HELLO I AM NEW

[Sully LOVER]

Hello! My name is Tara I live in Southern California and my boyfriend Keven and I just bought a 7 week old African Sulcata at the Herp Expo in Pasadena. This is our first tortoise so any advice from the seasoned tortoise owners is much appreciated! We have started growing some Bermuda grass..So far the only problem is it is flipping itself over, it has happened twice and it gives me a heart attack each time.

 

[terryo]

Welcome Sully Lover!

 

[mctlong]

Welcome Tara! Your new little tort is adorable. Does s/he have a name yet?

Here's a link to a good caresheet that helped me get started when I got my sulcata hatchling.
http://africantortoise.com/

 

[Isa]

Welcome to the forum Tara.
You can look through the Sulcata section of this site to know more about your sully or do not hesitate to ask questions
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/forum-3.html
Can you tell us more about his enclosure and what kind of food you are feeding him ?

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum Tara

Danny

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Tara:

to the forum!

Baby tortoises of all kinds just seem to have the "tipping over" gene. As they grow and get used to being alive, they soon stop that. All you can do is be watchful and try to eliminate things that he tries to climb on.

Yvonne

 

[shelber10]

welcome tara

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Welcome, Tara. Good luck on raising your little hatchling!

 

[Sully LOVER]

We have not been sure of a name, but I think we have decided on Sully. I saw that is what a lot of people call Sulcatas for short and I love the movie Monsters INC. haha. As far as it's enclosure, I was given a huge tank, I think it is 80 gallons. I have a UVB lamp and a infra red heat lamp that is on day and night. We have a little hiding place and a small water dish. Yesterday we bought a bigger water dish, the kind that is kinda like a beach walk in, so it could soak himself, because I heard that is what they do, but since I found it turned over IN THE WATER! I took that out. Scariest thing ever.

 

[Yvonne G]

Please don't think I'm picking on you. I have a couple suggestions, and its for the tortoise's benefit.

First of all, I think your light is too far away from the floor of the habitat. It is up so high that I doubt any of the heat is reaching the floor. Remember, heat rises, so that far away, it dissipates before it gets to the floor. I'm assuming that your UV light is that box-like affair near the center? If so, it is probably too far from the floor also. It normally says on the box, but I think 12" is about standard.

Secondly, remove the pellets and get a different substrate. Little sulcatas require some humidity while they're growing in order for their shells to grow smoothly. So you need something you can moisten. In the wild, they dig long and deep burrows then the poop and pee in there, bringing up the humidity. I like cypress mulch or orchid bark. But quite a few folks mix coconut coir and sand or dirt together for a substrate.

There is no UV benefit to the tortoise by having the habitat in front of the window. UV rays bounce back off the glass and don't penetrate. The only thing about being next to the window is he might get some heat from the sun...maybe too much, but you'll have to be the judge of that.

Thanks for sharing your pictures. Your little Sully is really cute.

Yvonne

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome to the group! Glad you have joined us. Congrats on the new tort! You have done a great thing by joining this forum as there are great members as well as reputable advice, which is so difficult to find online.

I too have a couple suggestions. An ideal enclosure will take months or years of tweaking, so please don't think we are picking on you. Having an aquarium by a window can be dangerous as they become heat chambers many times. I suggest placing it against an interior wall in your house to keep it a more stable temperature. I actually recommend using a tortoise table (wood box) or a plastic tub, but that is not the first thing you need to work on. Glass tanks can be very difficult to maintain a termperature gradient, they tend to have stale air as the sides are so high, and many times the tort will try to walk through the glass. They are mainly for the owner's enjoyment, not the tort's.

I think Sully is an adorable name. Also, it isn't just a boy or girl name. You likely can't confirm your tort's sex until a few years from now.

Many many people think they are giving good care advice, but are not. I 100% trust the advice on this forum. Many people are giving outdated advice such as using aquariums, pellets, and what we now consider improper diets. What are you feeding?

I agree to switch out the pellets for something humid. Get an accurate thermometer such as a laser one (the PE1 is $25 and a great investment) to figure out your temperature gradient. Aim for 75-100 degrees at the substrate level, with 95/100 at the basking spot, and 70/75 at the far corners away from the light. Keep in mind that although you measure the temperatures at the substrate level, they are slightly higher up at the level of your tort. You will need to more so keep this in mind when your tort is larger. Also, a cheap humidity gauge can give you a general idea of what is going on. Once you have a moist substrate and pour some water on it and mix it up every few days, you won't need to measure the humidity so much as you just want to maintain moist but not wet (when you pick up a handful and squeeze it, no water should come out, but it should hold shape).

Has the tort been to a tortoise vet yet to be checked for general health as well as a fecal test for parasites? I think this is very important.

I also recommend more hides (at least one in a warm area, one in a cool area, and one between) and things like fake plants to break up the line of site to make the enclosure seem larger. What are your plans for when the tort gets huge?

A slate tile works great to feed on to wear down the nails and beak. They are also easier for a tort to use than the bowl type dishes as they don't need to climb the sides. If you don't have hard surfaces in an enclosure, you will need to eventually trim the nails and beak, which is not something you want to do. You should aim to simulate their natural environment as much as possible.

Great idea on the larger water dish so the tort can soak. Make it only deep enough so that the tort can stick is head in to drink. If the tort was on its back in it, I will assume it was trying to climb something. Can you post pictures of it back in the enclosure? You really want to figure out a safe way to have water at all times in the enclosure. Until then, do soak once daily for 10-15 minutes. A water dish should be in a moderate temperature area so that it is not too cold, but also not directly under the heat source. Over time you will tweak the enclosure so that you can minimize the risk of the tort flipping. Them being upside down in water on under a heat source are the worst. Typically a tort will not spontaneously flip over while walking. They will be trying to climb something, walk on something they should be (such as walk the perimeter of the enclosure between the water and the wall), etc. Taking out these hazards can help. You may find the tort trying to climb the log hide. If so, replace it and add more in other locations with vertical sides (box or plastic container with non-clear sides).

What type of UVB? The Mercury Vapor Bulbs, Mega Ray or T-Rex brand, are the best your money can buy. I highly recommend those. You only need heat at night if your enclosure is below 65-70 F. You do want a bit of a night temperature drop from the day temperature.

Best wishes. Looking forward to more information so we can get this little tortoise set up right.

 

[Crazy1]

Tara Welcome to the forum, you have gotten some great suggestions so far. Please understand it will take time to set up your little hatchlings enclosure. Each tort is different and needs different things. But knowing it is flipping, I would keep the water out until you determine it is not flipping anymore, in the meantime I would soak him in tepid or baby warm water, daily for about 15 minutes so that he can drink. Food should be broad leaf greens like dandelions weekly, organic spring mix without the spinach daily is a good start mix for them, but they will need other greens added like escarole, curley endive, etc. Hatchlings rarely eat grass until they are older, there is a list of foods on the site in the food area and the links given here.

I don't want to overwhelm you with loads of stuff for you to try and remember all at once. What I will do is give you some places to get a couple of things and let you know I love the Cypress Mulch for them to start out on.
You can pick up a temperture gun (PE1 or 2 at Freight Harbor for about $10). And a good humidity gauge can be gotten at www.eggcarton.com They are quite accurate. Baby torts tend to taste everything and climb on everything. You can get a small hide log at Wal-Mart in the gerbil section for about $5-$6 they can't climb ontop of this or use a flower pot on its side filled with long strand sphargnam moss slightly damp (home depot about $5).