First time outside for hatchling?

[Jerickson]

Hi Everyone!

I'm new to the forum. I brought home my new friend, Trevor, a few days ago and I'm working on becoming a good Sulcata dad.

Trevor is a hatchling, just a couple months old. I'm curious if there is any reason I should wait before taking him for some supervised outside time? I'm thinking like 20 mins at a time. We have couple of warmish days (mid-70s) coming up next week, and I thought that might be a good time. But I also don't want to stress the little fella out. What do you y'all think?

 

[Tom]

Don't "supervise" a loose tortoise. Make a safe enclosure and put him in it.

This will help in ways you didn't even know you needed help:

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[Jerickson]

Thanks for the info, Tom. I spent a few weeks reading up on Sulcata care, on this site and from other sources, before bringing Trevor home, so I feel pretty well verses in the basics. But it's always good to get more information.

Let me rephrase my question and try again: Assuming I have a secure outdoor "enclosure" ready to go, with a water dish and moist hide, and I'm there supervising Trevor (mostly to watch for unexpected things like stinging insects, neighborhood cats jumping the fence etc...) are there any recommendations around introducing a hatchling to outdoor time? Is it a good idea to start doing it a couple times a week now, or it it better to wait until Trevor is a little bigger?

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the info, Tom. I spent a few weeks reading up on Sulcata care, on this site and from other sources, before bringing Trevor home, so I feel pretty well verses in the basics. But it's always good to get more information.

Let me rephrase my question and try again: Assuming I have a secure outdoor "enclosure" ready to go, with a water dish and moist hide, and I'm there supervising Trevor (mostly to watch for unexpected things like stinging insects, neighborhood cats jumping the fence etc...) are there any recommendations around introducing a hatchling to outdoor time? Is it a good idea to start doing it a couple times a week now, or it it better to wait until Trevor is a little bigger?

Now you are speaking my language!

Remember, as explained in the linked info, the things your read outside of this site are likely to be the old wrong info and will lead to problems and frustration in most cases.

IF... you are inclined to do outside time for a baby, my general recommendation over the years has been: No more than one hour of access to sunshine per inch of tortoise a few times per week. Once they get to 5-6 inches, outside all day in favorable weather suits them fine when coupled with sleeping in a closed chamber inside and a soak after a day outside in the dry air. By 8-10 inches, they can be moved outside full time in a climate like your or mine, with a heated night box. The above guidelines will yield a healthy tortoise and satisfactory result in most cases.

BUT... I have learned over the years and with much experimentation with many species, that it is better in every way to simply leave babies inside in a large closed chamber with all the proper heating and lighting. I even soak them daily inside the chamber so the soak water doesn't get cold. In fact, if growth rate and carapace smoothness are any indication, keeping them inside full time for as long as possible is the superior way to go. When they start to get so large that their exercise needs can't be met in an 8 foot long closed chamber, well, then we HAVE to move them outside. When that time comes, you will see a cessation or tremendously slowing of growth for weeks or months, and then here in CA we get rough, ugly growth in the scute margins. For some reason, this later phenomenon doesn't seem to happen in the Phoenix area, but I don't know about Tucson. In theory, it should be the same. The more time a sulcata spends in a self-dug burrow during the hotter times of the year, the better. Having them above ground with cold nights or 100+ days is not good for them. In fall, it is important to catch them above ground BEFORE the cold weather sets in, and block the burrow entrance. I use a sheet of plywood and cinder blocks to do this. I then make them sleep in their heated boxes until the hot weather returns in spring.

 

[Jerickson]

Thanks, Tom, much appreciated! I'm going to keep in for now and maybe start taking him out later in the spring.