advice for a new Sulcata owner

[Ryan M]

Welcome to the forum, the split scutes look really cool. Want to trade?

hehe.

thanks motero, but I have already grown quite fond of the little guy, but hey, if you can come to utah, the breeder had a couple others with the same split scutes... ​

 

[DeanS]

if my temps are already at 100 in the warm zone and 70-75 in the cool zone, would i be necessary to switch the lighting setup?

No, you can just keep the light a bit closer. But don't keep it close that's it's touching him, around 8" or 10" to bump up the temps is fine.

Grassland Mix alone is a bit boring to tortoises. Try mixing it with spring greens and timothy hay topped with a dash of calcium. Hopefully this mix should be more enticing. You could also go to your local nursery and buy some hibiscus, nasturtiums, or gazanias. Those are recommended flowers for sullies.

About the light's you should switch to a MVB the light you have do not put out enough UVB/UVA for a sully

Precisely!

 

[Dizisdalife]

My yearling sulcata wouldn't eat the Zoomed Grassland tortoise pellets no matter what I did to them. When I got some Mazuri tortoise food it became his favorite food.

 

[Yvonne G]

seeing how these temps seem to be in the range you have described, would it still be necessary to have a ceramic heat element?

Oh, and also, how often do you folks change out the substrate?

Thanks again!

Hi Ryan:

The ceramic heat emitter (CHE) is used for night time heat if that's necessary.

I don't change my substrate. I do spot cleanings.

 

[Ryan M]

Again, thanks for all the help folks!

About his new substrate....
He seems to like to try and eat the cyprus mulch... is this bad and how can I get him to stop if it is bad?

and the nighttime temps stay about 72-75 in his tank...without a CHE

sorry this noob has so many questions....​

 

[coreyc]

Is he eating it or just biting it ? can you post some pic's of your new setup?

 

[Tom]

Again, thanks for all the help folks!

About his new substrate....
He seems to like to try and eat the cyprus mulch... is this bad and how can I get him to stop if it is bad?

and the nighttime temps stay about 72-75 in his tank...without a CHE

sorry this noob has so many questions....​

Are you using an infrared or any other "colored" type of bulb? Sometimes that will cause them to try to eat weird stuff.

If you are keeping him humid and on a damp substrate, I think 72 is too cold. Really pushing your luck. Personally I shoot for 80 when they are little like that. When they get big they can handle night time lows in the 50's with no problem.

 

[Ryan M]

I stopped using the red infrared bulb a couple days ago.

And yeah, I am not sure if he was actually eating it or just biting it. I took it out of his mouth when I noticed he bis chomping on a piece. I dont work tomorrow so I will have all day to keep an eye on him and see if he is just biting the cyprus or if he is eating it.

And I will see about getting a CHE to get those night time temps to 80ish.

I meant to get some pics up of the new setup last night but didnt have time after I got home from work, I will deff post new pics tomorrow since I am not working and wont be home til late again tonight.

with all of your guys help, I think I am doing better at this and it is coming along nicely.

Is it bad for those little pieces of substrate to be sticking to his legs, neck and shoulders? Can it get up inside his shell or anything like that?​

 

[Fernando]

I stopped using the red infrared bulb a couple days ago.

And yeah, I am not sure if he was actually eating it or just biting it. I took it out of his mouth when I noticed he bis chomping on a piece. I dont work tomorrow so I will have all day to keep an eye on him and see if he is just biting the cyprus or if he is eating it.

And I will see about getting a CHE to get those night time temps to 80ish.

I meant to get some pics up of the new setup last night but didnt have time after I got home from work, I will deff post new pics tomorrow since I am not working and wont be home til late again tonight.

with all of your guys help, I think I am doing better at this and it is coming along nicely.

Is it bad for those little pieces of substrate to be sticking to his legs, neck and shoulders? Can it get up inside his shell or anything like that?​

I noticed mine was doing that a lot. Getting it in his face and stuff...out in the wild they'd be able to handle dirt and things im sure. As long as its not plunged in his/her eye I'm sure it will just fall off and he/she will be fine.

 

[Ryan M]

well, here are the new pics that I said I was going to post a couple days ago... been busy here. hehe

This is his new enclosure, with the new substrate that I keep a bit moist.
The area under the new bulb is about 100 to 103 deg, and the cool side is about 75 deg.
At night I have a heat element to keep the tank about 78-81ish.

I am still working on a humid hide box.

I am a little worried about the swelling you can see in the upside down picture, but it really only looks like this after a soak, that pic was taken after a soak too.

Daisy eats two times a day and gets 2 soaks a day.

I have just started dusting her food with calcium + D3 every other day.

She sleeps a lot, but also cruises the tank multiple times a day.

She does not go under her log hardly ever, rather she hangs out under the light most of the day, and likes to sleep under the light. Could this make her too hot? Do they know when to cool themselves off?

When should the plastron start to harden up? it seems a bit soft or maybe that is normal for the babies?

She eats drinks often and seems active, so I hope I am doing OK at this job.​

On to the pics....​

I know her face and plastron are a bit dirty, but I am afraid to clean her up and dont know how...

Thanks again for all the help guys/gals!​

 

[dmmj]

they self regulate their temps, it's what they do, if it gets to hot for it it will move as long as it is not prevented from doing so. They get dirty it is also what they do, don't worry they can get clean when you soak, or they can stay dirty as long as there is like no impaction of dirt or feces it will be no problem. I tis normal for babies to be soft, in the wild they can stay oft for years, calcium and sunshine will help harden them up, but don't worry about it unless they start to go softer than what they are, as long as they stay the same it is ok (I hope I explained that well)

 

[Tom]

I think you are doing fine. Temps sound good. Get that humid hide going. It really helps prevent pyramiding. I picked up two plastic shoe boxes at Home Depot yesterday for .99 cents each.

Get her out in the sun whenever you can. Between that, the MVB, the calcium powder and a good diet, her plastron should slowly start to harden up.

Don't forget to spray her shell 3-4 times a day too. This helps them grow smooth AND helps keep the humidity up too. I can't keep any humidity where I live with an open top like that. I have to mostly cover mine, but you do whatever works for you.

Nice work. I'm really happy for you and your tort. I hope you have many happy decades together.

 

[Ryan M]

Hello All,

So... its been a while since I last posted on the forum here, but I have still been reading all the posts on the forum every day and I think I have learned a ton.

Anyway.. here is an update, and here are some thing that concern me and worry me since I have last posted...

I have had the humid hide box now for a couple weeks, however, I never see her in there, and when I put her in there during the day or at night, she comes out.
She also has a hide on the warm side of the tank, but she doesnt really use that either.

she spends almost all day directly under the MVB bulb, slightly submerged in the substrate.
so I am worried that since she spends all day under the bulb she is too hot all day.

I am also worried that I never see her urinate, nor do I see urates in her tank or in her twice daily soaks.
I also never see her drink from her water dish, but I also am not able to watch her all day long, so maybe she does drink and urinate and it is dry by the time I get home.

I did however find a really hard stone that she passed a couple weeks ago, and from reading here it had to be a kidney stone of some sort. not sure if this was from her previous keeping before I got her or what, but I have soaked her every day since the day I have had her.

She eats very well, a nice large pile of spring mix at least twice a day, and she is active from what I can tell. She does like to roam the tank multiple times a day.

Like I said, she does get 2 soaks a day for 20-30 mins a soak.
I also spray the tank with water at least once a day.

Temps on the hot side are about 105 and about 76 on the cool side, but I am really worried since she spends all day under the 105 side.

I also notices some strange marking on her shell that I hope you can see on the pics...

I am not sure if there is more I can be doing or something I should be doing different, but I do think she is dehydrated from all her time under the MVB, even with the soaks...

If anyone can chime in, please let me know...

Also, I have noticed that her shell pattern is different from any other pic that I have seen here... it is not uniform on both sides... there is a random square that looks like it shouldnt be there.

here are pics taken today...​

notice the white ring marks on this first picture... I dont think they should be there and they are new, only been there a couple days.

pic of the strange shell pattern...

enclosure pics... I take down the MVB at night and hang a heat element.

 

[Laura]

what kind of calcium is she getting?
the extra 'sqaure' is nothing to worry about. I dont know about the
white markings..

 

[tortoises101]

Nice new enclosure! And yes, I too would like to figure out how you're supplementing him. Keep us posted.

 

[Ryan M]

as a supplement, I use EXO-TERRA Calcium + D3.

I sprinkle the powder directly on her spring mix a few times a week.
I use the little tiny white spoon that it came with and she gets one spoonful sprinkled on the greens/reds 2-3 times a week.

Another thing I am woriied about but everyone here says its normal, is she eats her poop. If I am not able to get it out of there before she does her business its gone pretty quick.

Her stool is not solid but its not runny, just soft, and has a slight greenish brown tint to it.​

 

[tortoises101]

as a supplement, I use EXO-TERRA Calcium + D3.

I sprinkle the powder directly on her spring mix a few times a week.
I use the little tiny white spoon that it came with and she gets one spoonful sprinkled on the greens/reds 2-3 times a week.

Another thing I am woriied about but everyone here says its normal, is she eats her poop. If I am not able to get it out of there before she does her business its gone pretty quick.

Her stool is not solid but its not runny, just soft, and has a slight greenish brown tint to it.​

The feces should be a bit harder and well formed. Try feeding some broadleaf plantain (plantago major). Those weeds are rich in calcium and high in fibre too.

You should supplement with non-D3 calcium daily and D3 3 times a week (so if you use a calcium/D3 combination you should only use that 3 times a week and the rest of the week you should supplement with calcium carbonate).

 

[Maggie Cummings]

It looks to me like you are doing fine. The white ring looks like new growth to me. Except, I believe that 2 soakings is too much for a hatchling. That makes the feces go thru her intestines too fast and she doesn't get optimum nutrition from it. Normally it should stay in there for up to 2 weeks, she still would be pooping often, once a day or missing a couple of days but the feces would be in her intestines from the time she eats it, to up to a couple of weeks. I have an 80 pound Sulcata who eats like a pig and poops once a week, and that's good. So I personally would only soak her once a day for about 10 minutes. You can wash her butt at that time with a medium to soft brush. If she'll let you, use a soft brush to wash her face...you can always tell a poop eater!
You can scrub her plastron and carapace at that time. Be gentle with her and she will learn to enjoy the scrub. If you're lucky when you scrub her carapace she'll do the Hootchie Cootchie dance for you.
I have 8 habitats in the house right now and one in Bob's shed and every one of those
has a fixture with a black light bulb in it. I leave them on 24/7 for heat and none of my 31 chelonia eat the substrate. I have been using black light bulbs for heat for a lot of years and my sister used them before me for about 30 years. I think CHE's are too expensive to operate...