undersized sulcata 4 years old

[petkeeper]

Hi everyone I hope you can help me. I have bought a sulcata tortoise for my wife for her birthday. Unfortunately I have been the victim of an elaborate con and the 'baby' sulcata I bought turns out to be 4 years old. It is still only about 4 1/2 inches long. I imagine the previous keeper decided to sell the tortoise when they realized that they had made a mess of things. I found out how old it was when I saw an old forum post they made when they aquired it in 2007.

I can only assume that it has had a tough life with poor diet and living conditions. What I need to know now is whether there is hope left that the tortoise might still grow and will it still live if I look after it well? I cant return the tortoise to its previous owner as they are a long way from me and I dont think that another courier ride would be fair.

So far I have provided it with a heat lamp and a 10% UVB lamp and lots of fresh food. It doesnt want to eat and only wants to hide in its house.

Any thoughts on the best way forward would be much appreciated.

 

[petkeeper]

Forgot to say he weighs 234grammes​

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Petkeeper:

Welcome to the forum!!

May we know your name and where you are?

Your tortoise may be stunted, but then again, maybe he's not. Give him a couple weeks to get used to his new home. Be kind and gentle. Offer him a routine...waking up same time to lights on, food in the dish, lights off same time every day. If you have to handle him, always support his whole body on the palm of your hand, not just with a finger on each side. Offer him a nice variety of different dark, leafy greens. Get him outside in the sun as often as possible. You'd be surprised what actual sunshine does for their mental and physical well-being.

Good luck, and can we see pictures?

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

The first thing is your UV bulb. Is it one of the coil types? If yes, go turn it off right away. Those can damage their eyes. If its the tube type, then you should be fine.

Here's the way I like to house and raise small sulcatas:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies#axzz1P0JBx3kK

Warm, humid and hydrated.

Next, make sure your diet is good. Use lots of variety and I'd recommend some Mazuri 2 or 3 times a week for your situation. If you do a search here on the forum you'll find many sources for it. It can also be bought at local feed stores in 25 pound bags, but that seems a bit much for one little tortoise.

If you post pics of your tortoise and your set-up we might have more suggestions to help out too.

Don't worry too much about the size. Many slow starters grow up to be just fine.

 

[Torty Mom]

I have the same kinda story with Lou! He lived in a cardboard box and when she heard scratching she gave hims some lettuce. He was a hot mess when I got him. Now, I am very proud to say, he is KING of the backyard and is loved more than he has ever been. He has tons of new growth and has put on 3 lbs. Would I do it all over again? You betcha with out a second thought! He is like a little puppy follows me all around the yard and sits on my feet when I am watering or pulling weeds. I think he is finally happy after many, many years of neglect and that makes me happy!! Yay LOU!!!

Try some Mazuri and offer him all kinds of different things to eat. You will find what he likes it just may take some time. Butternut squash is a huge favorite with all my torties. I made little Mazuri meatballs, I would stick different things in the middle of the meatball to trick him into eating it. Right before you offer him some food, get him warmed up really good, Lou will only eat when he is nice and warm.

Good luck! We are all here to help you!!

 

[petkeeper]

Hi my name is Charles and I live in Bournemouth, England.

Thanks for all your help it was great to get so much advice from you.

I have immediately changed the spiral UV bulb to a tube one which I had spare. I am attaching a photo of the setup. It is not very tidy or anything as it has been changed around very hastily. I have sectioned off the warmest area otherwise he just moves into the shade.

The temperature gradient is from 42 celcius in the basking area to 23 in the corners. I have offered some zoo med grassland food and readigrass which he has ignored. He has only eaten cabbage ( I know this is not a great feed but I wanted to start him eating something).

After lights out (timer set for 12 hours a day) he has a heated house for night time. It is not that cold in Bournemouth but I wanted to be on the safe side.

I am considering getting a viv as this might be easier to keep the temperature up.

I am still learning fast but I am encouraged that other owners have taken on pets who have had a bad start and turned things around for them.

Thanks again for the help. Any comments gratefully recieved.

 

[October]

What a great gift! If I could get a 4 year old for the price of a hatchling, I'd be all over it.

Torts don't necessarily have a growth curve. They grow when they have food available, and stop growing in times of famine or stress. Your little guy looks surprisingly good actually. A little pyramided, but when the right setup you can stop that from getting worse.

45C might be just a tad warm. Which would explain why he's retreating to the shade. 23C for the cooler side should be fine though. I wouldn't force him into the hot side, especially without a hide. That's why he's smushed up in the corner, he's trying to feel safe. It will just overheat, dehydrate and stress him out. Soak him often, about 15 minutes or so will do. Extra soaks don't hurt.

Besdies the ZooMed, readigrass and cabbage, what are you feeding him? Hey might not be accustomed the dry grasses. Spring/Rocket mix is a good start. Try some optunia/prickly pear cactus pads.

Try and get him some sun too. 15 minutes a couple times a week is suffcient, but more is even better. It's like a panacea for torts.

Keep him hot, humid, hydrated and happy and he'll take off like a weed! Good luck!

 

[DeanS]

Try switching your diet to Mazuri tortoise diet! Offer diced prickly pear cactus (opuntia) everyday. Soak him in warm water twice a day...about 1/2 an hour per session. Change his substrate to coco coir. Lose the food bowls and offer him his food on a flat stone...slate is as good a choice as any. Other than that...I like the design of your table...but I don't like the 'corral'...give him free range. And get him outside as often as possible. Other than that...follow Tom's manual and you should be fine. Good luck!

 

[petkeeper]

Try switching your diet to Mazuri tortoise diet! Offer diced prickly pear cactus (opuntia) everyday. Soak him in warm water twice a day...about 1/2 an hour per session. Change his substrate to coco coir. Lose the food bowls and offer him his food on a flat stone...slate is as good a choice as any. Other than that...I like the design of your table...but I don't like the 'corral'...give him free range. And get him outside as often as possible. Other than that...follow Tom's manual and you should be fine. Good luck!

Great Thanks for your advice,where can I purchase the Mazuri diet in the uk?

 

[Jacob]

First Things First, Give Gim A Warm Bath With Water Daily,
give Him a Good Diet, Muzuri, Cactus, Grass, Spring Mix!
Change his Bedding To Something That Holds Moisture,
Spray his shell several times daily with water, and keep him humid and hot!
uvb ifs its a coil get rid of it, go with a powersun 100w or exateraa 120w uvb

 

[dmarcus]

Hello Charles and welcome to the forum, you have already been given a lot of great advise, so I will just say give him some time to adjust and with a proper diet and some time outside with some natural UV its a good chance he will start to grow..

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Hi Charles and welcome to TFO. With a little bit of tweaking your tortoise will be fine. He's a cute little guy in a great tort table, I really like it. I also use food and water bowls so don't worry about changing them out if you don't want to (sorry Dean). But you do need to change your substrate to something that hold moisture and get rid of the hay as he is too small to be interested in it. I just soak once a day, a nice warm soak is always a good idea. Go thru the produce section of your grocery store and pick up some dark leafy greens like collard, kale, endive, escarole, green leaf and red leaf lettuces. Add some mulberry and grape leafs and cut it all up for him after mixing all the stuff around together. Add it to the Spring Mix packaged salad and that would be a great diet for him for a while. When my tortoise was 4 years old he was about 10 pounds so yours has a way to go. But with that good diet his growth should improve. Please continue to ask questions, I am glad you got rid of the coil bulb as I lost a yearling because of the coil bulbs and I had another that was blinded.

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Small, but looks good otherwise. Seems to be in pretty good shape. You're lucky!

 

[Laura]

is he blocked off from using his hide? dark green leafy lettuce. Rocket salad is good.
He looks good considering. What did the other person feed him?

 

[wrmitchell22]

Considering he/she's rough start he/she looks pretty good. You have recieved some great advice, just stick with it Welcome to TFO!

 

[Fernando]

Hi! Welcome to TFO!

It might be a little overwhelming with all the good advice that's being given to you, I know I was. But just take your time and do what you can, when you can. If you don't give your tortoise time to get adjusted to new changes he might get a little stressed out and we'll end up seeing another thread pop of from you