Hello. What a wonderful site. I think I've learned more on here in the last 2 months than I did at University! If only I'd discovered you sooner...
I'm based in Plymouth in the South West of England and 3 months ago I acquired an 11 year old Sulcata tortoise. I've made almost every beginner mistake it is possible to make but I'm hoping by reading this forum every day, I'm gradually correcting the mistakes. I've realised that I needed to do much, much more research on this breed of tortoise before I got him, leading to do much guilt and sleepless nights.
Rodney is much loved and much wanted. Rodney now lives outside in an insulated and heated hut inside a heated shed. He has a flap to access the outside in the day time.
These are my questions:
Heating - it is cold in Plymouth at the moment (December). The outside nighttime temperatures range from minus 1 or 2 to plus 5 degrees centigrade (around 30 degrees Fahrenheit). Rodney had a hut inside a shed. He had two tubular heaters on 24/7 in his hut and in the shed I have an oil filled radiator on a thermostat. The night time temperature is therefore around 14 degrees centigrade. Is this too cold? The daytime temps are 20 up to 35 degrees c under the lamp. Outside at this time of year, it is cold, today is bright and sunny but about 7 degrees c.
UV bulb - Rodney has a combined UVA and UVB bulb 160watt on for 12 hours a day. This floods his hut with heat and light and creates a basking spot 30-35 degrees C. (he also still had the tubular heaters and oil filled radiator on thermostat). When we got him in August when the temperatures are much warmer outside here, he came out every day into the garden to graze. Now he spends most of his day under the basking lamp, flat out with his legs sideways like he's been splatted! How can I encourage him to get more exercise? I am worried in case the hotter 160w bulb will scorch his shell (I also have 100w bulb but it doesn't provide enough heat in winter) . What is the minimum distance between the top of the shell and the bulb? I can't pull the bulb up any higher.
Bathing - his previous owner didn't provide water or bathe him. She offered water but said he wasn't interested. I have water in his hut but I very rarely see him take a drink. I have bathed him twice. He passed thick white crumbly urates this week so I think he must be dehydrated. I'm planning to bathe him today and will do this twice a week from now on (no mean feat because the bugger is huge!). What I am worried about is bathing him whilst we have winter here and the possibility of him catching a respiratory infection. Is it OK to bath him and then put him back in the hut? Should I towel him off first? How stressed is this going to make him?
Shell pyramid - Can I get a view on Rodney's shell (see pictures). He has some pyramiding. Possibly caused by dehydration or diet or lighting, I'm not sure. Should I be worried about this?
Humidity - I can't mist the enclosure in winter because of the outside temperatures I'm likely to cause more problems) but I'm think it would be a good idea to mist his shell daily because he's under the lamp so will quickly dry out, so low risk of shell rot. Will this be sufficient until spring when I can commence misting the enclosure too?
Diet - In August, he grazed in the garden at will and although I tried to supplement this with cut up grass/weeds and sprinkling with calcium powder, he wasn't interested. We have a good size garden and grow our own veg and he just bulldozed through to whatever he fancied. Now it's winter, it's wet and cold outside, I'm feeding him in his hut every other day, a mix of grass, romaine lettuce, kale and spring greens. I try to do more grass than anything. I've bought tortoise feed ('grasslands' - recommended on here) he won't touch it, I've bought dengi hifi light (molasses rich hay for horses with laminitis, recommended by my local tortoise santuary as that's what they feed their sulcatas in winter) but he won't touch it either. He does eat the grass/veg mix. Is this OK until Spring when he can graze himself? I feed him an amount the size of his shell, is that too much?
Substrate - I have had him on hay then soil based substrate when I first got him. I've now got him on orchid bark, as recommended on this site. Is that ok?
We got Rodney because we think they are just wonderful creatures. He has brought us so much joy in the short time we've had him, when he walks around the garden he looks both majestic and prehistoric! We want him to be with us for the rest of our lives, future house purchases will bear him and his needs in mind, our other animals like him (apart from the dog, who is scared and leaves him alone), the kids adore him. I check on him several times a day and night (even at 3am to check his hut temperatures haven't dropped). I've made lots of mistakes but I'm trying to get it right now.
I very much appreciate any advice on the above questions and apologise for such a long post.
Best regards, Emma from Plymouth xx
I'm based in Plymouth in the South West of England and 3 months ago I acquired an 11 year old Sulcata tortoise. I've made almost every beginner mistake it is possible to make but I'm hoping by reading this forum every day, I'm gradually correcting the mistakes. I've realised that I needed to do much, much more research on this breed of tortoise before I got him, leading to do much guilt and sleepless nights.
Rodney is much loved and much wanted. Rodney now lives outside in an insulated and heated hut inside a heated shed. He has a flap to access the outside in the day time.
These are my questions:
Heating - it is cold in Plymouth at the moment (December). The outside nighttime temperatures range from minus 1 or 2 to plus 5 degrees centigrade (around 30 degrees Fahrenheit). Rodney had a hut inside a shed. He had two tubular heaters on 24/7 in his hut and in the shed I have an oil filled radiator on a thermostat. The night time temperature is therefore around 14 degrees centigrade. Is this too cold? The daytime temps are 20 up to 35 degrees c under the lamp. Outside at this time of year, it is cold, today is bright and sunny but about 7 degrees c.
UV bulb - Rodney has a combined UVA and UVB bulb 160watt on for 12 hours a day. This floods his hut with heat and light and creates a basking spot 30-35 degrees C. (he also still had the tubular heaters and oil filled radiator on thermostat). When we got him in August when the temperatures are much warmer outside here, he came out every day into the garden to graze. Now he spends most of his day under the basking lamp, flat out with his legs sideways like he's been splatted! How can I encourage him to get more exercise? I am worried in case the hotter 160w bulb will scorch his shell (I also have 100w bulb but it doesn't provide enough heat in winter) . What is the minimum distance between the top of the shell and the bulb? I can't pull the bulb up any higher.
Bathing - his previous owner didn't provide water or bathe him. She offered water but said he wasn't interested. I have water in his hut but I very rarely see him take a drink. I have bathed him twice. He passed thick white crumbly urates this week so I think he must be dehydrated. I'm planning to bathe him today and will do this twice a week from now on (no mean feat because the bugger is huge!). What I am worried about is bathing him whilst we have winter here and the possibility of him catching a respiratory infection. Is it OK to bath him and then put him back in the hut? Should I towel him off first? How stressed is this going to make him?
Shell pyramid - Can I get a view on Rodney's shell (see pictures). He has some pyramiding. Possibly caused by dehydration or diet or lighting, I'm not sure. Should I be worried about this?
Humidity - I can't mist the enclosure in winter because of the outside temperatures I'm likely to cause more problems) but I'm think it would be a good idea to mist his shell daily because he's under the lamp so will quickly dry out, so low risk of shell rot. Will this be sufficient until spring when I can commence misting the enclosure too?
Diet - In August, he grazed in the garden at will and although I tried to supplement this with cut up grass/weeds and sprinkling with calcium powder, he wasn't interested. We have a good size garden and grow our own veg and he just bulldozed through to whatever he fancied. Now it's winter, it's wet and cold outside, I'm feeding him in his hut every other day, a mix of grass, romaine lettuce, kale and spring greens. I try to do more grass than anything. I've bought tortoise feed ('grasslands' - recommended on here) he won't touch it, I've bought dengi hifi light (molasses rich hay for horses with laminitis, recommended by my local tortoise santuary as that's what they feed their sulcatas in winter) but he won't touch it either. He does eat the grass/veg mix. Is this OK until Spring when he can graze himself? I feed him an amount the size of his shell, is that too much?
Substrate - I have had him on hay then soil based substrate when I first got him. I've now got him on orchid bark, as recommended on this site. Is that ok?
We got Rodney because we think they are just wonderful creatures. He has brought us so much joy in the short time we've had him, when he walks around the garden he looks both majestic and prehistoric! We want him to be with us for the rest of our lives, future house purchases will bear him and his needs in mind, our other animals like him (apart from the dog, who is scared and leaves him alone), the kids adore him. I check on him several times a day and night (even at 3am to check his hut temperatures haven't dropped). I've made lots of mistakes but I'm trying to get it right now.
I very much appreciate any advice on the above questions and apologise for such a long post.
Best regards, Emma from Plymouth xx
