What I wish I could change from past cares...

[Madkins007]

The goal of this thread is to both help newcomers understand that everyone makes mistakes and help them learn from ours, as well as sharing a little of ourselves to each other.

Ignoring the torts I kept back in the 70's to the early 90's, I have mostly kept red-footeds here in Omaha NE. Currently I have 5 'cherry-heads' that are just coming on two years old.

My big mistakes:

1. Cypress mulch kept too thin and wet. I should have gone with a much thicker layer from day 1. That would have helped keep the top layer dryer. I have long struggled with plastron rot because of this.

2. MVB bulb. There is not a problem with the bulbs themselves, but I struggle trying to keep the lights and heat balanced where I want them in a relatively small habitat. I wish I would have gone with a long, low-level UVB bulb and used the waterproof cables and CHE alone for heat.

3. I screwed something up with the diet early and I have never been sure what. The 'first 4' of this group are noticeably flatter than my previous or later torts. A couple of them even have a distinct 'ridge' around the carapace just above the marginals.

This may have been over-calcification in the early days when I thought that the shells were a bit soft, or it may be something I messed up with the ratios of calcium and UVB. They were my first 'little babies' and I did something pretty dang wrong.

On the other hand, things I did RIGHT include:

A. Made them a big, pretty habitat that could sit in the living room until Christmas this year sort of chased them out. It was really wonderful to be able to watch them so easily.

B. Used a waterproof heat rope under the substrate for heating and humidity, combined with electric timers for the lights and a thermostatic controller for the heat. It made keeping the temps, lighting, and humidity almost 'set it and forget it'.

A mixed result thing was...

-- Using a big slab of old oak tree bark for a hide. They LOVE hiding under it, but the tannin and abrasion of the inside of the bark has worn some of the color off the 'first 4', who have lived under it the longest. Next time, I'll prop it up a bit higher or use a different species of bark.

I'm hoping the color returns when nice weather finally hits.

 

[EKLC]

I like these threads with advice that goes a little deeper than beginner care guides.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Some equipment that should be considered necessary:
- A heating implement (CHE is my choice) controlled by a thermostat
- An infrared thermometer

2. Don't forget the vitamin A, get some scheduled pumpkin in their diets

 

[Tom]

Where to begin...

1. I was told that sulcatas come from the desert and any sort of humidity or moisture will give them shell rot and respiratory infections. Read it in books too. WRONG! This led to many MISTAKES that I regret.
1a. Use rabbits pellets as a substrate. Dry and won't cause an impaction if they eat them. WRONG!
1b. Don't use a water bowl since it will create dangerous humidity and they get their water from their food anyway. WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!
1c. Soak your babies once every week or two. WRONG!
1d. Use a very hot bulb to simulate the desert sun... WRONG!

Next up was pyramiding...
2a. Pyramiding is caused by too much protein in the diet. So I cut out as much protein as I possibly could. WRONG! I'm sure they were protein deficient.
2b. Pyramiding is caused by feeding them too much and too much nutrition regardless of protein content. They said that they don't get this much food and this much nutrition in the wild (in fact, they do) so we must feed them lightly and skip a day now and then. WRONG! This led me to under feed my babies, which has led to stunted small adult tortoises.
2c. Pyramiding is caused by not enough UV, or not enough calcium. WRONG! One thing I actually did right in the old days was have my babies in huge outdoor pens all day everyday, so they got lots of sun and exercise. They still pyramided because this has nothing to do with pyramiding.

I gave up on leopards entirely because of pyramiding. Mine were grotesque because I did such a good job of keeping these "desert" tortoises dry and humidity free. Even though I kept my sulcatas, I had pretty much given up on them too, and tortoises in general, because I could not grow a smooth one no matter what I tried or whose advice I took. It took many years of study, failure, frustration, observations from around the world, and the help of many other keepers for me to finally solve this riddle for myself. So glad I persisted and didn't give up permanently. Look where we are today...

Diet:
In the early 90's the word was feed them a variety of leafy greens from the grocery store. This was also adapted from green iguana care which was also in its infancy back then...
In time we were told that grocery store food was too rich, caused pyramiding, and that we should be feeding grass and weeds instead.

I am glad to say that my food horizons have broadened greatly in the past few years and so has my understanding of tortoise nutrition. I grow a lot of my own now and feed them a lot better than I ever have. My new babies now learn to eat everything at a very young age and feeding them is much easier for whoever they wind up with down the road.