Hello from Southern California!

[Sierra B.]

Hello everyone! I was referred to this forum earlier today and I have to say that I am quite impressed with it! I'm so glad I joined. I'm a relatively new owner of two rescued sulcata tortoises. I was a dog groomer at Petco for a few months and while I was working there one of my coworkers adopted two Sulcatas that someone had dropped off at our store. They were in a 40gal tank when they arrived at Petco, and my friend took them home and kept them in that 40gal tank for another 8 months. She finally realized she was in no position to care for these tortoises, so I took them off her hands. I had been looking to rescue tortoises for over a year so it worked out perfectly. I just wish she would have let me take them home originally. They were both relatively the same size when they came to Petco, but as the months went on one tortoise, Spike, dominated the other tortoise, Little Foot. When I brought them home Spike was just about double the size of Little Foot. We built them an outdoor enclosure with access to grass, dirt, shallow dish to soak in, and hides. We already had a lot of plants and flowers growing here that they can eat, too. It's been roughly two months since they have been with me and they are thriving! Spike loves attention and follows me around like a dog. He loves for me to pet him and stroke his neck and hand feed him flowers. Little Foot is still very timid. I can't walk up to him without him ducking his head or trying to run away. It makes me a little sad, but I realize I'm a giant compared to him and it will take some time for him to adjust. Otherwise, Spike is happy to be able to stretch his legs and roam, and Little Foot seems to be getting a little bigger. They both have slight pyramiding, but it's not too bad. I haven't taken their measurements, but I guess I should go do that now! I honestly don't really know how long they are. I will attach some photos and hopefully you can get an idea. Well, thank you for reading my super long essay, and I'm excited to pick everyone's brains and learn more about these amazing creatures!! - Sierra


Little Foot and Spike the day we brought them home.


Spike, yesterday.

Day we brought them home. And yes, I found out that that kind of fence does not work with Sulcatas trial and error, I guess. Haha.

 

[Millerlite]

Hello, welcome! Great rescues. I'm also from so. Cali. Along with a handful of us. Lots of knowledgeable people on here that deal with sulcats. We also just love picture

Kyle

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. I would seperate the two, give them their own enclosure. Sulcatas don't do well in pairs, and the smaller one could be smaller and more timid do to bullying.

 

[Sierra B.]

Hello and Welcome. I would seperate the two, give them their own enclosure. Sulcatas don't do well in pairs, and the smaller one could be smaller and more timid do to bullying.

Hello! They have a gigantic yard that they roam during the day.. For the most part they stay apart while out. Only time they are in the enclosure is at night think that's alright? I do know for a fact that the big one dominates the little one, but I was hoping by having the entire yard with more than enough food that the little one would be able to be on its own. Thank you for your input

 

[Sierra B.]

Hello, welcome! Great rescues. I'm also from so. Cali. Along with a handful of us. Lots of knowledgeable people on here that deal with sulcats. We also just love picture

Kyle

I'm glad there's people from socal on here! I don't personally know anyone in this area that has tortoises

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Little Foot is small because he's being dominated by Spike. We've seen it here over and over. Once you build Little Foot his own area where he can be king of his territory, he'll start to grow. Right now he's trying to stay 'inconsequential' so as to not be seen as a threat in Spike's territory

 

[wellington]

No, it's not alright for one to dominate another. They are not built to be housed in pairs. Put up lots of sight barriers out side and a couple different hides and hopefully it's a really big yard. House them seperate inside and it might work. I wouldn't take the chance of it were me, when something goes wrong, it will be at the expense of the littliest one.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Sierra
this might help you see the problem .

 

[bouaboua]

Hello and Welcome. You are getting the best you ever could here in TFO.

Welcome! ! !

 

[Sierra B.]

So even though he eats very well during the day and seems to be getting bigger, he won't because it's a mental thing? Before I rescued them they had no choice but to be right on top of each other, but now they have a full yard to eat in all day long, with enough space to stay far away from each other, and then I bring them in together at night. That still won't work? I'm sharing this house with another couple and she gardens. The way she set up the yard doesn't leave much room for another enclosure but if you really think it's not okay to let them sleep together then I will figure it out. Of course I want what's best for them both so if them being housed at night together will still be an issue then I will come up with something

 

[Sierra B.]

I also don't mean to sound like I'm questioning all of your advice. I just want to be sure that if I really need to separate them 100%, that I should plan on buying materials for another enclosure and figuring out where to put it. Would a separate sleeping place in the enclosure I have for them help? So they can be away from each other but still in the same enclosure? I built a pretty big area for them and can put another spot in there, but finding room for an entire other enclosure might be pushing it at this point in time. Thank you for being patient with me and I really appreciate you all giving me advice.

 

[Razan]

Welcome to the forum. We didn't think anyone had tortoises around here either. After a while, and talking about yours to everybody, you will find tortoise owners in the most unexpected places. As new owner I will confidently say you will find great advice here at the tortoise forum. They are great at steering people in the right direction to benefit the tortoises. Be patient, experienced tortoise owners here will provide good advise.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, Sierra, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you,Spike and Little Foot.
As you say, they're a bit pyramided, but fine tortoises all the same.
Some links that may be of use to you (apologies if you've already read them)
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/african-spurred-tortoise-sulcata-care-sheet.52524/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/pairs.34837/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...together-a-lesson-learned-the-hard-way.94114/
hope some of these are of help.

 

[Sierra B.]

Hello, Sierra, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you,Spike and Little Foot.
As you say, they're a bit pyramided, but fine tortoises all the same.
Some links that may be of use to you (apologies if you've already read them)
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/african-spurred-tortoise-sulcata-care-sheet.52524/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/pairs.34837/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...together-a-lesson-learned-the-hard-way.94114/
hope some of these are of help.

Thank you for the links!! I appreciate you taking the time to send those to me. I am very embarrassed to admit it, but I had never read that tortoises shouldn't be housed together. I had no choice to adopt both of them together, and I did the best with what I had. I'm going to separate them when they are in for the night from now on, but for now they will have to share the yard. As I said before the yard is very large and they stay on separate ends on their own. They leave each other alone. Do you think that will be enough to help Little Foot get back on track? They are fine right now, I go out of my way to give Little Foot extra TLC (I'm a stay at home mom so I'm here all day). However, I'm worried that as they grow they will become aggressive.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Thank you for the links!! I appreciate you taking the time to send those to me. I am very embarrassed to admit it, but I had never read that tortoises shouldn't be housed together. I had no choice to adopt both of them together, and I did the best with what I had. I'm going to separate them when they are in for the night from now on, but for now they will have to share the yard. As I said before the yard is very large and they stay on separate ends on their own. They leave each other alone. Do you think that will be enough to help Little Foot get back on track? They are fine right now, I go out of my way to give Little Foot extra TLC (I'm a stay at home mom so I'm here all day). However, I'm worried that as they grow they will become aggressive.

It's impossible to say for sure but Little Foot is bound to be stressed now and, as you say, it will almost certainly get worse in the future, leading to further stress, illness and possibly physical injury or death. Even Spike will be stressed by what he sees as an intruder in his domain.
I understand you adopted the two together and were doing right by them and were unaware of the dangers of having two together, but they really should be separated now, as soon as is possible.
As Yvonne said they really need separate enclosures, but failing that, do as Wellington suggested and create sight barriers and hides so that they see as little of each other as possible.

 

[Sierra B.]

I will most definitely separate them as soon as possible. I'll even try letting them graze in the yard one at a time, instead of together. Thank you all so much. I am grateful

It's impossible to say for sure but Little Foot is bound to be stressed now and, as you say, it will almost certainly get worse in the future, leading to further stress, illness and possibly physical injury or death. Even Spike will be stressed by what he sees as an intruder in his domain.
I understand you adopted the two together and were doing right by them and were unaware of the dangers of having two together, but they really should be separated now, as soon as is possible.
As Yvonne said they really need separate enclosures, but failing that, do as Wellington suggested and create sight barriers and hides so that they see as little of each other as possible.

I will most definitely separate them as soon as I can. I am so grateful for your advice as well as everyone else who took the time to comment! It makes me sad to think they are absolutely miserable 24/7. The people who originally bought them must have bought them from Petco where they don't say a word about this. That's why I was set on rescuing.. Well, luckily I have all of you now for advice and hopefully things will get better for them. It's going to be tough to separate them for now, but luckily we are moving to a home with 3 different (and totally seperate) large areas that I can keep them. Once again, thank you everyone!! I have never joined a forum before, but I'm so relieved I did.

 

[Sierra B.]

Hello SierraView attachment 138698
View attachment 138699 this might help you see the problem .

Yes, seeing that makes it all make more sense now. I had never even heard of this issue before and I'm thankful for all of the eye opening advice. Thank you!

 

[Sierra B.]

No, it's not alright for one to dominate another. They are not built to be housed in pairs. Put up lots of sight barriers out side and a couple different hides and hopefully it's a really big yard. House them seperate inside and it might work. I wouldn't take the chance of it were me, when something goes wrong, it will be at the expense of the littliest one.

Thank you for all of your advice!! I definitely plan on fixing their living situations.

 

[Sierra B.]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Little Foot is small because he's being dominated by Spike. We've seen it here over and over. Once you build Little Foot his own area where he can be king of his territory, he'll start to grow. Right now he's trying to stay 'inconsequential' so as to not be seen as a threat in Spike's territory

Thank you for the advice! First thing tomorrow morning I'm going to do what I can to fix this!

 

[Blakem]

With the area that you have built for them, you could try and split the whole area in half by putting cinder blocks in the middle so they can't see each other or climb over. Just an idea, let's see what others think.