MauiSulcata
New Member
I have had our baby sulcata for a little over a month and am trying to learn the best way to care for him. I'm not sure how old he is exactly. The people we took him from didn't really seem to know what they were doing, and they told us they "thought" he was 2 months old, but after spending a lot of time on here, I'm thinking he may be several months older than that? He weighs 98 grams.
We live in Maui, Hawaii, and are fortunate to have pretty nice sunny weather year-round. He spends several hours in a large, protected outdoor enclosure about 5 days/week, weather permitting and as long as someone is home. I would say the outside air temperature is between 80-85 degrees during that time, so probably warmer on the ground in the sun (he does have shade he can get to). He seems happiest outside roaming around and loves to graze on the grass and weeds in our backyard.
The rest of the time he is inside the house in one of the Zoo Med Tortoise Tables. I originally used a coconut substrate, but when it needed changing, I could not purchase it again locally, and my only option was a fir substrate. Not sure if this is the best? I'm having trouble keeping the humidity up in his indoor enclosure. If it's cool enough outside to have our windows open, the humidity in his tort table will sometimes increase to about 60-65%, but if our a/c is on, it's usually down around 40%. I've been trying to spray it down with water several times a day, which seems to increase it only slightly and very temporarily - I can never get it above 70% though and if I do, I'm not sure it stays there very long (within an hour it has dropped again) - we are often unavailable for long stretches to be spraying the enclosure with water, so right now I just can't keep the humidity up consistently. This surprises me here in humid Hawaii! Does anyone have any suggestions on easier ways to increase the humidity? Should I order the coconut substrate from Amazon as it seems I may have trouble buying it regularly locally? Maybe the fir is not as good at holding moisture (although the packaging says it maintains humid environment for reptiles)?
I think I've got the temps pretty well controlled - the warmest area where he actually seems to prefer to stay usually is right around 100 deg. I'm not sure of the exact temp of the coolest (dark) side of the tort table, but because it's rather closed off from the other side, I'd say it's quite a bit cooler. I've never seen him go in there though. He does have 2 other hiding areas he sometimes goes - under a half log thing and also an artificial plant (He prefers the log). We use a regular heat lamp during the day, then switch to a red night bulb at night (he seems to be sleeping longer with this new change). And the actual temperature inside our house is usually right around 79-80 degrees anyway, even if the windows are closed and the a/c is on (I know, but it's Hawaii!).
I am soaking him for about 30 minutes twice a day every day.
Any suggestions for his habitat would be greatly appreciated!
We live in Maui, Hawaii, and are fortunate to have pretty nice sunny weather year-round. He spends several hours in a large, protected outdoor enclosure about 5 days/week, weather permitting and as long as someone is home. I would say the outside air temperature is between 80-85 degrees during that time, so probably warmer on the ground in the sun (he does have shade he can get to). He seems happiest outside roaming around and loves to graze on the grass and weeds in our backyard.
The rest of the time he is inside the house in one of the Zoo Med Tortoise Tables. I originally used a coconut substrate, but when it needed changing, I could not purchase it again locally, and my only option was a fir substrate. Not sure if this is the best? I'm having trouble keeping the humidity up in his indoor enclosure. If it's cool enough outside to have our windows open, the humidity in his tort table will sometimes increase to about 60-65%, but if our a/c is on, it's usually down around 40%. I've been trying to spray it down with water several times a day, which seems to increase it only slightly and very temporarily - I can never get it above 70% though and if I do, I'm not sure it stays there very long (within an hour it has dropped again) - we are often unavailable for long stretches to be spraying the enclosure with water, so right now I just can't keep the humidity up consistently. This surprises me here in humid Hawaii! Does anyone have any suggestions on easier ways to increase the humidity? Should I order the coconut substrate from Amazon as it seems I may have trouble buying it regularly locally? Maybe the fir is not as good at holding moisture (although the packaging says it maintains humid environment for reptiles)?
I think I've got the temps pretty well controlled - the warmest area where he actually seems to prefer to stay usually is right around 100 deg. I'm not sure of the exact temp of the coolest (dark) side of the tort table, but because it's rather closed off from the other side, I'd say it's quite a bit cooler. I've never seen him go in there though. He does have 2 other hiding areas he sometimes goes - under a half log thing and also an artificial plant (He prefers the log). We use a regular heat lamp during the day, then switch to a red night bulb at night (he seems to be sleeping longer with this new change). And the actual temperature inside our house is usually right around 79-80 degrees anyway, even if the windows are closed and the a/c is on (I know, but it's Hawaii!).
I am soaking him for about 30 minutes twice a day every day.
Any suggestions for his habitat would be greatly appreciated!