George the Sulcata

Outatime

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Hi Guys

Wanted to upload some photos of my
Sulcata we named George. He weights about 30lbs and is about 5 to 7 years from what I was told and lives in Central Florida.

I wonder how much you feed your Sulcata, mine has grass he nibbles on all day as you can see but also been giving him collard greens and kale. I also give him Mazuri and have started to grow honey suckle , prickly bear and elephant grass but will be a while till I can feed him that.

I finished converting a dog house last week, I sealed off the side door, insulated it inside inc roof and used laminate tile to protect the wood and then sealed it all with clear silicon. Also added a new door on the side of the house with a lock on it for night and filled it with hay from Walmart but not seen him eat any yet, he has slept in it the last few nights but hasn't yet gone in on his own but has looked around it quite a bit. He seems to sleep about 7pm ET in Central Florida.

I plan on creating an enclosure for him outside of my fenced garden so he can make a mess and dig and such, that's a job for this weekend but unsure how to fence around it, do you think garden wire fencing that cones on a reel at Lowes would do it? Like a chicken wire type fence.

Also been soaking him as suggested but last time I did it he wasn't happy and climbed out of the tote, still doesn't seem to drink much water that I have seen.

A few photos attached. Any comments welcome.

Thank you

Stuart

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Kathy Coles

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That is a very nice tort. I don't know much about sulcata's but chicken wire will not work. Think trying to contain a determined bulldozer. Has he tried to get into that pond? If he did, is there a way for him to get out? It's the mom in me to see danger at every turn. Good luck.
 

Tom

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You are doing good!

1. Make sure that insulation is protected all the way around inside the house or he'll shred it. How are you heating it? You will need to put him in there every night and let him walk out in the morning. It might take a couple of weeks, but he'll eventually start going in on his own.
2. You need a solid visual barrier. Fencing and wire won't work. He will push through it or under it or just rub himself raw on it. I would sink some 4' pressure treated 2x4s into the ground about 2', 8' apart and then screw 24" tall x 8' long sections of plywood between your "posts". You could go 16" and make your plywood sheets go farther, but he looks pretty big. 24" might be better in your case. Go BIG. Real big.
3. If you are going to soak, you need a bigger "vessel" with taler sides. Try a horse watering trough from a feed store.
4. If he has access to grass and weeds, you don't have to "feed" him at all. Just let him eat his surroundings.
 

Barista5261

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George is a good lookin boy!

Glad he is able to enjoy this lovely weather we are having here in Central Florida [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH]

As far as food goes, I always make sure my sulcatas have something available to them, leafy greens, mazuri, etc. granted, mine are only about a pound a piece [FACE WITH STUCK-OUT TONGUE AND WINKING EYE]

I don't know if you have gotten any mazuri yet, but I get mine from Pet Bazaar in Casselberry on 436. They sell it loose (you can scoop it into a bag) and is $4.99/lb.

The Tractor Supply over in Bithlo has every type of mazuri on the planet except for tortoise, go figure right? I'd like to know who has alpacas and llamas around here for them to keep that kind of mazuri in stock [FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY]
 

Outatime

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Thanks all for the replies to my thread.

The pond was a concern at first but he doesn't appear to be able to climb that high (yet) its a plastic type shell pond and he wouldn't be able to get out but I do have the raised wood posts around it so I hope that's enough, guess I will have to keep and eye on him and see if I need to do something else around it to raise it.

Thank you Tom for all your advice so far you have saved me a few times now, going to Lowes today to get some Plywood..might as well get them to cut it to size too for me whilst I am there, do you sink it in the dirt several inches encase he digs? I was thinking of buying re-bar and cutting it into 8 or 10" pieces and spacing them about a foot apart and hammering them around his enclosure to stop him getting under, what do you think?

Thank you Barista, I actually ordered some Mazuri on eBay already but when it runs out will make a trip over to Casselberry and buy it from them, I read conflicting things about Mazuri for Sulcatas and one website said do not feed them with it, any ideas why they would say that as a few people have said to use it now.

Thanks again all, George seems very happy now, just need to get him to drink more. Guess a trip to Tractor Supply might be in order for a water troff.

Stuart
 

Barista5261

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Pfffffft Mazuri is like crack for tortoises. It's a good thing to use to get them to eat new foods you want to introduce to them.

They have recently changed their recipe though, I think the new pellets are smaller than the older ones. I know that Pet Bazaar has the old Mazuri nuggets.
 

Tom

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I have never had a sulcata try to dig out like a dog would. I don't ever bury any of my fencing for them. If they should happen to start a burrow near the fence, just pull them out kick the dirt back in the hole and stomp the dirt a little bit to compact it, and put a rock or cinderblock in that spot for a few days. If they have a good warm house and places to cool off on hot summer days. they often don't even try to dig. Mine hardly ever do.

When you do put in your fencing, just make sure no daylight shows underneath. I usually rake or lightly shovel a small depression or trench to drop the plywood into. Just an inch or two, and then I kick the dirt back up against it when I'm done. You shouldn't need any rebar.

About the Mazuri: Opinions are like... Oh wait. This is a "family friendly" forum... For 30 years people have been feeding it to tortoises. If there were gonna be a problem from it, we would have seen a problem from it. I like to feed it once or twice a week, and I consider it a supplement to an otherwise good diet. You don't "need" it, but I do think its a good part of a varied diet. No harm will likely come to your tortoise if you choose not to feed it either.
 

zulu

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I agree with Tom, don't waste your time with the rebar. I put a lot of time and effort into doing that with my first fence and then he never once tried to dig out. My new fence has spots where it is an inch or two above the ground because I haven't got around to leveling out the dirt and he still has not tried digging out. Just make some kind of burrow where he can only go so far to give him a place to get out of the heat and you shouldn't have any problems with digging anywhere else.
 

jfales

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Congratulations on your handsome George! Folks on this forum are fabulous - you've come to the right place!
 
M

Maggie Cummings

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When Bob was that size I made a solid 'fence' of cinder block. As he grew so did the block wall, when it was 3 blocks high I put rebar down inside to keep him from knocking the blocks over. Now he is 150 pounds and a couple of years ago I hired a fence company to build a 3 foot high solid wood fence with gates. Mostly that fence is to protect my flowerbeds from death by Bob...Sulcata are very strong and the bigger they get the stronger. As yours grows you will have to adjust your way of keeping him so he is protected. What works for one will not necessarily work for another. Bob has never tried digging. That's about the only thing he's never tried...
I think they are more fun than any other species of tortoise. If I had the room and lived in better weather I would have more...

Here's a shot of his shed and pen during our recent monsoon

rlglyo.jpg


His carapace was already wrecked this way when he was given to me when he was 5 yrs...

15hlrut.jpg
 

Outatime

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Guys thank you again so much for the replies it means a lot to me as I don't want poor George to have to suffer from me learning from my mistakes so want it all right from the start.

Today I went to Lowes and got all my wood needed so Saturday I hope to get my enclosure build if all goes to plan. Will update you with photos.

Couple of questions , do any of you have a camera in your outdoor enclosure or house to keep an eye on your friends?

Also I have see mention of misting systems, are these a good idea? I plan on putting a mister irrigation head in the enclosure to keep the seeds watered but that won't come on for George .

Thanks again

Stuart
 

Outatime

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Hi Guys

Back again and today I have been working on George's enclosure, hope you like it so far, I plan on adding a pool for him to soak in and also the plan is to cut a hole in the fence so he can follow the sun and have a walk though the garden.

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Thanks

Stuart


Proud owner of George the Sulcata since 2/25/2014.

Sent from my iPhone using TortForum
 
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Barista5261

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Very awesome! Looks like it will be fantastic when it is finished! [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH][TURTLE] I'm sure Sir George will love it.
 

Tom

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You've done a great job so far. That would be a great enclosure for a 4" juvenile, but you need to go much bigger for a 30 pound growing boy. Where does he go to get out of the summer sun?
 

Outatime

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Hi Tom, yep your right its small but its only really his dirty area where he can have a soak and a dig around and his house will be situated there, from there I am going to cut a George sized hole in the white fence and add a ramp to my deck on the other side and another ramp down to the lawn next to that which is quite large. So he should have quite a large walk around area in all, I plan on buying a kiddy pool today and cutting that down and I also bought seeds to grow weeds there too. The new enclosure is under an oak tree so its pretty much out of the sun but the lawn is full sun all day so I think it would work well for sunning and cooling. I will put a video together once its done, hope you guys think its a good idea.

Thanks

Stuart
 

Tom

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All of that sounds great to me. A sulcata adventure land!

The kiddie pools never worked for me, but give it a go and see if it works for you.
 

Dizisdalife

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I may be incorrect here, but I seem to remember reading that oak leaves (and acorns) are toxic for tortoises. Since I don't have any of those I haven't investigated it fully. Aren't they taboo for horses and cattle as well? The leaves contain tannin, which is a toxin.
 

Tom

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There is not a horse pen or cattle yard in CA that doesn't have an oak tree in it or bordering it. (Okay. An exaggeration.) But there are horses, cows and tortoise living under oaks trees with an oak tree leaf substrate all over the place. There is an oak tree in one of my pens. I haven't ever seen it be a problem.
 
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