new owner of a baby sulcata and have a couple questions

[lashakalak]

i've recently purchased a baby sulcata at a reptile store. well, actually my brother did. anyways, i've been searching on the internet and can't really seem to find straight answers, or when i do i find another article that contradicts what i read somewhere etc, etc.

1. i purchased a red light from that same reptile place and the guy said to leave it on all the time. online i've read i need a uvb/uva light and basking light is that right? do i leave them on all the time? is the red light insufficient? what happens if it doesn't have the proper lighting?

2. i've also noticed the nose area of my baby is a bit dry. is that normal?
i've attached a picture so you can see what I mean.

3. is spinach healthy for my tort? i read you aren't supposed to but then in another place it said it was perfectly fine. same with bananas and strawberries.

4. what is the best substrate for my baby? currently i have those pellets i bought from the reptile place.

yea, that was a bit lengthy sorry about that. and these questions have probably been asked before but i can't find them i apologize if these questions get asked too many times. any help is greatly appreciated. :]

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum

Here's a great website that can help you take care of your Sulcata
http://www.africantortoise.com/

They do need more than a red light to stay healthy. General lighting and a basking spot that is a MVB bulb (combining heat and UVB) is whats needed. It needs to be on 12 to 16 hours a day. They need to have a night time like any other animal to keep them healthy.
Spinach is definately not good to feed a growing tortoise, as it's high in oxalic acid which binds all available calcium into calcium oxalates (which makes the calcium unuseable to the tortoise). Fruits are also not good for grazing tortoises. As a treat once in a while, but not on an everyday basis.
Organic soil and play sand in a 70/30 mixture is one of the better substrates for your sulcata.

If you have any other questions after reading the website, feel free to ask them here.

Danny

 

[jdub]

quick question on the top soil? is this the top soil that i can purchase at any home depot store?

 

[dannomite]

Hi Lashakalak,

I am by far no expert, but I have had a Sulcata for a few months now (baby) and she is doing well from what I can tell. I asked a lot of the same questions as you so let me try to answer to the best of my knowledge:

1) I think that depends on the temperatures in your house. Sulcatas are African but I think at night it gets quite cool. So your lighting will really depend on what kind of temperatures you have. Most places I've read say that night should go down to about 72 degrees, for me thats room temperature so I don't have any heatsources at night. When I first had my hatchling I did keep a heatpad on at night as recommended by the breeder but now I turn that off too. You will definately need some UVB on it. Pretty much everyone recommends a Mercury Vapor Bulb. I just picked up a 125watt MVB for my enclosure. So you may need to add or subtract wattage to make up for the heat. In a basking area it should be around 100 degrees with the overall enclosure temperature being 80+ degrees. I keep my lights on for about 13 hours a day, basically they go on when I wake up and go off around 8 or 9 at night. I'd measure the temperature with no lights, if its lower then 72 then you might need heat at night. Just be careful not to cook them, don't go too crazy with heat

2) Its very important to keep them hydrated. Everywhere I read said that hatchilings should be soaked every day. I have been doing this daily and it is working great. So get a container, put enough water in it to just reach the sulcata's neck. Make sure the water is warm but not hot and let the baby soak in it for 15 mins or so. Just make sure the water doesn't get too cold while its sitting there. She will most likely poo in the water. I like to do this in the morning, after she gets a chance to wake up a bit. Also, I keep a shallow dish with some water in it, I change the water daily but I do see her drinking it. On top of that I am feeding a lot of moist foods. Hydration is key at such a young age

3) I do not think spinach is healthy. A bit might be ok but I think its too high in protein. Here is a list of things I am feeding mine, so far there is very little to no pyramiding so it seems to be working out:
-Spring mix (baby lettuces from the grocery store)
-Zoomed Grassland Tortoise food (seems to have a lot of different grasses recommended for Sulcatas and other grassy tortoises) I keep this very moist and put some calcium powder on it. She loves eating it and its high fibre/low protien so I figure as a baby its a good staple diet
-Grated carrot once in a while (mix this with the Grassland Tortoise food)
-Dandeloin Leaves and Flowers
-Prickly pear cactus (found packages of this in puree form made for Grassland tortoises). I feed this mixed with the Zoomed food once a week.

Other suggestions i've found were timothy hay, orchard hay, stay away from alfalfa (too high in fibre). I found that my baby wont eat that stuff, too big and its a pain to chop up. So as a baby I am sticking to what I've listed above until she's big enough to eat bigger stuff. Just make sure they get a variation and not the exact same thing every day.

4) For Substrate, get rid of those pellets. Some sites I saw said they are ok, a lot said no (especially in this forum and I assume you mean Alfalfa pellets?). Alfalfa is too high in fibre to feed Tortoises and they will eat their substrate if they can. I like to use Eco Earth (some call it bed a beast) which is the fine coconut fibre stuff that you soak and it grows. I find its easy to keep some humidity in the enclosure using this stuff. I mixed mine 50/50 with play sand. She seems to be enjoying this and loves to borrow around.

Other then that prepare yourself for loads of research and reading. This forum is great to find info but you might need to dig around first. Try to look around as much as possible. If you have questions my advice is to use the search feature to try and find what you are looking for. When all else fails, ask!

Some of the more experienced Sulcata owners might correct some of the things ive said, if my own understanding is wrong then i'd love to know as well. Best of luck to you!! Keep her warm and hydrated!! and Diet is a huge deal with these guys, look up Pyramiding in google, you'll see lots of scary pics, just follow the advice of people here, it seems to be working well for me so far.

 

[egyptiandan]

As long as it's organic (has no manmade fertilizers in it) you can get the top soil just about anywhere. Just depends on whats carried where you go.

Danny

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Hi Lashakalak,

I am by far no expert, but I have had a Sulcata for a few months now (baby) and she is doing well from what I can tell. I asked a lot of the same questions as you so let me try to answer to the best of my knowledge:

1) I think that depends on the temperatures in your house. Sulcatas are African but I think at night it gets quite cool. So your lighting will really depend on what kind of temperatures you have. Most places I've read say that night should go down to about 72 degrees, for me thats room temperature so I don't have any heatsources at night. When I first had my hatchling I did keep a heatpad on at night as recommended by the breeder but now I turn that off too. You will definately need some UVB on it. Pretty much everyone recommends a Mercury Vapor Bulb. I just picked up a 125watt MVB for my enclosure. So you may need to add or subtract wattage to make up for the heat. In a basking area it should be around 100 degrees with the overall enclosure temperature being 80+ degrees. I keep my lights on for about 13 hours a day, basically they go on when I wake up and go off around 8 or 9 at night. I'd measure the temperature with no lights, if its lower then 72 then you might need heat at night. Just be careful not to cook them, don't go too crazy with heat

2) Its very important to keep them hydrated. Everywhere I read said that hatchilings should be soaked every day. I have been doing this daily and it is working great. So get a container, put enough water in it to just reach the sulcata's neck. Make sure the water is warm but not hot and let the baby soak in it for 15 mins or so. Just make sure the water doesn't get too cold while its sitting there. She will most likely poo in the water. I like to do this in the morning, after she gets a chance to wake up a bit. Also, I keep a shallow dish with some water in it, I change the water daily but I do see her drinking it. On top of that I am feeding a lot of moist foods. Hydration is key at such a young age

3) I do not think spinach is healthy. A bit might be ok but I think its too high in protein. Here is a list of things I am feeding mine, so far there is very little to no pyramiding so it seems to be working out:
-Spring mix (baby lettuces from the grocery store)
-Zoomed Grassland Tortoise food (seems to have a lot of different grasses recommended for Sulcatas and other grassy tortoises) I keep this very moist and put some calcium powder on it. She loves eating it and its high fibre/low protien so I figure as a baby its a good staple diet
-Grated carrot once in a while (mix this with the Grassland Tortoise food)
-Dandeloin Leaves and Flowers
-Prickly pear cactus (found packages of this in puree form made for Grassland tortoises). I feed this mixed with the Zoomed food once a week.

Other suggestions i've found were timothy hay, orchard hay, stay away from alfalfa (too high in fibre). I found that my baby wont eat that stuff, too big and its a pain to chop up. So as a baby I am sticking to what I've listed above until she's big enough to eat bigger stuff. Just make sure they get a variation and not the exact same thing every day.

4) For Substrate, get rid of those pellets. Some sites I saw said they are ok, a lot said no (especially in this forum and I assume you mean Alfalfa pellets?). Alfalfa is too high in fibre to feed Tortoises and they will eat their substrate if they can. I like to use Eco Earth (some call it bed a beast) which is the fine coconut fibre stuff that you soak and it grows. I find its easy to keep some humidity in the enclosure using this stuff. I mixed mine 50/50 with play sand. She seems to be enjoying this and loves to borrow around.

Other then that prepare yourself for loads of research and reading. This forum is great to find info but you might need to dig around first. Try to look around as much as possible. If you have questions my advice is to use the search feature to try and find what you are looking for. When all else fails, ask!

Some of the more experienced Sulcata owners might correct some of the things ive said, if my own understanding is wrong then i'd love to know as well. Best of luck to you!! Keep her warm and hydrated!! and Diet is a huge deal with these guys, look up Pyramiding in google, you'll see lots of scary pics, just follow the advice of people here, it seems to be working well for me so far.

This is really great advice for a new keeper...be proud of yourself, you sure are learning!!!

 

[lashakalak]

Welcome to the forum

Here's a great website that can help you take care of your Sulcata
http://www.africantortoise.com/

They do need more than a red light to stay healthy. General lighting and a basking spot that is a MVB bulb (combining heat and UVB) is whats needed. It needs to be on 12 to 16 hours a day. They need to have a night time like any other animal to keep them healthy.
Spinach is definately not good to feed a growing tortoise, as it's high in oxalic acid which binds all available calcium into calcium oxalates (which makes the calcium unuseable to the tortoise). Fruits are also not good for grazing tortoises. As a treat once in a while, but not on an everyday basis.
Organic soil and play sand in a 70/30 mixture is one of the better substrates for your sulcata.

If you have any other questions after reading the website, feel free to ask them here.

Danny

Thanks so much! I will check out that site!

---

Hi Lashakalak,

I am by far no expert, but I have had a Sulcata for a few months now (baby) and she is doing well from what I can tell. I asked a lot of the same questions as you so let me try to answer to the best of my knowledge:

1) I think that depends on the temperatures in your house. Sulcatas are African but I think at night it gets quite cool. So your lighting will really depend on what kind of temperatures you have. Most places I've read say that night should go down to about 72 degrees, for me thats room temperature so I don't have any heatsources at night. When I first had my hatchling I did keep a heatpad on at night as recommended by the breeder but now I turn that off too. You will definately need some UVB on it. Pretty much everyone recommends a Mercury Vapor Bulb. I just picked up a 125watt MVB for my enclosure. So you may need to add or subtract wattage to make up for the heat. In a basking area it should be around 100 degrees with the overall enclosure temperature being 80+ degrees. I keep my lights on for about 13 hours a day, basically they go on when I wake up and go off around 8 or 9 at night. I'd measure the temperature with no lights, if its lower then 72 then you might need heat at night. Just be careful not to cook them, don't go too crazy with heat

2) Its very important to keep them hydrated. Everywhere I read said that hatchilings should be soaked every day. I have been doing this daily and it is working great. So get a container, put enough water in it to just reach the sulcata's neck. Make sure the water is warm but not hot and let the baby soak in it for 15 mins or so. Just make sure the water doesn't get too cold while its sitting there. She will most likely poo in the water. I like to do this in the morning, after she gets a chance to wake up a bit. Also, I keep a shallow dish with some water in it, I change the water daily but I do see her drinking it. On top of that I am feeding a lot of moist foods. Hydration is key at such a young age

3) I do not think spinach is healthy. A bit might be ok but I think its too high in protein. Here is a list of things I am feeding mine, so far there is very little to no pyramiding so it seems to be working out:
-Spring mix (baby lettuces from the grocery store)
-Zoomed Grassland Tortoise food (seems to have a lot of different grasses recommended for Sulcatas and other grassy tortoises) I keep this very moist and put some calcium powder on it. She loves eating it and its high fibre/low protien so I figure as a baby its a good staple diet
-Grated carrot once in a while (mix this with the Grassland Tortoise food)
-Dandeloin Leaves and Flowers
-Prickly pear cactus (found packages of this in puree form made for Grassland tortoises). I feed this mixed with the Zoomed food once a week.

Other suggestions i've found were timothy hay, orchard hay, stay away from alfalfa (too high in fibre). I found that my baby wont eat that stuff, too big and its a pain to chop up. So as a baby I am sticking to what I've listed above until she's big enough to eat bigger stuff. Just make sure they get a variation and not the exact same thing every day.

4) For Substrate, get rid of those pellets. Some sites I saw said they are ok, a lot said no (especially in this forum and I assume you mean Alfalfa pellets?). Alfalfa is too high in fibre to feed Tortoises and they will eat their substrate if they can. I like to use Eco Earth (some call it bed a beast) which is the fine coconut fibre stuff that you soak and it grows. I find its easy to keep some humidity in the enclosure using this stuff. I mixed mine 50/50 with play sand. She seems to be enjoying this and loves to borrow around.

Other then that prepare yourself for loads of research and reading. This forum is great to find info but you might need to dig around first. Try to look around as much as possible. If you have questions my advice is to use the search feature to try and find what you are looking for. When all else fails, ask!

Some of the more experienced Sulcata owners might correct some of the things ive said, if my own understanding is wrong then i'd love to know as well. Best of luck to you!! Keep her warm and hydrated!! and Diet is a huge deal with these guys, look up Pyramiding in google, you'll see lots of scary pics, just follow the advice of people here, it seems to be working well for me so far.

Thank you for the detailed reply. You answered a lot of my questions. :]

 

[richalisoviejo]

Welcome! I have a four-month Sulcata and have received some great advice here reading different threads.

My little one is doing great.