UVB

[COmtnLady]

Too late, my parents bought 2….
ohh okay but my enclosure now is not rlly bad right? its kind of closed but its kinda open at the same time

"kinda open" is bad. Babies and young tortoises need closed chambers to grow well, until they are two-to-three years old.

Problem #1. -
Do not keep two tortoises together. They do not want or need another tortoise around. People think what they will do is cute, but it really is one intimidating the other, until one of them dies. It will stress out both tortoises which will cause both of them to be less healthy. Eventually one will be smaller than the other and the bigger one will harass the smaller one to death.

Problem #2 - Hatchlings and young tortoises NEED 80% humidity and temperatures at about 27C to be healthy and grow. They need this until they are two to three years old. You need to provide CLOSED CHAMBERS for each tortoise, separate from the other one.

Problem #3 - Sulcatas grow fairly quickly. You will need two 122 cm by 244 cm closed chamber enclosures by next year or year and a half.


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[lovesulcata]

The white plastic sprayer (that egg-shaped device in the 5th-from-the-top-picture) does not help humidity, it only puts droplets of water into your tortoise's area that can cause respiratory infections. It is bad for your tortoise to have large particles of water sprayed around its chamber.

Soak the coco coir/peat in warm water until the brick falls apart and there are no hard lumps left. Wring out as much of the water as you can using your hands, from the wet coco coir/peat and pack it into the bottom of your enclosure with your hands to a depth of about 5-6cm. Cover that with an equal depth of dry orchid bark (may be named fir bark where you are) or cyprus mulch.

Your tortoise needs a place to hide, so place a flowerpot, that is larger than your tortoise, on its side, in a corner to create a cave or darker area where your tortoise can hide.
Place a clean clay (unpainted terracotta) saucer that goes under a flowerpot, into the chamber full of water. Make the top edge of the saucer even with the top of the bark or mulch so that your tortoise can easily walk into it if the tortoise wants to do that.


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If i only use coco coir/peat without mixing with fir bark or other substrate, is that fine?

 

[lovesulcata]

"kinda open" is bad. Babies and young tortoises need closed chambers to grow well, until they are two-to-three years old.

Problem #1. -
Do not keep two tortoises together. They do not want or need another tortoise around. People think what they will do is cute, but it really is one intimidating the other, until one of them dies. It will stress out both tortoises which will cause both of them to be less healthy. Eventually one will be smaller than the other and the bigger one will harass the smaller one to death.

Problem #2 - Hatchlings and young tortoises NEED 80% humidity and temperatures at about 27C to be healthy and grow. They need this until they are two to three years old. You need to provide CLOSED CHAMBERS for each tortoise, separate from the other one.

Problem #3 - Sulcatas grow fairly quickly. You will need two 122 cm by 244 cm closed chamber enclosures by next year or year and a half.


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By the way if the chamber is closed they can still breath? And yes im trying to find another enclosure. but im trying to fix the humidity first

 

[COmtnLady]

They can breathe just fine. No matter how good of a job you do enclosing the chamber, it won't be that air-tight. Every time you open it to change the water, feed your tortoise, take your tortoise out to soak it, etc., there will be air exchanged.

The coco coir can be a little messy, so I have found it best to cover it with the orchid bark or cyprus mulch. If the top layer of the coco coir dries out too much it becomes similar to dust and sticks to the tortoise's feet, gets walked into the food and water dishes, and kicked up into the air. I also don't like the coir and bark mixed together because of similar situations. I like to have the dry bark/mulch layer on top so that it doesn't get into the air or tracked into the food and water.

 

[Ray--Opo]

2 inches of coco coir with 1 inch of cypress mulch would be ok. When mixing the cocoa coir. Put in a 5 gallon pail or some kind of tub. Put the required amount of water per instructions. Put the cocoa coir block in the water. Let the block absorb the water. Once it hassorb the water. Mix the coir and water. When you know the mixture is correct. Take a handful and squeeze it. When you squeeze very little water should drip out. When you open your hand the coir will stay together in a clump. After you have it correct. Pack in the bottom of enclosure. Pack is the key word. Add the inch of cypress mulch or orchid bark. When coir starts to dry out. Pour water slowly into the enclosure. Start with a small amount of water and keep adding. Until you figure out how much you need. Do not depend on a mister. The electric mister you have. Can cause respiratory infections as mentioned before. A hand/bottle mister will never get enough water into the coir. Do you and your parents know how big they will get? Once the sullies are about 10". Which is about 2 yrs old. You will need to think about moving them outside . That means enough space for each tortoise. With a large outside enclosure for each. A safe yard with a good fence of some kind. 2 years comes quickly. I would suggest start getting the outside yard ready soon. Good luck and keep asking questions

 

[lovesulcata]

They can breathe just fine. No matter how good of a job you do enclosing the chamber, it won't be that air-tight. Every time you open it to change the water, feed your tortoise, take your tortoise out to soak it, etc., there will be air exchanged.

The coco coir can be a little messy, so I have found it best to cover it with the orchid bark or cyprus mulch. If the top layer of the coco coir dries out too much it becomes similar to dust and sticks to the tortoise's feet, gets walked into the food and water dishes, and kicked up into the air. I also don't like the coir and bark mixed together because of similar situations. I like to have the dry bark/mulch layer on top so that it doesn't get into the air or tracked into the food and water.

can u give a picture? i dont really understand
And should i use coco coir?? or coco peat?

 

[COmtnLady]

can u give a picture? i dont really understand
And should i use coco coir?? or coco peat?

Coco Coir and Coco Peat are pretty much the same thing.

Visual inspiration

Hi guys! I’ve had some lovely messages complimenting me on my care sheets I made for all the visuals they include! That makes me so happy because as a visual learner myself, that was my goal🥰 I’ve recently had some requests for some more visual inspiration for set ups that can house babies/...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[lovesulcata]

Coco Coir and Coco Peat are pretty much the same thing.

Visual inspiration

Hi guys! I’ve had some lovely messages complimenting me on my care sheets I made for all the visuals they include! That makes me so happy because as a visual learner myself, that was my goal🥰 I’ve recently had some requests for some more visual inspiration for set ups that can house babies/...

tortoiseforum.org

both coco peat and coco coir is safe? but they’re messy? and in the picture, is that coco coir/peat mixed with forest bark? If i dont mix the substrate is that fine? Oh and do i need to buy repcal/zoomed herptivite

 

[lovesulcata]

Yes, coco peat is what you need. It holds moisture really well and will help with humidity. You can use just coco peat without mixing.

Please! Don't get a second tortoise! You need to learn how to handle this one. Give it more space and proper care. Tortoises are solitary animals and don't need friends. Some sulcatas will fight to death, literally. Pet store wants to sell stuff, sometimes they don't know or don't care about animal well-being.

I made a photo of "bin+bin" closed chamber, you need to make a cut for the basking lamp where plastic pot is on the photo.

To make lamp pointed top down in your current setup just bend the holder more.

Do i need to buy herptivite? And do u use coco peat for ur tortoises? so if i use coco peat, the humidity will be 70-90%?