Young Sulcata shell, what's normal?

K8K

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Hi, I'm new to this forum & I'm hoping for some friendly, experienced help please... I've owned my Sulcata for 10 days & s/he is 7 weeks old & on researching, I believe s/he is a healthy size & weight for age. However, I'm slightly concerned about his 'wrinkly' shell... Is this normal for a 7 week old? I've attached a photo (please ignore the pose)! This photo was taken 10 days ago & comparing to now, I think there is some improvements... but I'm unsure... Any help much appreciated. Thanks.

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Bee62

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Hello K8K and a very warm welcome to the forum. I am sure you`ll find here a lot of kind, friendly and experienced people.:)

I think the "crinkled" shell is from being in the egg and nothing to be worried about. When the tort grows, the crinkle look will disappear.
Can you tell us how much she weight and show us some pictures of the enclosure ? How are your temps in the enclosure and the humidity ?
 

Tom

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Hello and welcome.

The wrinkling is somewhat normal, but what concerns me is the deep notch forming between the scutes. This is an indicator of dry conditions and its the first step toward pyramiding.

Most of the care info you will find for this species is wrong. Its based on 30 year old incorrect assumptions about how they live in the wild. These babies need tropical monsoon conditions, because that is what they hatch into in the wild. It needs to be warm and humid day and night and you need to be soaking daily.

Read these for more info:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/outdoor-enclosures.121732/
 

K8K

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Tom, Oh my goodness, is he pyramiding already at 7 weeks old? This clearly is a concern as I've only owned him 10 days. Will this worsen? I do soak him daily for 20 minutes.

Bee62, Thank you for your warm welcome. I've attached a photo of my tortoise table (which I'm aware he'll quickly outgrow). The humidity in the day is between 70-80% can I improve this if needed & how? The basking temp is 100F & ambient 90F.
 

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Markw84

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Tom, Oh my goodness, is he pyramiding already at 7 weeks old? This clearly is a concern as I've only owned him 10 days. Will this worsen? I do soak him daily for 20 minutes.

Bee62, Thank you for your warm welcome. I've attached a photo of my tortoise table (which I'm aware he'll quickly outgrow). The humidity in the day is between 70-80% can I improve this if needed & how? The basking temp is 100F & ambient 90F.
Tom and I have spent way too many years staring at young sulcatas waiting for the first signs of pyramiding to emerge and hoping it will not!! Unfortunately, I think I can speak for us both in saying, it happened far too much of the time in learning to get things right our first decades of attempts!

Your tortoise is just showing the very early signs that drove me crazy! With what we know now, it can be stopped in its tracks at this point and grow completely smoot with a bit of a "growth ring" left. But you do need to make some changes, I'm afraid. The open tortoise table will not work. A 60cm x 90cm enclosure is too small. They hay you are using will mold if the humidity is high. I've never been able to make it work or have seen one that would, without covering it to keep the heat and humidity in. It looks like you built the table, and if so, you have the skills to build a nice top. Without that, and with what looks like a MVB you are using, there is no way you will keep the proper humidity up and that bulb will excessively dry the little tortoise's carapace every time it basks. With a basking bulb, and open top, there is just no way to keep the humidity unless you keep the entire room in a "tropical" state!. Those dial type gauges are also quite unreliable and I would not trust them.

I don't want to be patronizing at all, but if you are really interested in help, here's the reading you need to study. I believe these two threads will give you all you need to see what needs to be done. Then come back and ask all the questions you have based upon that as a starting point. In England, you will also need to use an indoor enclosure quite a bit of the time, so you should look at getting it set up as big and best as possible now.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-star-tortoise.159167/
 

K8K

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Thank you Tom, that has been incredibly helpful & on reading those thread links it makes perfect sense. I do wish upon purchasing my Sulcata, that the correct information was given at the time. The dials are awful (I know) & will now buy digital based on reviews. I'll also remove the hay. Can I ask, with regards to my table during the interim, would you recommend a Perspex table top to regulate the humidity? Thank, Kate.
 

K8K

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Morning. Does anyone know the best way to enclose my tortoise table? We do have a spare vivarium but I've also read these aren't great for tortoises... I soak him daily, mist him daily along with the corners of his substrate. I've attached some more photos of his shell as I'm concerned. Thanks. K8
 

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Markw84

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Morning. Does anyone know the best way to enclose my tortoise table? We do have a spare vivarium but I've also read these aren't great for tortoises... I soak him daily, mist him daily along with the corners of his substrate. I've attached some more photos of his shell as I'm concerned. Thanks. K8

A vivarium is not bad at all, especially for a hatchling. The important thing is a controlled heat and humidity, and that cannot be done as efficiently and easily with an open top. Use the vivarium for now. I would strongly recommend switching to a tube fluorescent for UVB and a small wattage regular FLOOD bulb for a basking area.

Look through the threads on "closed chambers" and build or have one built.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/our-new-closed-chamber-for-our-new-group-of-tortoises.138430/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/


In the US there are a few sources for them now. Look at animal plastics www.apcages.com for ideas.
 
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