Welcoming home our newest family member

[Smile]

Your first substate was ideal. It just needed to be dampened. Orchid bark is the best substrate for sulcatas.

Glad you switched water bowls. Those pet store ones can drown a tortoises. The one you have now still has sides that are too tall and steep and its too slick. If your tortoise deosn't feel comfortable with its water bowl it won't use it. Terra cotta plant saucers work best.

Your tortoise needs a humid hide. I like to use black dish washing tubs from Walmart. $1.82. Flip it upside down and cut out a door hole.

Your tortoise is probably a female.

Cabbage, and most other store bought foods are not the best diet for your little one. Please read this:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Here is a care sheet:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

And finally:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/


If your baby is not eating there is a serious problem. Hatchlings do not have the margin of error to accommodate your learning curve. You need to quickly learn and fix whatever is wrong. Your baby does not have time for you to figure this all out, so please read those threads and fix the problem. I'm going to guess the problem is temperatures. Can you tell us your four temperatures and what you are using to maintain them? Got UV? What kind?

Why do you think his tortoise is a female? Thought it was too young to try and guess its gender. I'm curious.

 

[MEGAN LOEGER]

Super cute!! I cant wait to get mine!

 

[Tom]

Why do you think his tortoise is a female? Thought it was too young to try and guess its gender. I'm curious.

It is to young to sex it, but generally split scutes are caused by higher incubation temperatures, and that usually results in females. There are exceptions, and that is why I said "probably".

 

[ahawashin]

Got new pics of our little baby
I don't care about the sex we love our baby

 

[ahawashin]

What is mazuri and how good is it for my tortoise ?

 

[Smile]

What is mazuri and how good is it for my tortoise ?

http://www.mazuri.com/mazuritortoisediet.aspx

I believe Mazuri makes them grow faster, but some people don't suggest feeding it to your torts everyday. The breeder I got my sulcata from gave me a free sample of it, but my sulcata won't accept it yet. I'm going to keep trying until he does though.

 

[Tom]

What is mazuri and how good is it for my tortoise ?

Mazuri is a prepared tortoise diet. It comes in little pellets. It was designed for Galapagos tortoises many years ago, but people have been feeding it to all species and liking the results for a long time. The ingredients list is not impressive and causes many people to shy away from the product, but the results from feeding it are excellent. I like to think of it as a supplement. It is a complete diet, so if your normal foods have any deficiencies, the Mazuri will make up for it.

I like to soak it and then mush it all up with some chopped greens for smaller tortoises. Most tortoises love it, so it is also a good way to introduce small amounts of new foods. They will basically eat anything mushed up with Mazuri.