Acclimating outside

[Celiagg]

Hi everyone!
I’ve had my sulcata for 3 years now. I live in Southern California. My Sheldon has been coming out during the summer to enjoy the weather. This summer I have decided to transition him full time outside. A house was built for him with insulation, it has a sky light for natural light to enter. He’s been outside full time for the past week. He’s still active pees and poops normally. But he isn’t eating as much.. could this be the transition or the fact that I’ve cut his veggies dandelions to orchard and Timothy hay??
Any advice or knowledge is appreciated

 

[Tom]

Hi everyone!
I’ve had my sulcata for 3 years now. I live in Southern California. My Sheldon has been coming out during the summer to enjoy the weather. This summer I have decided to transition him full time outside. A house was built for him with insulation, it has a sky light for natural light to enter. He’s been outside full time for the past week. He’s still active pees and poops normally. But he isn’t eating as much.. could this be the transition or the fact that I’ve cut his veggies dandelions to orchard and Timothy hay??
Any advice or knowledge is appreciated

I would cover up the sky light. Sulcatas live underground in burrows and they don't need or want the light.

How are you heating the house, and what is the temperature inside away from the heater on the floor? What size is the house?

Where in CA are you? Big bear and Palm Springs are both in Southern CA, but very different advice for each. We've had cooler weather the last few days, and that can be a factor.

Did you change the diet gradually, or all at once?

 

[Celiagg]

The house is a 3x3x3. I have a 100
Watt heat bulb. It’s set up to turn on below 85. I am in norwalk right by Buena Park “knots berry farm”. I did change it pretty quick. The first 3 days he took it like a champ and he just stopped.

 

[Tom]

The house is a 3x3x3. I have a 100
Watt heat bulb. It’s set up to turn on below 85. I am in norwalk right by Buena Park “knots berry farm”. I did change it pretty quick. The first 3 days he took it like a champ and he just stopped.

You can't use heat lamps or CHEs on bigger tortoises. It will burn the carapace. Get a Kane mat and RHP, or install a radiant oil heater. Both should be able to run on your current thermostat as long as the thermostat is rated to 1000 watts or more.

That size box isn't going to last very long. Make the next one at least 4x4, or 4x8 feet, and only go 24 inches tall. You are currently heating a 36 inch air column and your tortoise only occupies the lower 12 inches or so.

Dry hay can block them up. Soak daily for a couple of weeks, and try to get some opuntia pads into him to lube up all that dry hay. You can also offer cucumber or zucchini for water. I've seen pumpkin for sale too now. Either offer large pieces that are several inches, or grate it up with a cheese grater. Don't dice it up in to chunks. They can choke on that.

Your climate is great for tortoises, so that is a plus!

 

[Celiagg]

I literally installed the heater today. I will remove it and get the krabe mat. What is RHP? I’ve also seen some say they use a dog heater. Would you recommend that or stick to the Matt only. The hay I’ve been soaking with hot water letting it sit along with the Timothy hay cubes.. when you say zucchini or cucumbers do you mean to soak with the hay or along with the food.. can you tell me if this is the Matt your talking about? And do I need to cover it up or I can leave it in his house just as is…

 

[Tom]

I literally installed the heater today. I will remove it and get the krabe mat. What is RHP? I’ve also seen some say they use a dog heater. Would you recommend that or stick to the Matt only. The hay I’ve been soaking with hot water letting it sit along with the Timothy hay cubes.. when you say zucchini or cucumbers do you mean to soak with the hay or along with the food.. can you tell me if this is the Matt your talking about? And do I need to cover it up or I can leave it in his house just as is…

That is the correct type of mat. RHP is radiant heat panel. I like the ones from Vivarium Electronics. See if Kapidolofarms.com has them in stock. I've bought them from Reptile Basics too.

You'll have to specify what type of "dog heater". There are many types.

I mean feed him plain whole cucs or zucchinis to try to get some water into him. Spineless opuntia pads are best for this because they are slimy and very wet and they lube the GI tract. You can find them at any Mexican grocery store like Vallarta or Tres Sierras. Sometimes the Asian markets will have them too, and you have lots of those out your way like 99 Ranch Market.

Grated pumpkin is also very wet and slimy and they like it.

Are you checking the actual temperature on the floor of the box? Use a digital thermometer that records the highs and lows. It needs to stay above 80 at night on the floor and away from the heat sources.

 

[Celiagg]

This is the one I’ve seen some say is great for them.
I have not measured the temperature on the floor . The overall temperature in his home right now is 78.5. Which I assume by what you’re telling me the floor has to be even colder which would not make it ideal. I will have my son go get him some tomorrow.

 

[Tom]

This is the one I’ve seen some say is great for them.
I have not measured the temperature on the floor . The overall temperature in his home right now is 78.5. Which I assume by what you’re telling me the floor has to be even colder which would not make it ideal. I will have my son go get him some tomorrow.

That type of heater is both very inefficient and also very desiccating in this application. I would not use that type.

Definitely needs to be warmer in the box. A Kane mat on the floor for him to lay on will help a lot with this. Is the floor of the box well insulated too? No substrate or hay or anything like that on the Kane mats.

Here are two examples of the types of heaters I mentioned in use:

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

Double Door Night Box

As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[ryan57]

I affirm with what Tom is saying. 80deg is the lower limit for core temperature. My big guy is 3.5yrs and almost 22" SCL. A bit over 60lbs.

Back to the OP question about not eating. We are experiencing something peculiar here on the east cost where the animals are acting a bit different. This year in particular our guest box turtle Quincy that is 50 years old seemed to sense the weather changing to fall and all kinds of eating and daily cycle habits since March have changed. It seems that Figgy and Stump sense it too which brings me to my question. When sulcatas reach 22" or so even if they're young should I be alarmed if he wants to hang out in his indoor or outdoor burrow for a few days and not do much? Like 2-3 days? Poop is fine, both spots are between 82 and 86 degrees and when I pull them out they are between 83 and 85 degrees. I still have fresh water available and still take them out to soak them for 1.5hrs daily and then offer food. Do they just hang out underground until they "feel like" doing something? I know in the wild they are used to having a dry(er) season and don't eat or grow as much. I have no experience to draw from.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Dry hay can block them up.

You kinda lost me on that one Tom. So you're saying that dry hay is a no-no?

 

[Tom]

You kinda lost me on that one Tom. So you're saying that dry hay is a no-no?

Not saying that at all. The OP made a rather abrupt change from a wet diet to dry hay. I've seen this cause constipation or impaction in small sulcatas. Dry hay is a great food for adult sulcatas, but it needs to be introduced gradually and carefully in my experience. Hydration is key. I find opuntia pads to be the prefect complement when adding hay to any tortoises diet.

 

[Celiagg]

The floor is not insulted but I did put in a rubber matt

That type of heater is both very inefficient and also very desiccating in this application. I would not use that type.

Definitely needs to be warmer in the box. A Kane mat on the floor for him to lay on will help a lot with this. Is the floor of the box well insulated too? No substrate or hay or anything like that on the Kane mats.

Here are two examples of the types of heaters I mentioned in use:

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

Double Door Night Box

As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Celiagg]

The floor is not insulted but I did put in a rubber matt

The floor is not insulted but I did put in a rubber matt

The floor is not insulated but I did buy a rubber Matt that’s stapled down. Should I keep it or remove it? What size matt should I get?

 

[Tom]

The floor is not insulated but I did put in a rubber matt

That is likely your problem. Get that Kane mat in there ASAP.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Not saying that at all. The OP made a rather abrupt change from a wet diet to dry hay. I've seen this cause constipation or impaction in small sulcatas. Dry hay is a great food for adult sulcatas, but it needs to be introduced gradually and carefully in my experience. Hydration is key. I find opuntia pads to be the prefect complement when adding hay to any tortoises diet.

Ah, thanks for the clarification!

 

[Celiagg]

That is likely your problem. Get that Kane mat in there ASAP.

What size would be ideal for the size of his home? He is about 16 in length and 9-10 wide

 

[ryan57]

I got the big one that is like 2’x 3’ figuring it would be appropriate when full size. It was like $300. Amazon.

 

[Celiagg]

I got the big one that is like 2’x 3’ figuring it would be appropriate when full size. It was like $300. Amazon.

Did you buy the one with a thermostat or the self regulated?

 

[Tom]

What size would be ideal for the size of his home? He is about 16 in length and 9-10 wide

I think the 18x18 will work in your space. You could do the 18x28 too, and that will serve him better as he gets larger.

 

[Tom]

Did you buy the one with a thermostat or the self regulated?

Don't buy the one with the thermostat or rheostat. Just get the plain regular one, and run it on your own separate thermostat. Both your Kane mat and your RHP can run on the same thermostat.

You can also get chicken heater RHPs from Tractor Supply for about $50 if you can't find the reptile types.