Greetings from Yabo, a wandering Tortoise that chose me.

[Tom]

Good to know about the heat rock, never even crossed my mind.
I always feed daily, so ill keep up with that.
If I build a large enclosure indoors it would most likely be in my garage where even indoors, in the summer, it spends most of the time in the low to mid 90s during the day. I'm gearing up for that project now, because its going to be a big one and I want to do it right when I do it. I know there's most likely a thread about it somewhere, but a personal recommendation for a substrate would be awesome if you have the time. And how do you keep your substrate moist to promote humidity? I have just been using a spray water bottle between bedding changes.

Thanks for your response, you guys are all awesome!
Ian / Yabo

Hello and welcome. The advice you've received up to this point has been stellar and I have nothing to add, so I'll just answer the current questions on this post.

The best substrate for sulcatas is fine grade orchid bark. I buy 2.0 cubic foot bags of it for about $10 at local nurseries. You won't find it at Home Depot or Lowes.

Spraying the surface does very little as it evaporates in minutes in our dry climate. You need to dump water into the substrate to maintain dampness. If there is no poop, I usually dump the dirty water bowl into the substrate when I change and clean it daily. How much water to add and how often will vary with each individual enclosure. You'll have to gauge that part for yourself. If you make a closed chamber, as described in those threads linked above, maintaining god humidity and substrate dampness will be easy.

I never change the bedding either. I spot clean at least daily and because I soak so often there is rarely poop in my enclosures. They poop in the soak. I just remove any un-eaten food and the bedding stays clean. No need to replace it. I have some that is now four years old and still working just fine.

Mark spelled it out very well, but I have had several sulcatas that came to me not knowing what soaking is that reacted similarly to yours. I just want to reaffirm that your tortoise will get used to it, and it is very good for it, even it seems like the tortoise doesn't like it at first.

Also be aware that this is a fossorial species (digger that lives underground…) so don't be shocked if your tortoise digs its self a burrow to live in and escape the summer heat. I like to let them burrow in summer, but its too cold here inn winter for them to live that way, so I cover the burrow entrance and make them sleep in their heated night boxes when fall arrives.

Speaking of which, once your tortoise reaches 8-10" you can let it live outside full time with a properly heated shelter. Here is an example:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/#post-828952

Congrats on the new baby and I'm glad it found its way to someone who will give it such good care! Please keep the questions coming.

 

[Ian_Yabo]

Hello and welcome. The advice you've received up to this point has been stellar and I have nothing to add, so I'll just answer the current questions on this post.

The best substrate for sulcatas is fine grade orchid bark. I buy 2.0 cubic foot bags of it for about $10 at local nurseries. You won't find it at Home Depot or Lowes.

Spraying the surface does very little as it evaporates in minutes in our dry climate. You need to dump water into the substrate to maintain dampness. If there is no poop, I usually dump the dirty water bowl into the substrate when I change and clean it daily. How much water to add and how often will vary with each individual enclosure. You'll have to gauge that part for yourself. If you make a closed chamber, as described in those threads linked above, maintaining god humidity and substrate dampness will be easy.

I never change the bedding either. I spot clean at least daily and because I soak so often there is rarely poop in my enclosures. They poop in the soak. I just remove any un-eaten food and the bedding stays clean. No need to replace it. I have some that is now four years old and still working just fine.

Mark spelled it out very well, but I have had several sulcatas that came to me not knowing what soaking is that reacted similarly to yours. I just want to reaffirm that your tortoise will get used to it, and it is very good for it, even it seems like the tortoise doesn't like it at first.

Also be aware that this is a fossorial species (digger that lives underground…) so don't be shocked if your tortoise digs its self a burrow to live in and escape the summer heat. I like to let them burrow in summer, but its too cold here inn winter for them to live that way, so I cover the burrow entrance and make them sleep in their heated night boxes when fall arrives.

Speaking of which, once your tortoise reaches 8-10" you can let it live outside full time with a properly heated shelter. Here is an example:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/another-night-box-thread.88966/#post-828952

Congrats on the new baby and I'm glad it found its way to someone who will give it such good care! Please keep the questions coming.

Hey Tom, Thanks for your time.

Since the last post I've been soaking tort daily for 3-5 minutes, tort in soak reminds me of a child with floaties that just got tossed in and is making a mad dash for the side of the pool so keeping tort any longer in soak than that is still a hassle. Tort is drinking more however so thats great.

I've also made a new round, 6' in radius, enclosure for tort, with 2" of peet moss at the bottom as substrate and 4 inches of orchid and cypress bark mulch on the top. It's so far uncovered in my garage, with a large attempt at a humidity box for tort to sleep in. With moderate soaking of the substrate, the humidity in the box ranges from 58% to 85% and temps in the box range from 78F - 98F. Outside of the two humidity boxes humidity the overall enclosure at ground level gets as low as 45% in the early morning (4am) but usually stays around 65% and temps vary more dramatically (72F at 4am to 100F midday). I would like slightly higher temps so I'm thinking heat lamp, but I would also like higher humidity. I bought a 18'-12' tarp and I have rafters 10 feet above little tort's house, which actually is a deluxe kiddy pool, I was going to make an 8' teepee with the bottoms secured. I understand the dangers of heat lamps and tarps but in the drawings I schemed, and knowing the base of the structure will be 6' in radius it seems there will be ample room to hang a heatlamp without fear of melting or burning the tarp. With the temps and humidity pretty close but not quite there I'm not going to make any drastic changes until I hear some feedback.

Thanks again ya'll
Ian