Hi,
New to this site and newbie Sulcata owner. I bought a 4 month old Torty today and he keeps opening his mouth. I think he's doing this because he's scared of his new environment and has made a few noises, can't make out the noises because I've never heard them before but I can tell he's scared. He loves his new home and has circled the enclosure several times but has napped for most of the day. He looked VERY healthy in the petstore (reputable breeder) and was the biggest of the bunch! The only thing I'm worried about is that he has a dent on one side of the shell...IDK if he's growing, has MBD <--IDK much about that except the basics, and/or if he's not receiving proper UVA/UVB. I'm sure he has adequate calcium since I seen it sprinkled on the head of lettuce he was eating at the store. That's another thing, his diet! IDK what his diet is but he was chomping on the head of a lettuce today or at least I think it was?! It was chomped almost to the root so I can still see some color as it was close to lettuce or cabbage but looked more like lettuce. His dent was not noticeable until I took him home and really examined him. He was living on bark and looked like improper lighting. His new home has 50/50 coconut coir and playsand <--not too wet and not too dry...just right and he seems to LOVE it and he burrowed a little in his hideout and it's his fave spot so far...he keeps moving his back legs here and there when I check on him...kinda like snuggling with the substrate and looks happy, I almost thought he was humping but that's what it looked like from afar...has anyone dealt with this so far? BTW his dent is only on one side and it's not by his hips but more in the front lined up with his elbow somewhere...not noticeable until you touch him and look closely but his shell is nice and hard and he looks perfect, maybe even better after I soaked him in warm water as soon as I got home. Does anyone use carolinasupply.com? I ordered alot from their site...not fond of packaging but everything is great! I bought the TNT powder w/out probiotics if anyone can tell me anything about this...it says to sprinkle 3x a week...lmk otherwise. What's the difference between a hatchling and juvenile ( I mean age wise)? Is a clutch considered the batch of eggs? I leave broken pieces of cuttlebone everywhere w/out the backing of course. He doesn't know about cuttlebone as you can tell he was examining it today so hopefully he understands what to do with it. The enclosures set up properly as I have done my research thoroughly. If anyone can LMK any of my questions above then I'd greatly appreciate it! VERY HAPPY MOMMY AND IN LOVE WITH MY NEW TORTY =D
New to this site and newbie Sulcata owner. I bought a 4 month old Torty today and he keeps opening his mouth. I think he's doing this because he's scared of his new environment and has made a few noises, can't make out the noises because I've never heard them before but I can tell he's scared. He loves his new home and has circled the enclosure several times but has napped for most of the day. He looked VERY healthy in the petstore (reputable breeder) and was the biggest of the bunch! The only thing I'm worried about is that he has a dent on one side of the shell...IDK if he's growing, has MBD <--IDK much about that except the basics, and/or if he's not receiving proper UVA/UVB. I'm sure he has adequate calcium since I seen it sprinkled on the head of lettuce he was eating at the store. That's another thing, his diet! IDK what his diet is but he was chomping on the head of a lettuce today or at least I think it was?! It was chomped almost to the root so I can still see some color as it was close to lettuce or cabbage but looked more like lettuce. His dent was not noticeable until I took him home and really examined him. He was living on bark and looked like improper lighting. His new home has 50/50 coconut coir and playsand <--not too wet and not too dry...just right and he seems to LOVE it and he burrowed a little in his hideout and it's his fave spot so far...he keeps moving his back legs here and there when I check on him...kinda like snuggling with the substrate and looks happy, I almost thought he was humping but that's what it looked like from afar...has anyone dealt with this so far? BTW his dent is only on one side and it's not by his hips but more in the front lined up with his elbow somewhere...not noticeable until you touch him and look closely but his shell is nice and hard and he looks perfect, maybe even better after I soaked him in warm water as soon as I got home. Does anyone use carolinasupply.com? I ordered alot from their site...not fond of packaging but everything is great! I bought the TNT powder w/out probiotics if anyone can tell me anything about this...it says to sprinkle 3x a week...lmk otherwise. What's the difference between a hatchling and juvenile ( I mean age wise)? Is a clutch considered the batch of eggs? I leave broken pieces of cuttlebone everywhere w/out the backing of course. He doesn't know about cuttlebone as you can tell he was examining it today so hopefully he understands what to do with it. The enclosures set up properly as I have done my research thoroughly. If anyone can LMK any of my questions above then I'd greatly appreciate it! VERY HAPPY MOMMY AND IN LOVE WITH MY NEW TORTY =D