A message to tort veterans...

[Morlas Mama]

I wanted to take a minute and say thank you to the tort veterans on this site that continually educate us 'newbs'. I imagine you log on here sometimes and sigh to yourselves thinking "didn't I just address this yesterday?"

Please don't give up on us! We need your expertise! I wanted to share what has transpired for my tort in the one week since we have taken her in because of the knowledge shared on this forum. I think this is best shared in pictures. I know her habitat is not perfect but I am learning and doing the best I can for her based on the facts you all have shared here. I am open to critiques and suggestions, so let me have it!

Thank you again for all you do tort vets!

Day 1: CLUELESS


Day 7: Getting somewhere!



78° 99% "cool" side. The second lamp is on a timer to kick on when temps fall below 78° and kick off at 82°. The lamp had just turned on when I snapped the pic.



Timothy hay corner. Sponge on top of hide (for now) with hole drilled in roof. Will purchase larger hide so sponge can be affixed to ceiling inside.



Secondary temp/hum 78° 100% hum



Tertiary high temp gauge 92.9° near heat lamp but not under it. I have a heat gun I use for directly under the lamp.




Gas n' Go: low side clay water dish and food bowl. Today's menu; wheat grass, dandelion and mazuri sprinkled in grated powder cuttlebone (I just grated cuttlebone on cheese grater, removed hard outer shell flakes and viola!).



SullySauna: I dremeled out the underside of a snake rock to accommodate her size (yes it took forever). Under the basking light, the rockstays a near 110° inside, but dark. She seems to enjoy this hide during daytime naps but not at night, she prefers humid hide or burying in her hay at night. I included a more traditional basking rock for full sun and heat. At night, the lights are switched to heated night light lights (the purple hue kind).


I don't know where she got this little pebble from but she plays with it like a soccer ball on her basking rock.


When I got Morla, she had been kept her whole life (4-6 months) in 0 humidity at room temperatures and no UVB light. I believe she was showing signs of pyramiding which I am actively trying to stop. If you have any suggestions on how I can improve her life PLEASE offer them to me! We love her dearly and want to work hard to make sure her life is healthy.

Happy Morla says "thank you tortoise forum!"

 

[G-stars]

Great job. With this set up the new growth should come in smoothly.

 

[pam]

Great job

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

That's so much better! She'll be much happier in her enclosure now
I think it's great, good job.

 

[Yvonne G]

Lookin' good!!!

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Good job working to improve

Pull out that hay corner to prevent a "mold corner" and you'll be yet another step in the right direction

 

[tortadise]

Good job working to improve

Pull out that hay corner to prevent a "mold corner" and you'll be yet another step in the right direction

You beat me to it

Everything looks great. Now enjoy.

 

[Morlas Mama]

Lookin' good!!!

Thank you for greeting me on my first day here and directing me to Tom's caresheets!

Good job working to improve

Pull out that hay corner to prevent a "mold corner" and you'll be yet another step in the right direction

I have been changing the hay daily, think it could still mold in that short of a time period? I only ask because she loves burrowing in it and sleeps most nights burried in it. For some reason she prefers to sleep at an incline with her head up. Do turtles get GERD at night? LOL

 

[Maro2Bear]

Nice job - last picture is perfect! A happy sully eating his grass.

 

[Morlas Mama]

Nice job - last picture is perfect! A happy sully eating his grass.

I was afraid she would not take kindly to a switch in her diet. But she took to the grass and weeds perfectly! Now I am buying seeds to add some of her food to my indoor greenhouse. Sucks living where I do with the cold winters 7 months out of the year, but I've grown gardens indoors for years. Hopefully I can do well by her indoors too.

 

[Dizisdalife]

What an improvement! I like the sponge, and it does belong on the inside top of the hide (once you get that in). As for burrowing, I think the hide will be enough for the time being. That sense of security is very important for the little ones. Once you get everything all changed and as good as it will get you are going to have about two weeks before you start planning for the next enclosure. Sulcata can grow quite fast.

 

[Maro2Bear]

One minor suggestion if I may. Instead of switching out lights for night-time heating, you might want to get urself a CHE on a thermostat. You can have it on 24/7 and it will self regulate with the thermostat. Beats having to switch lights about every evening and morning.

 

[Morlas Mama]

What an improvement! I like the sponge, and it does belong on the inside top of the hide (once you get that in). As for burrowing, I think the hide will be enough for the time being. That sense of security is very important for the little ones. Once you get everything all changed and as good as it will get you are going to have about two weeks before you start planning for the next enclosure. Sulcata can grow quite fast.

Two weeks?! That's all I get lol. I was actually thinking the same thing. My son has begun drafting blue prints for a new habitat to build in his workshop class. Yay for free labor! Lol

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

the cage looks amazing!

 

[Morlas Mama]

One minor suggestion if I may. Instead of switching out lights for night-time heating, you might want to get urself a CHE on a thermostat. You can have it on 24/7 and it will self regulate with the thermostat. Beats having to switch lights about every evening and morning.

Great suggestion thank you! I have two lights in there right now. One with the night bulb and one with the day. The night bulb only kicks on if the temps fall below 78° and then I manually switch it on for night. This has saved me in changing bulbs everyday. I do have a third ceramic fixture. I suppose I could add the CHE in place of the night light on the timer and add the night bulb to the third fixture without a timer.

The night bulb is more for me than her I think since I check on her during the night like a crazy tort lady lol. If I can break myself of checking her breathing like a newborn baby during the night, I could replace the night bulb with the CHE for sure!

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I have been changing the hay daily, think it could still mold in that short of a time period? I only ask because she loves burrowing in it and sleeps most nights burried in it.

In the past I would have said daily changing is fine....but @Tortus used to do the same thing and found there to be issues. I'd have to check his threads for accuracy but it was along the lines of mold (despite daily hay changes) and I think breathing issues..
Since then I'd say regardless of daily changes, hay and high humidity don't go well together.

Have you heard of spaghnum moss? It is long stringy moss that many torts love to burrow into. It'll offer the same preferred "burrow bed" for your sully without mold issues.

 

[Morlas Mama]

In the past I would have said daily changing is fine....but @Tortus used to do the same thing and found there to be issues. I'd have to check his threads for accuracy but it was along the lines of mold (despite daily hay changes) and I think breathing issues..
Since then I'd say regardless of daily changes, hay and high humidity don't go well together.

Have you heard of spaghnum moss? It is long stringy moss that many torts love to burrow into. It'll offer the same preferred "burrow bed" for your sully without mold issues.

Perfect! I will put that on my shopping list for tomorrow and remove the hay. Thanks for the tip!

 

[stinax182]

Wow! Very nice! Cute baby too!

I was under the impression that with high humidity you shouldn't let the temp drop below 80°f... Two degrees can be a lot. I would have it set to 80°f-85°f.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Wow! Very nice! Cute baby too!

I was under the impression that with high humidity you shouldn't let the temp drop below 80°f... Two degrees can be a lot. I would have it set to 80°f-85°f.

80F is a good minimum but 2degrees isn't going to cause a catastrophe. I've had temps go as low as 75-77F and it's still ok. Yes, Lean towards 80 but slightly lower is still ok.
Now, dropping into 73, 72,70s...etc... you start asking for trouble.

I'd prefer the temps going down to 78F over keeping it at an 85F minimum..

 

[Levi the Leopard]

See, buried in the moss! Your tort will love it and it's mold risk free!

(I've used both the green and the brown sphagnum moss)