Hello! I am exceptionally new to the entire tortoise owning sector of the world, having kept a tiny fence lizard for 6 years. So you'll have to let me know about all the things I am doing wrong (or right) as I quickly figure out her care.
I just got a ~4 year old sulcata from someone who is moving to another country. The previous owner mentioned some growth problems, which seems to be pyramiding of the shell (and possibly lower carapace?)
Her daytime is spent partially outdoors to try to soak up some more sun.
Her current tank came from a pet shop and does a good job of keeping the heat at 90F. (This is a cleaned version...I had to spend a few hours scrubbing it when it first arrived! It is usually filled with dry hay, has a cardboard box for hiding, and a water dish. There are also various rocks. I should get around to taking another photo of this, although she seems content--no attempts to escape and comes to the front of the tank whenever she notices us.)
She seems alert, friendly, and voracious.
You can see her in action here.
Currently (it is our third day!) we have started feeding her cut up cactii mixed in with some dandelion greens and hay. I found that soaking the hay beforehand makes her less grumpy about eating it, and plan to switch it to mostly hay now after reading some care sheets. It's dusted with Rep-Cal and I have a jar of Herpevite...which I plan to use once a week.
So question-wise...any changes needed or is there some infection that I have failed to see?
The one thing which does worry me is that although the poop is solid and green, the tortoise releases a lot of water every once in awhile which is brown (especially if it is disturbed--picked up and carried downstairs).
All right, a very long first post. Hope it wasn't too long to read.
I just got a ~4 year old sulcata from someone who is moving to another country. The previous owner mentioned some growth problems, which seems to be pyramiding of the shell (and possibly lower carapace?)
Her daytime is spent partially outdoors to try to soak up some more sun.
Her current tank came from a pet shop and does a good job of keeping the heat at 90F. (This is a cleaned version...I had to spend a few hours scrubbing it when it first arrived! It is usually filled with dry hay, has a cardboard box for hiding, and a water dish. There are also various rocks. I should get around to taking another photo of this, although she seems content--no attempts to escape and comes to the front of the tank whenever she notices us.)
She seems alert, friendly, and voracious.
You can see her in action here.
Currently (it is our third day!) we have started feeding her cut up cactii mixed in with some dandelion greens and hay. I found that soaking the hay beforehand makes her less grumpy about eating it, and plan to switch it to mostly hay now after reading some care sheets. It's dusted with Rep-Cal and I have a jar of Herpevite...which I plan to use once a week.
So question-wise...any changes needed or is there some infection that I have failed to see?
The one thing which does worry me is that although the poop is solid and green, the tortoise releases a lot of water every once in awhile which is brown (especially if it is disturbed--picked up and carried downstairs).
All right, a very long first post. Hope it wasn't too long to read.