Enclosure.

[Caitlinrosexx]

I got my Sulcata on Tuesday and I just wondered if you guys could look over my enclosure and see if it’s ok? Also I went out today and I came back and was on his side after by what it looks like climbing on the wooden hide, should I remove it? Will he be ok?

 

[Beanmiester]

Hi and welcome, you need to have a read of the care guides for baby sulcatas, he needs to be in an enclosed vivarium, with 80-90% humidity. There are care guides on the sulcata page.

 

[Beanmiester]

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/t...ulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181497/unread
Not sure if this will work not been on here long, have a look.

 

[Tom]

I got my Sulcata on Tuesday and I just wondered if you guys could look over my enclosure and see if it’s ok? Also I went out today and I came back and was on his side after by what it looks like climbing on the wooden hide, should I remove it? Will he be ok?

Hello and welcome.

Unfortunately, you have fallen victim to the same wrong pet shop info that so many people are given. You have the wrong type of enclosure, wrong lighting, wrong substrate, etc... I'm sorry this has happened, but we will help you get it right so that your baby will survive and thrive and then outgrow the space you have available.

Start here. Read this info at least twice, and then look for the sulcata care sheet at the bottom.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[TammyJ]

Welcome to the forum and please try to follow the good advice given so your little one will be healthy and happy with you!

 

[wellington]

So wish you had come here before getting your tortoise
I second Everything Tom said
Please make changes ASAP so you hopefully can have a long time shell friend.
Hopefully you bought him from someone that knows how to start them correctly.

 

[Pák]

Hi and welcome!

After you did read the care sheets, its important, to NOT try making humidity with spraying the substrate, until he stays in that open toped enclosure. OR you shoud rise your room temperature above 80F. IF your room is in the 70F-s the evaporation will cool down you tort even more and he will got respiratory infection in 2-3 days. I learned it by the hard way. They can survive in dry conditions even in lower temps but its terrible for them, but better than getting RI because of tryharding to give them moisture in an open area, wich is impossible.
IF you dont have the resources to get a closed chamber, i recommend you to get to the closed hide a way tinier opening (closing it with a plasticbox roof) , drop there a heat source, maybe a heat mat to the top, and then you can change the substrate there to a orchid bark or a cypressmulc-coco coir mix, and that you can moist because the there will be enough heat for him to stay healthy. I think this solution can be suitable for 2-3 month for him, UNTIL you can get a closed top enclosure.
I recommend you to get the new enclosure second hand, you shoud find planty of options way cheaper than building it for yourself, or buying a new one.
I got this one for ~120$, its a 150cmx70cmx50cm:



I got my sulcata from a breeder how starts them good for 2 days, and then throw them in an open top box with wood chips substrate in the kitchen on room temp and done. HE showed me sulcatas 6 month old, they where alive but with hardcore pyramiding.
Luckily i was able to get mine when he was only 15 day old, but i can show his carapaca was already dried out:


You can see how it is healing just under a week, and then in 3 week with the right conditions:

Good luck, and don't be afraid to ask, there are knowledgeable forum members on this site who are happy to help you!

 

[Caitlinrosexx]

I got my Sulcata on Tuesday and I just wondered if you guys could look over my enclosure and see if it’s ok? Also I went out today and I came back and was on his side after by what it looks like climbing on the wooden hide, should I remove it? Will he be ok?

Hello guys thank you for all the advice, I honestly really appreciate your help. I feel really bad for getting it all wrong for him though I’m going to do my best to rectify the problem as fast as I can once I have done this I will come back with a picture just to make sure I’m still not making little mistakes.

 

[Pák]

How is it going @Caitlinrosexx?