Posting for a 14 year old girl(Lilly) & her 7 year old female Sulcata(Loka).

Chefdenoel10

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I thought your vitamin was interesting because I love flukers too. I found a bottle of drops by them with d3 and calcium and some other vitamins that I would take myself. It smells so delicious. I have a hard time getting my little guy to eat the powders but he doesn't hesitate with the liquid drops.
Do you put the powders sprinkled over his food? Maybe mix it in and he’ll never know it there?
 

Chefdenoel10

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Omg i my 6 month old Sulcata LOVES her calcium. She'll eat a whole pile of it all by itself lol. However she wouldn't even touch her food with it sprinkled on it at all. She'd trample through it all as in telling me this isn't what i want and I'm going to destroy it. Also my little one wouldn't touch the cuttle bone so i got the vanilla flavored cuttle bone. I broke a few pieces into bite size. Put it in the enclosure and Scooter Baby ate it. So i did a few more pieces and again she ate it. So i then did it again but added in a few bite size pieces of the real cuttlebone with no flavor. Scooter Baby ate it all. So i tried just the real cuttlebone and she ate it and hasn't stopped since. Now ever since loving the cuttle bone she loves the powder too. There is flavored powder calcium also. I think it was Ebay where i saw it but Amazon should have it. I think its strawberry/banana flavor.

she is absolutely gorgeous!
I wanna bite her butt! ?
How cute is that!
I would give her the world!
But...... enjoy her at that young age because when they grow up and get REALLY BIG...... they act like teenagers! ?
Ungreatful...
Entitled....
Messy ....
Bite your fingers off...
Cranky....
Teenagers..
Whom hate anyone who doesn’t have food and will run over your foot like an army tank! ?
 

Chefdenoel10

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Omg i my 6 month old Sulcata LOVES her calcium. She'll eat a whole pile of it all by itself lol. However she wouldn't even touch her food with it sprinkled on it at all. She'd trample through it all as in telling me this isn't what i want and I'm going to destroy it. Also my little one wouldn't touch the cuttle bone so i got the vanilla flavored cuttle bone. I broke a few pieces into bite size. Put it in the enclosure and Scooter Baby ate it. So i did a few more pieces and again she ate it. So i then did it again but added in a few bite size pieces of the real cuttlebone with no flavor. Scooter Baby ate it all. So i tried just the real cuttlebone and she ate it and hasn't stopped since. Now ever since loving the cuttle bone she loves the powder too. There is flavored powder calcium also. I think it was Ebay where i saw it but Amazon should have it. I think its strawberry/banana flavor.

 

Chefdenoel10

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Chefdenoel10

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I will tell you Myself and two other people went in together and got a few things. A CHE and the lamp was ordered today and it's being shipped directly to Lilly's home for Loka..

Mikki,
I have posted the care sheets that Tom has written about what she needs to do. Please take a look at them and show her a copy.
Not sure where I put them? But they are on this thread somewhere..... look above.
They are called “How to raise....”
 

Maggie3fan

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Lilly only has the kiddie pool full of dirt incase Loka want to dig or lay more eggs.. It is cold & snowy in Syracuse NY and since she just got her 2 -3 weeks ago she has a room in the home for Loka to stay in. I know she said Loka was being neglected by not being fed or cared for. Maybe that is why she only weighs 28 lbs. I will tell her what you said about feeling in that area.. Exactly what will she feel is she has more eggs? Will it feel like a big ball their? I know since Loka had a RI when she got her and was on antibiotics, I am sure that is another reason why she decided to keep Loka inside instead of building an outdoor enclosure.. I do know many bring their torts in for the winter and keep them in the garage, basement, etc.. Loka has her own space with the UVB and Basking.. I just wish someone would talk to her instead of typing or messaging..
She's going to feel for little round ping pong balls GENTLY
 

Maggie3fan

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Mikki,
I have posted the care sheets that Tom has written about what she needs to do. Please take a look at them and show her a copy.
Not sure where I put them? But they are on this thread somewhere..... look above.
They are called “How to raise....”
Yvonne...her tortoise is 7 years old, long past time to read about hatchling care. For a larger tortoise his house and an outside pen are the most important things, and to me, keeping Sulcata in a way that is harmful is bad, and keeping a 28 lb tort in a kiddie pool borders on abuse. Sulcata walk and graze for miles daily in the wild, being contained in that pool means he's not walking enuf to aid in digestion. In my personal opinion, a tort shed needs to be built immediately.
This is one and a half Sulcata pen
100_3906.JPG
This is my friend building that doggie door and ramp, this shows you how big my tort shed is
100_3967.JPG
This is my tort shed, even as big as it is, my Sulcata bang against the walls, they are an active species. lol
100_3491.JPG
The ambient temp stays between 80 and 85 degrees. Under the basking bulb it's 90 to 100 degrees, under the CHE it's 100. Both my tortoises drink from large non spillable doggie dishes. I hope this helps. oh I also run a humidifier a couple or 3 times a week
Yvonne, I apologize to you. Really. I thought those care sheets were for hatchlings. Obviously, I haven't read them. I'm sorry please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please FORGIVE ME
 
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Chefdenoel10

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Yvonne...her tortoise is 7 years old, long past time to read about hatchling care. For a larger tortoise his house and an outside pen are the most important things, and to me, keeping Sulcata in a way that is harmful is bad, and keeping a 28 lb tort in a kiddie pool borders on abuse. Sulcata walk and graze for miles daily in the wild, being contained in that pool means he's not walking enuf to aid in digestion. In my personal opinion, a tort shed needs to be built immediately.
This is one and a half Sulcata pen
View attachment 311809
This is my friend building that doggie door and ramp, this shows you how big my tort shed is
View attachment 311810
This is my tort shed, even as big as it is, my Sulcata bang against the walls, they are an active species. lol
View attachment 311811
The ambient temp stays between 80 and 85 degrees. Under the basking bulb it's 90 to 100 degrees, under the CHE it's 100. Both my tortoises drink from large non spillable doggie dishes. I hope this helps. oh I also run a humidifier a couple or 3 times a week
Yvonne, I apologize to you. Really. I thought those care sheets were for hatchlings. Obviously, I haven't read them. I'm sorry please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please FORGIVE ME

Maggie... for all the times you have helped answer my stupid questions I have no reason to doubt you EVER! I probably DID post the wrong ones. Didn’t Tom write one for adult sulcata?
And for what it’s worth .. you ARE correct!
She doesn’t need a care sheet for babies.
I just can’t seem to find the one about “how to raise the temperate..” one?
I can’t get this phone to work either...lol
I just posted what I found...
I figured it couldn’t hurt and maybe one of them was for adult torts..
No need to forgive anyone!
EVER!
You are to good to me answering my silly stuff and giving me good advice!
I learn from you ALL OF THE TIME!
Why in fact I took pictures of what your outside looks like to fix my smaller shed up much better...
I agree on the banging though....
Ooohhhh..... the banging!! ?
Wish there was a solution for that!
Anyway,bestie...
All is good...
Keep teachin’ me stuff!!!! ❤️
And to Mikii.... if I sent the wrong care sheets (for babies) please disregard and listen to Maggie...
She is right on the money with suggestions!! ?
 

Gijoux

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I have a female Leopard Tortoise which during her first year of laying eggs, laid an egg out on the lawn, 2 in her house that rolled down her ramp and the final egg got crushed in her house. I worried about egg binding too, but as @Tom told me, since the eggs came out it is a good thing. You can tell that the one, very porous egg has been present for a very long time. I think it is a good thing that it came out. It would be very difficult to raise a sulcata in a state like New York, because the weather is so cold for so long. I know there are people on this site who do manage and hopefully some New Yorker's will help give you some more ideas.
 

Sue Ann

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Omg i my 6 month old Sulcata LOVES her calcium. She'll eat a whole pile of it all by itself lol. However she wouldn't even touch her food with it sprinkled on it at all. She'd trample through it all as in telling me this isn't what i want and I'm going to destroy it. Also my little one wouldn't touch the cuttle bone so i got the vanilla flavored cuttle bone. I broke a few pieces into bite size. Put it in the enclosure and Scooter Baby ate it. So i did a few more pieces and again she ate it. So i then did it again but added in a few bite size pieces of the real cuttlebone with no flavor. Scooter Baby ate it all. So i tried just the real cuttlebone and she ate it and hasn't stopped since. Now ever since loving the cuttle bone she loves the powder too. There is flavored powder calcium also. I think it was Ebay where i saw it but Amazon should have it. I think its strawberry/banana flavor.
Beautiful tort
 

Cathie G

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Do you put the powders sprinkled over his food? Maybe mix it in and he’ll never know it there?
He likes the vitamins but he also gets a lot of sunshine. He'll even eat the drops on his salad like a salad dressing... It's a neat mix for winter. With d3 etc.. or when he may need a boost in the summer... and he likes it. I like this one better then the powders for him ?
 

Mikki

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she is absolutely gorgeous!
I wanna bite her butt! ?
How cute is that!
I would give her the world!
But...... enjoy her at that young age because when they grow up and get REALLY BIG...... they act like teenagers! ?
Ungreatful...
Entitled....
Messy ....
Bite your fingers off...
Cranky....
Teenagers..
Whom hate anyone who doesn’t have food and will run over your foot like an army tank! ?
OMG, I love her so much! She is everything to me... Also you said when they get bigger they are this & that, LOL are you kidding when they get BIGGER!? Ohhh, no, my little 6 month old is DEMANDING! First of all, for some reason, she is on 3rd shift time.. She gets up every morning at 3:30 AM! I am not kidding! She sits under the CHE and then moves to her basking rock and will wait for her light to be turned on.. I use to turn the basking light on for her as soon as she got up but I don't anymore.. I make her wait at least until 6:00-6:30 AM. I have tried and tried and done EVERYTHING to get her schedule to change. Well if she is not soaking to poop & be fed by 7:00Am because now she is warm, awake for 3 1/2 hours, she will completely and totally destroy her enclosure.. She will just cause all kinds of ruckus and destroy it all and making it a complete mess... I always soak her before she eats, so I soak her, she is eating by 7:30AM.. Then by 11:30 I hide flowers around her enclosure and give her a snack. I than soak her again at 1:30 and and she eats more greens or Mazuri with grass cut up in it, and she is in bed by 2:00PM until morning when 3:30AM comes around.. I soak her before she eats and she has not pooped in her enclosure for about 2 months.. She will bang, peek out her little window I have on the loft in her enclosure, and let me know when she has to poop... She has a big enough water dish in her enclosure she can poop in, but I have used the same soaking dish since she was 4 weeks old when I got her, and she has to have her soaking dish to poop apparently... My whole morning is tending to my 6 month old Scooter Girl. If I give her greens she does not want she tramples through them all, making a mess, and continues to do so until I give her greens she would like for her breakfast.. The personality on her is so huge, but yes, she is demanding and I swear she is a 2 year old....
 
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Mikki

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He likes the vitamins but he also gets a lot of sunshine. He'll even eat the drops on his salad like a salad dressing... It's a neat mix for winter. With d3 etc.. or when he may need a boost in the summer... and he likes it. I like this one better then the powders for him ?
I am in Florida so my little one has an above ground enclosure that is predator proof that we built.. She does get lots of sunshine, but last two weeks, it has been cold here, and she literally got 20 minutes of sunshine.. I don't use a UVB light because she gets outside.. I honestly do not know what is to cold for a 6 month old.. Can she got outside if it is 70 and cloudy that day with a breeze? Can she got out if it is 74 and the same way.. I am afraid of her getting sick, but I just don't know what is to cold for a little one to be outside in.. I have hay in her hide in the outside enclosure.. If it is cold, I think she goes into her hay, but than i bring her inside, because it defeats the purpose of her getting sunshine rays...
 

Mikki

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Maggie... for all the times you have helped answer my stupid questions I have no reason to doubt you EVER! I probably DID post the wrong ones. Didn’t Tom write one for adult sulcata?
And for what it’s worth .. you ARE correct!
She doesn’t need a care sheet for babies.
I just can’t seem to find the one about “how to raise the temperate..” one?
I can’t get this phone to work either...lol
I just posted what I found...
I figured it couldn’t hurt and maybe one of them was for adult torts..
No need to forgive anyone!
EVER!
You are to good to me answering my silly stuff and giving me good advice!
I learn from you ALL OF THE TIME!
Why in fact I took pictures of what your outside looks like to fix my smaller shed up much better...
I agree on the banging though....
Ooohhhh..... the banging!! ?
Wish there was a solution for that!
Anyway,bestie...
All is good...
Keep teachin’ me stuff!!!! ❤
And to Mikii.... if I sent the wrong care sheets (for babies) please disregard and listen to Maggie...
She is right on the money with suggestions!! ?
The kiddie pool she had now has grass seeds planted in it so she can grow grass through the winter. She has another kiddie pool with just hay in it.. This kiddie pool is NOT her enclosure.. This tortoise has the run of her house!! She is keeping it inside the house.. There is a corner in her bedroom with the basking lights hooked up, and the CHE hooked up for night time. The tortoise does not have any type of enclosure.. It runs the complete house, and stay in the bedroom with the 14 year old girl at night time.. The tortoise gets soaked every morning in the bathtub before the 14 year old starts her virtual E school learning. I might of had everyone misunderstand about the kiddie pool.. This kiddie pool was filled with dirt to begin with ONLY because the 14 year old girl thought LOKA might want to dig in it... Now seeds for grass have been planted. Seeds and cactus pads were shipped to this girl for LOKA.. Myself and 2 other people have helped this girl.. Loka looks good, but does need weight put on.. This girl told me the other owners basically starved her and that is why her weight is only 28 lbs..
 

Mikki

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She's going to feel for little round ping pong balls GENTLY
Thank you.. I do know her tort laid another egg after she hooked up the CHE... It is crazy, this is the 3rd egg, and all three have been laid after she hooked up the basking light, gave her a pillow to lay on, and after the CHE was hooked up
 

Mikki

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Spring Hill, Fl
I have a female Leopard Tortoise which during her first year of laying eggs, laid an egg out on the lawn, 2 in her house that rolled down her ramp and the final egg got crushed in her house. I worried about egg binding too, but as @Tom told me, since the eggs came out it is a good thing. You can tell that the one, very porous egg has been present for a very long time. I think it is a good thing that it came out. It would be very difficult to raise a sulcata in a state like New York, because the weather is so cold for so long. I know there are people on this site who do manage and hopefully some New Yorker's will help give you some more ideas.
Thank you so much for responding.. I am in Florida and have a 6 month old little one, but I do agree, NY will be hard and LOKA right now has the run of the house because she has no outside enclosure.. That is what I told Lilly, if she is laying them she not egg bound, but she is not laying them all at once for some reason.. She as of today has laid a total of 3 but she is getting them out..
 

Mikki

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That is not a bad looking tortoise for the previous keeper not treating it well. At 7 years that tort should weigh 50 to 70 pounds. It will need a heated night box or shed as they do not hibernate and need warmth in the cold weather. It needs to be large enuf to give the tort walking room thru the NY winters. I live in the Pacific Northwest and keep my Sulcata in a heated and insulated 12'x20' tort shed. While I applaud the UVB light etc. Sulcata are a very active type tortoise and while a kiddie pool sized habitat is not bad for a hatchling or yearling, it ain't gonna be good for a 7 yr old tort. I have 2 tortoises in my shed, and daily I can hear Mary Knobbins banging the walls and if I let her out regardless of the weather, she will go outside the very second I open the door, once she grazes some and see's the weather is crappy she goes back inside and is ok with it. She will not eat hay or lettuces. She wants to graze. Big Sam eats hay, and won't go outside if it's cold, he does eat 1/4 of a hay bale thru our cold weather. I think Big Sam, is about 35 pounds and Mary Knobbins is 20. Both are rescues and were damaged before I got them.
I'm going to look for a care sheet for bigger Sulcata care, but don't give up, you will get good feedback.
I don't know about egg binding, but I do know I have a female box turtle who has never been with a male and she will lay 2 or 3 eggs around her habitat. You might tell her to take her pointer finger and GENTLY palpate right behind a rear leg, push gentle but feel like she's trying to feel inside her body at a rear leg, or get an $80 x ray at a Vet.
Here is Mary trying out her new doggie door and ramp
View attachment 311743
She was afraid to step off the ramp, so a step was added
View attachment 311744
NO she isn't a bad looking tort, it is just she only weighs 28 lbs and I was told the other owners were basically starving her.. They had no grass on their lawn and did not go get her food..
 

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