Unexpected baby Sulcata - Advice?

[Accidental Sulcata Owner]

Ok, so I've been browsing threads and advice and webpages all day and I think my eyes are starting to cross. I'm sure that there are answers to my questions out there on this forum somewhere, but I was hoping to have everything in one place for my own convenience. Sorry for length!

So, a little back story. I work at a pet store (eastern washington) and today when I went to open the store, I found a baby tortoise in a cardboard box. This isn't unusual, we get animals abandoned at our store all the time. The tortoise didn't look good, so I dropped it off at the vet which is how I learned it was a sulcata. The little guy is, according to the vet, severely dehydrated and malnourished so he's going to be spending the night there.

I've decided to keep him if he pulls through. I've got a big outdoor area with a heated shed waiting for him once he gets big (i used to have goats) that I can plant with some of the stuff from the safe plants list. I'm planning on taking him outside once the weather warms up here in a few months too to let him chomp on my yard.

I'm planning on building a tortoise table for him (probably 2feet x 2feet to start) and so far my list includes cypress mulch for substrate, shallow and wide water and food dishes, a hidebox, a t-rex mercury vapor 160 bulb (for daytime), zoo med deep dome lamp and I was thinking of using a ceramic heat emitter 100w for 24 hour heat. My first question is whether you all think I'm forgetting something or if I should change anything?

Again, I'm planning on growing safe plants for him to eat, but until those seeds arrive and until they grow, he's going to have to eat a grocery/pet store diet. My second question is how to build a healthy, daily diet from mainly the grocery store produce selection.

Thank you all so much for your advice!

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. Read the threads below in my post of Toms. They will tell you what you need for enclousre, temps, humdiity, etc.

 

[leigti]

The 160 W will be too much for your 2' x 2' enclosure. Is it just a baby? If so a close chamber would probably be the way to go, check out the species specific section and it will give you the cure sheet with all the information you need. depending on size right now you could get a large tote, like a 54 gallon one from Home Depot, and make a closed chamber out of it.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

welcome to the forums! read this entire care sheet. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

 

[lismar79]

I too have to rely on grocery store greens. I favor: escrole, endive, raddichio, dandelion greens. I mix in kale collard, mustard greens every other purchase. I also grow and buy little containers of wheat grass

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum!

Would love to see a pic of your tort.

 

[Maro2Bear]

I think it would help a lot for us to see your new baby sulcata so we get an idea on the size and condition. I'm thinking you need a nice enclosed area for this baby and not a 2 x 2 tortoise table. These guys need high overall temps coupled with equally high humidity levels, especially hatchlings/juveniles. You don't mention how you plan to keep high humidity? Id suggest you look at the enclosures sections to get some ideas what can be fabricated from large plastic totes (with lids).

Send some pix and best of luck!

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. Here is everything in one place.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-end-of-pyramiding.15137/

Read all of these and you will be caught up to speed.

 

[jeffjeff]

welcome to the forum.

 

[Jodie]

Welcome to the forum. I am in Spokane Valley Washington, and keep Leopards here. Food is difficult in the winter. I try to always have 4 different types of grocery greens to feed and grow grass inside for my babies. If you are in Spokane area, message me and I can tell you which stores most often have the good stuff.
You have gotten some great advice so far. Humid and warm is definitely the trick for babies.

 

[Accidental Sulcata Owner]

Thank you all so much for the information. Those threads are going to live in my bookmarks!

I'm definitely switching my plan to a closed chamber style enclosure and I've picked up a couple little cups of the wheat grass from the grocery store to feed him until the seed mixes I ordered arrive.

For a closed chamber on the smaller side could someone recommended a wattage/brand of mercury bulb?

And yes, as far as my inexperienced self can tell, it's a baby. It easily fits in the palm of my hand. I'll post pictures once I get him back from the vet!

 

[Odin's Gma]

Any word from the vet on how he is doing?

 

[Tom]

For a closed chamber on the smaller side could someone recommended a wattage/brand of mercury bulb?

Even in my large 4x8' closed chambers the MVBs are too hot. I use 65 watt floods.

For UV I would suggest a long florescent tube. If you can get it within 10-12" of the tortoise then the regular 10.0 tubes will work. With higher ceilings of 18-24" the Arcadia 12% HO tubes work really well. I get my Arcadia tubes here: http://www.lightyourreptiles.com

Ideally your tortoise will also get lots of real sunshine during your few warmer months.

 

[Accidental Sulcata Owner]

Thank you Tom for the advice! Yes, as soon as it's warm enough the little guy will get plenty of real sun!

And word from the vet is that he is dehydrated, they recommended daily soaks for a week and then bring him back in to reevaluate. He is malnourished, they recommended feeding mazuri soaked in pedialyte for awhile along with the wheat grass I bought. They said i should supplement d3 until he is more active and healthy. They also gave me some dandelion greens since they said he seemed to love them last night. He also has a respiratory infection that needs antibiotics.

In typical blunt fashion, my vet said that as long as I don't suck as much as the person who abandoned him, he should pull through! I go to pick him up in about an hour

 

[Tom]

A key element here is going to be temperatures. Few people keep sulcata babies warm enough. When recovering from any illness, and especially a RI, warm temperatures round the clock are critical. I would suggest no lower than 85 anywhere in the enclosure day or night, and letting it creep into the low 90s during the day is good too. These are suggestions for background ambient temps, but a basking temp of near 100 will still be needed too.

And I would suggest daily soaks for the next 6 months or more. I soak all hatchlings of all species daily for the first 6 months or so. If you decide to use these warmer temperatures to increase the chances of survival, then the daily soaks will be even more important. A closed chamber will make it much easier to achieve these parameters and maintain some decent humidity.

 

[Accidental Sulcata Owner]

Pic as promised!

And thank you again Tom, I'll do that!

 

[Odin's Gma]

He is a little cutie, glad to hear he is on the road to recovery.

I can almost hear him yelling "soak me, soak me!"

 

[Accidental Sulcata Owner]

This is what I ended up building. I went to a salvage place and got some kitchen cabinet doors and a sheet of plywood. All in all it cost me about $10. It measures 3 feet by 1.5 feet. I plan to mount the lamps inside the enclosure as per the closed chamber thread advice. Any suggestions, comments or concerns are welcome and appreciated! (I know this will have to be upgraded soon as he grows, this was a "for the moment" solution since he wasn't exactly a planned addition! )

And then how it opens, with a bonus picture of my cat since he wouldn't get out of the way lol

 

[Odin's Gma]

It looks to be a pretty solid "hospital" enclosure and should do well at keeping the heat and humidity up.

As soon as he is up and running it will have to be at least 3-5 times larger.

 

[leigti]

That's a very nice enclosure. You have way more carpentry skills than I do I have a blunt vets also so I know how that goes.