First timer looking for help

[kpandy05]

Hello. My name is Krush and i got my sulcata 7 months ago. Her name is Kaytee ( formerly Elon ) I am worried that she is showing signs of pyramiding and i am doing things very wrong. I usually moisten her habitat and use cyprus mulch and sand. I also have a dome lighting setup and change bulbs regularly and make sure they provide UV light. I usually give her lettuce, kale and other green leafy vegetables and mostly soak her everyday in lukewarm water. She doesn’t like to eat pellet foods and hates her enclosure. Recently i have been letting her out in the room and she goes under the heat vent at her regular spot. A couple weeks ago i saw her biting her food and water tray. I dont provide any supplements and i am really worried that i am not doing things right. Any kind of advices will really help me.

Thankyou i am also attaching pictures so you can inspect her

 

[Thomas tortoise]

Sand is a very bad and deadly substrate get it out right away! Also your tortoise is pyramiding because there is not enough humidity. You should keep 80% or more humidity 24/7 to do this is by using a fully closed enclosure. Like a vivarium or a mini greenhouse. Also.... How old is your tortoise? I'm guessing... 10 months?

 

[kpandy05]

Sand is a very bad and deadly substrate get it out right away! Also your tortoise is pyramiding because there is not enough humidity. You should keep 80% or more humidity 24/7 to do this is by using a fully closed enclosure. Like a vivarium or a mini greenhouse. Also.... How old is your tortoise? I'm guessing... 10 months?

I wasnt able to get the age when i got her but i thought it could be only 2 months old at max. Thankyou for the suggestion regarding the enclosure. Is there anything i should do to keep the humidity up until i get a new enclosure?

 

[Paula Hu]

I agree with@Thomas tortoise to change the substrate. Change it into fine grade orchid bark (aka repti bark at pets stores or some places) Maybe try to cover the open top with something. And try not to feed tortoises vegetable.

Here's Tom's care sheet which covers everything you should know
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181504/

 

[Maro2Bear]

Carefully read the Care guide that Paula posted for you. Tom has listed out pretty much everything you need to know & implement. I see you have one of those squiggly CFL lights that are pretty much frowned on here in the Forum. They have been known to cause eye issues.

Better substrate, better lighting, fully enclosed enclosure, increase humidity. Id remove those rocks from your substrate & of course, no sand.

Tom’s guide has all of this listed out…

Good luck.

 

[kpandy05]

I agree with@Thomas tortoise to change the substrate. Change it into fine grade orchid bark (aka repti bark at pets stores or some places) Maybe try to cover the open top with something. And try not to feed tortoises vegetable.

Here's Tom's care sheet which covers everything you should know
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181504/

Thankyou Paula. I’ll try my best

 

[Paula Hu]

Good Luckkk!!!!!🍀🍀🍀

 

[zolasmum]

Thankyou Paula. I’ll try my best

Kaytee is a lovely little thing, and it will be great to see photos of her as she progresses -please !
Angie

 

[Thomas tortoise]

You could mist the enclosure or pour warm water in the corners on the enclosure till ya get a viv.

 

[Melissacoop]

You could put your whole enclosure in a greenhouse cover. They sell them on Amazon.
She’s a cutey!😉

 

[Tom]

Hello. My name is Krush and i got my sulcata 7 months ago. Her name is Kaytee ( formerly Elon ) I am worried that she is showing signs of pyramiding and i am doing things very wrong. I usually moisten her habitat and use cyprus mulch and sand. I also have a dome lighting setup and change bulbs regularly and make sure they provide UV light. I usually give her lettuce, kale and other green leafy vegetables and mostly soak her everyday in lukewarm water. She doesn’t like to eat pellet foods and hates her enclosure. Recently i have been letting her out in the room and she goes under the heat vent at her regular spot. A couple weeks ago i saw her biting her food and water tray. I dont provide any supplements and i am really worried that i am not doing things right. Any kind of advices will really help me.

Thankyou i am also attaching pictures so you can inspect her

Unfortunately, your situation is common. People get a new tortoise, go on the internet to see how to take care of it, or talk to the people at the pet shop, and get all the wrong advice and all the wrong products. Its obvious that you put forth a tremendous effort and a lot of expense to do the very best you could for your tortoise. That part is commendable, and its always sad when good people get the wrong info. The care sheet should help get you on the right track, but I'll comment on some individual points in an effort to help.

-Open topped enclosures don't work for this species unless the whole room is 80+% humidity and 80 degrees 24/7, year round. You need a large closed chamber. The green house suggestion from Mellisa can help with humidity, but those don't insulate very well, so you will still be burning a lot of electricity and drying everything out.
-The enclosure is too small. They need room to roam, but always inside their enclosure, never lose on the floor. Loose on the floor almost always results in one of several catastrophes. Its not safe down there and it can't be made safe no matter how careful you intend to be. Get a big closed chamber and keep your tortoise in it.
-The cfl type bulbs often burn their eyes. They should never be used over tortoises and they are all that effective anyway. When it burns their eyes, it makes them want to either scramble to get away, or hide all day to avoid the pain. Turn that off ASAP and replace it with an HO tube.
-Sand will kill your tortoise. Small amounts will stick to the food and be ingested. Over time this can cause an intestinal blockage. Sand is also a skin and eye irritant. Just remove it. Fine grade orchid bark is the best substrate. Keep it damp.
-We can't evaluate the level of pyramiding with overhead shots. Take a pic of the tortoises profile for that. From What I can see, it doesn't look too bad yet, but it will get worse with every day that passes in that open enclosure, and the damage is irreversible.

More info on heating and lighting, in addition to the care sheet:
There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

Your questions are welcome.

 

[kpandy05]

Kaytee is a lovely little thing, and it will be great to see photos of her as she progresses -please !
Angie

Yess definitely. I will try to post every now and then with the updates. She really is the cutest 🥰

 

[kpandy05]

You could mist the enclosure or pour warm water in the corners on the enclosure till ya get a viv.

Thankyou for the suggestion. I will definitely do this

 

[kpandy05]

You could put your whole enclosure in a greenhouse cover. They sell them on Amazon.
She’s a cutey!😉

Aww thanks. She’s the best 🥰

 

[kpandy05]

You could put your whole enclosure in a greenhouse cover. They sell them on Amazon.
She’s a cutey!😉

Aww thanks. She’s the best

Unfortunately, your situation is common. People get a new tortoise, go on the internet to see how to take care of it, or talk to the people at the pet shop, and get all the wrong advice and all the wrong products. Its obvious that you put forth a tremendous effort and a lot of expense to do the very best you could for your tortoise. That part is commendable, and its always sad when good people get the wrong info. The care sheet should help get you on the right track, but I'll comment on some individual points in an effort to help.

-Open topped enclosures don't work for this species unless the whole room is 80+% humidity and 80 degrees 24/7, year round. You need a large closed chamber. The green house suggestion from Mellisa can help with humidity, but those don't insulate very well, so you will still be burning a lot of electricity and drying everything out.
-The enclosure is too small. They need room to roam, but always inside their enclosure, never lose on the floor. Loose on the floor almost always results in one of several catastrophes. Its not safe down there and it can't be made safe no matter how careful you intend to be. Get a big closed chamber and keep your tortoise in it.
-The cfl type bulbs often burn their eyes. They should never be used over tortoises and they are all that effective anyway. When it burns their eyes, it makes them want to either scramble to get away, or hide all day to avoid the pain. Turn that off ASAP and replace it with an HO tube.
-Sand will kill your tortoise. Small amounts will stick to the food and be ingested. Over time this can cause an intestinal blockage. Sand is also a skin and eye irritant. Just remove it. Fine grade orchid bark is the best substrate. Keep it damp.
-We can't evaluate the level of pyramiding with overhead shots. Take a pic of the tortoises profile for that. From What I can see, it doesn't look too bad yet, but it will get worse with every day that passes in that open enclosure, and the damage is irreversible.

More info on heating and lighting, in addition to the care sheet:
There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

Your questions are welcome.

thanks for the detailed information. I love how people here are very helpful and friendly. Thankyou for making this better. This really helps