adult sulcata

[Razan]

The plan is to have the wrought iron going 6" into the ground and 18" above ground. I am looking forward to having a shallow pool for him, a $15.00 kitty pool from Wall Mart with his entrance cut out. Right now he has no access to wading water. Is 3" of water OK ? Thank you for your patience with us new owners having loads of questions.

 

[Razan]

Finally have a picture to post. Can you tell me anything about this tortoise from his picture ... age, health status, anything?

 

[Razan]

It took a month just to get a photo of this guy onto the forum. How do I post more pictures here?

 

[Tom]

It took a month just to get a photo of this guy onto the forum. How do I post more pictures here?

Go to tinypic.com. Upload any size photo and then copy/paste the IMG code into your forum post. No hassles, no accounts. Just free and easy.

 

[DeanS]

A little free advice...forget the wrought iron! A well-known breeder in OC (CA) had a 200# sully that uprooted a 500# wrought iron gate amd ventured through the streets of Orange. They managed to get him home after locating him some 2 or 3 miles from their home...and convincing him to go home wasn't easy! With a big sully...I can't stress enough that barriers consist of block, railroad ties or telephone poles...sure there are exceptions to the well-contained...but is it worth the risk?

 

[Razan]

[/IMG] hmmmm...

 

[Razan]

THANKS TOM ! His current yard is so huge I feel kind of bad limiting him a smaller space. At our place his space will be about 40' x 40' He will have better food and water available here and more attention. Can you guestimate age ?

 

[Razan]

[/IMG]

 

[Tom]

No way to know the age unless you can discover the hatch date somehow. They really didn't become widely available to the public until the early 90's, so this guy would most likely be between 8 and 25 years old.

 

[Yvonne G]

Looks like he may be from 10 to 15 years old.

 

[Razan]

 

[Razan]

Here he is with his current fencing/enclosure. The first day we gave him the water dish he tried to climb inside and dragged it around with him for a while. I can hardly wait to get him to our place and let him soak.

 

[Donna/Turbo]

He is amazing. There is no way my little turbo will ever get that big!! I just find the big ones so amazing. Someone here has an entire herd of Aldabra's and I look at the pictures all the time. I would love to see them in person. How much does he eat each day?

 

[Razan]

He is amazing. There is no way my little turbo will ever get that big!! I just find the big ones so amazing. Someone here has an entire herd of Aldabra's and I look at the pictures all the time. I would love to see them in person. How much does he eat each day?

That is a good question that I do not have an answer for. We starting feeding a stuffed plastic grocery bag full of orchard hay along with bits of grass, bok choy and other greens every other day. He eats all of it except for some of the hay is left/scattered. It is piled in layers hiding the greens in the hay otherwise he likes to just pick out the special greens. Thankfully his main diet is the orchard hay. This is fortunate for such a large tortoise

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

That is a good question that I do not have an answer for. We starting feeding a stuffed plastic grocery bag full of orchard hay along with bits of grass, bok choy and other greens every other day. He eats all of it except for some of the hay is left/scattered. It is piled in layers hiding the greens in the hay otherwise he likes to just pick out the special greens. Thankfully his main diet is the orchard hay. This is fortunate for such a large tortoise

does he have access to water at all times?

 

[Razan]

From what I have learned recently this seems like an OK diet. If anyone has suggestions to do things differently I am most anxious to be informed. The layers of hay and greens are also sprinkled with some water for extra moisture. Our weather is super dry.

 

[Razan]

does he have access to water at all times?

Yes he now has water at all times. I slipped a water dish into his are and keep it filled.

 

[Prairie Mom]

I love the way you are already caring for this guy! I look forward to observing your progress

 

[Razan]

Progress will be finishing the night box. So far only starting on the lid. Nothing happens fast with me. Maybe that's why tortoises are so good, they are just my pace. Working on a 4 x4 night box but wondering if the 700w oil heater I bought is too much heat. Didn't find a recommended 500w. Any opinions on this?

 

[Juan V]

DO NOT LET THEM MEET. The exchange of diseases between the two species can kill both tortoises.

Well now we are being a bit exagerate. It COULD happen, but in a very LOW percentage. ¿When you talk about this african tortoise what species is it?

It is way better if they never really have contact at all yes, but .... @Tom will disagree and he's probably right, but I don't really find this a big deal.