KGawi
New Member
My sister has finally agreed to release her Sulcata tortoise to me!
Hanu is about eight years old, between 8-10 inches long. Currently, at my sister's house, she lives in a 1ft by 30 inch fish tank, she has no burrow, her substrate is red sand, about two inches deep, and they feed her only romaine lettuce from the store, dandelions when they are in season in the yard.
my sister is always working and never does anything for or with her tortoise, so i finally convinced her to release Hanu to me. She wants me to prove that I can provide better living conditions though......
I am proposing to build a 5 by 4 ft turtle table, 20 square feet. She must stay indoors as we live in Washington and it is getting freezing here already. the enclosure I will provide is more than 7 times larger than what she has, it will include a burrow big enough for her to go in and turn freely, and live grasses (wheatgrass and rice grass are what I have immediately available but I will expand that to more selections soon), I will remove the sand substrate and replace with a mix of organic topsoil and peat moss to retain moisture, Hanu will only eat the lettuce she is given for now so I am proposing to chop her lettuce small and start mixing grasses into her diet until she moves away from the lettuce completely.
Hanu spends way to much time scratching at the glass of her tank, I told my sister that I read this is because she is trying to escape and she needs a home that she can't see through.
My sister thinks I am wrong, that sand is the correct substrate, and that romaine lettuce is the best option next to dandelions. She will give me Hanu because she finally understands she is not caring for her as best she can, i am a gardener so growing food for Hanu will be a pleasure.
I am more than willing to do the research and put in the time to give hanu as happy a life as i can. Please correct me on any of my ideas that are wrong. Also, i want to get Hanu right away out of her small tank so i proposed to put her into a large plastic tote with burrow and non-sand substrate until her turtle table is completed.. thoughts?? Thank you so much for your answers I am new to tortoise owning but I want very much to do the best i can for Hanu.
Hanu is about eight years old, between 8-10 inches long. Currently, at my sister's house, she lives in a 1ft by 30 inch fish tank, she has no burrow, her substrate is red sand, about two inches deep, and they feed her only romaine lettuce from the store, dandelions when they are in season in the yard.
my sister is always working and never does anything for or with her tortoise, so i finally convinced her to release Hanu to me. She wants me to prove that I can provide better living conditions though......
I am proposing to build a 5 by 4 ft turtle table, 20 square feet. She must stay indoors as we live in Washington and it is getting freezing here already. the enclosure I will provide is more than 7 times larger than what she has, it will include a burrow big enough for her to go in and turn freely, and live grasses (wheatgrass and rice grass are what I have immediately available but I will expand that to more selections soon), I will remove the sand substrate and replace with a mix of organic topsoil and peat moss to retain moisture, Hanu will only eat the lettuce she is given for now so I am proposing to chop her lettuce small and start mixing grasses into her diet until she moves away from the lettuce completely.
Hanu spends way to much time scratching at the glass of her tank, I told my sister that I read this is because she is trying to escape and she needs a home that she can't see through.
My sister thinks I am wrong, that sand is the correct substrate, and that romaine lettuce is the best option next to dandelions. She will give me Hanu because she finally understands she is not caring for her as best she can, i am a gardener so growing food for Hanu will be a pleasure.
I am more than willing to do the research and put in the time to give hanu as happy a life as i can. Please correct me on any of my ideas that are wrong. Also, i want to get Hanu right away out of her small tank so i proposed to put her into a large plastic tote with burrow and non-sand substrate until her turtle table is completed.. thoughts?? Thank you so much for your answers I am new to tortoise owning but I want very much to do the best i can for Hanu.