attachments/190/190589-baff41a2c3185cbaf4ff802659d1aad6.jpg)