Hello from Wyoming!

[Lidnesy]

Hi! My name is Linsey and I feel really grateful to have found this forum. I am a first time tort owner. I recently acquired a Sulcata, Godfrey, and I have to say that I have grown quite close to him already. I want to make sure that I take care of Godfrey and give him the best possible life, so any tips are appreciated.

 

[sibi]

Hi Linsey and welcome! Is that a pic of your baby? There's a member whose name I want you to remember. It's Tom. He breeds sulcatas, and has threads on how to raise a baby sulcata. They need tons of humidity, about 80% in their hide,(sleeping place). They also need warm temps always. Ambient at no lower than 80 degrees. Basking at 95 degrees, hide about 85 degrees. Cool area no lower than 80 degrees.
From the looks of your pic, it appears that your baby has some pyramiding (raised lumps on his shell). There are a variety of factors for this, but the most common are lack of high humidity, UV rays, and calcium in their diet. Can you post more pics of your baby's shell and please provide information like how old he is, how is his environment now?

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Linsey

 

[bouaboua]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

sibs are 100% correct.I hope you really consider her suggestion. Welcome.

 

[dannylozano10]

Hello and welcome!!!

Here's the care sheet for your sulcata please read through it!!...

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/index....ealthy-Sulcata-Or-Leopard,-Version-2.0.79895/

 

[Pearly]

Hi Linsey, welcome to TFO! Godfrey is a good looking fella!

 

[Lidnesy]

Godfrey had that pyramiding when I got him. The man at the reptile store said it was because the breeder had him on an all lettuce diet, which I found hard to believe. He also estimated him to be about five months. Could his diet really be why he was pyramiding?

Now, he has a water dish in his enclosure, along with thrice daily misting and twice daily soaks. I know that I probably should not have gotten a baby that was pyramiding, but being in such a rural area, my options are greatly limited (the nearest Petco is two hours away).

I am having trouble keeping the humidity up though. Any help with that would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to hurt Godfrey.

Below is a picture of his shell and the food that he is eating now, recommended by the reptile store. If you recommend any changes in his diet, I will get it in a heartbeat.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Linsey, and Welcome to the Forum!

No, an all lettuce diet isn't what caused him to pyramid. It's the humidity. Once you read all the links given above you'll see why.

Pour a whole pitcher full of water over the substrate and mix it up with your hand so all of it gets wetted. Then cover the habitat to keep the evaporating warm, moist air inside the enclosure. Change his diet to fresh weeds, grasses and plants, and lots of them. You can continue to add the Zoo med pellets in with the fresh food. It's a good manufactured diet.

 

[sibi]

Important thing is to keep the enclosure covered so that the humidity builds. I'm glad you got Godfrey! Imagine someone else getting him who doesn't know to search out some forum like this one so that they can do the best job for him. If you provide high humidity, good diet, natural sunlight or UV rays, and plenty of exercise, he'll begin to grow smoother shell and be healthier.

You can cover the enclosure with plastic or aluminum. A towel won't hold in the humidity and can cause a fire risk if too close to a hot light source. Btw, even if you live in a rural area, you can buy things like a good UV bulb online and it will be delivered to your home. A good UV bulb is a mercury vapor bulb (MVB) 100 watts. It should hang at least 12" from the top of Godfrey 's shell to avoid overheating. As you start to make adjustments, we'll be here to help you along the way.

 

[Pearly]

Godfrey had that pyramiding when I got him. The man at the reptile store said it was because the breeder had him on an all lettuce diet, which I found hard to believe. He also estimated him to be about five months. Could his diet really be why he was pyramiding?

Now, he has a water dish in his enclosure, along with thrice daily misting and twice daily soaks. I know that I probably should not have gotten a baby that was pyramiding, but being in such a rural area, my options are greatly limited (the nearest Petco is two hours away).

I am having trouble keeping the humidity up though. Any help with that would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to hurt Godfrey.

Below is a picture of his shell and the food that he is eating now, recommended by the reptile store. If you recommend any changes in his diet, I will get it in a heartbeat.

View attachment 165406View attachment 165407

Godfrey is not bad at all. If you keep him nice and humid, well fed and with enough calcium and UVB he will grow smoothly from now on, and those little bumps will just add to his good looks. There are keepers here who have rescued severely deformed torts, and many of those animals live happy lives with keepers who love them.

 

[Paul M Jones]

Hi and welcome!! What kind of enclosure is your tortoise in?

 

[Lidnesy]

He is in a 29 gallon glass, closed-topped tank. I am in the process of making a larger enclosure, and there is still plenty of snow and chill outside so Godfrey hasn't spent a lot of time outside yet.

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome Linsey and Godfrey !

 

[Paul M Jones]

He is in a 29 gallon glass, closed-topped tank. I am in the process of making a larger enclosure, and there is still plenty of snow and chill outside so Godfrey hasn't spent a lot of time outside yet.

here's an idea of what you can do. With these covers the humidity is at 85

 

[Lidnesy]

here's an idea of what you can do. With these covers the humidity is at 85

Do you build this yourself or buy it from somewhere? That looks like a nice cover.

 

[Paul M Jones]

I built it using pcv board. Yvonne has a very effective method using tin foil and covering the entire enclosure including the lights. That works fantastic also