Hello - Sulcata newbie with lots of questions

[Tea]

Hello everyone!

I'm a newbie Sulcata owner from Eastern, PA. I bought my Sulcata as a hatchling back in 2009 and have had many health issues on/off since. I'm not sure the sex of my Sulcata but I had dubbed "him" Simon. He's been in and out of vet offices due to chronic respiratory infections. I currently have him in an indoor enclosure but take him out once summer temps allow. I've noticed issues with his shell and am planning to take him back to the vet but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to what is going on. I'm suspicious of fungal infection. I also noted one of his spurs seems to be peeling off but another seems to be underneath it, I'm not sure if this is normal or not. I've tried to curb his pyramiding but I know it is getting out of hand.

His diet is mainly timothy hay in the winter, grass and dandelions in the summer. The vet had said to supplement with some collard greens in the winter, which I have also done. I also leave cuttle bones in which he chews on ravenously.

His indoor enclosure consists of 150 W basking light, 50 W halogen bulb, and a UV bulb. I have a hot humidifier I let run on occasion for him. I recently changed his substrate from a coco coir to a no additive topsoil due to difficulty maintaining moisture. I spritz the substrate daily in an attempt to keep dryness at bay.

Any help or insight would be much appreciated!

-Tea

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome

 

[NicoleB26]

Hello Tea and welcome! There are threads at the top of the sulcata tortoise section that you should read. They are full of information on how to raise your sulcata. As far as keeping humidity you need to cover the top of your enclosure to keep the humidity in. It looks like yours is open in the pic but my phone won't load it to a larger pic so it's hard to tell for sure? Humidity is a huge factor in preventing pyramiding. This is all info that I have learned here on the forum if you search the the site you will find all kinds of info. I am not one of the experts here but I am sure some of the more knowledgable members will be along to welcome you and give more info soon!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, Tea, and welcome to the Forum!!

We have some very good info on Sulcata tortoises at the top of the Sulcata section.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[bouaboua]

Hello and Welcome. Like Yvonne said, TFO have lots nice thread regarding Sulcata that for sure will answer your question and benefit your sully.
Good to have you here.

 

[yillt]

Are those lines a good thing or a bad thing. The lines just under his small pyramiding.

 

[Tom]

Respiratory infections tend to happen when temp, especially night temps are too cool. You mentioned nothing about any equipment to maintain night heat. Get a couple of ceramic heating elements, set them on a thermostat, and then close up the top of that box and all your heat and humidity issues will be simplified. If you do this you will probably need to use a lot less wattage on your basking bulbs.

What sort of UV bulb are you using? The coil types can damage their eyes, and the tube types must be less than 12" away for them to get even a little benefit.

About the pyramiding: What's done is done. At this size it won't change a lot, but some moderate humidity, along with good hydration (Soaking), will help new growth come in smoother.

Your tortoise is looking female at this point.

The shell issue and spur issue look to be some sort of injury. Do you have a dog? Do you let the tortoise roam free on the floor?

Here is some diet info. Yours needs improvement and a lot of variety added.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Here is another thread that should offer you some insight and help:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

And finally, a sulcata care sheet:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[Dizisdalife]

Welcome. You have a pretty good looking sulcata there.

 

[Tea]

@ Tom:

To answer your questions, the UV bulb I am using is a ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 UVB Compact Desert Reptile Lamp which is a coil bulb . What type of bulb do you recommend? I had been using Zoomed Powersun Vapor UVB Reptile Lamp self ballasted bulb and recently just switched to the ReptiSun a week or two ago. The lights sit about 7.5" from the top of her shell.

The basking bulb and UV is on a timer from about 5 am - 9 pm. The halogen stays on throughout the night. I had been using the Zoo Med ReptiCare Ceramic Infrared Heat Emitter which I was told to use a wire cage with - however, as you pointed out - no the top is not closed and all the heat was escaping out the sides and rising away (as heat naturally does) - this was left on overnight.

I'm not sure how to enclose her enclosure in a safe way, I'm worried about potential fire hazards with all the lights.

I do have a dog and I do let Simon roam free on the floor with the door closed on occasion especially during the winter months. She tends to want to wedge herself under whatever she can find (her own enclosure, the desk, a chair). I keep her separate from the dog at all costs but yes, there have been a select few instances where they have had chance encounters, outside. My dog, Norah, just sniffs around and then wanders away (I always supervise if I know Simon is out and I let her out) but now I'm questioning whether there was an instant that led to this new injury :/ Just to be safe, I am going to make sure I do not let Norah near Simon anymore. Lesson learned. Is there anything I can do or should avoid doing, for the injury?

I've read over the threads you've provided, excellent, in depth information. However, I did want to ask a question about just a few things. When you mentioned having a remote probed thermometer, would something like this be appropriate? http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/Waterproof_Remote_Probe_Thermometer/EW-90205-22
And are you using this to measure soaking water temps, soil temps? I have used an infrared temp gun I borrowed from a friend but I still need to purchase my own (which is now one of my top priorities).

The second thing was about your outdoor enclosure threads (couldn't get the link to work on the Beginner Mistakes thread). Simon is 13.5" long about 14" wide and almost 23" around (22.8"). With summer coming up and her growing size, I am trying to come up with ideas and future ideas for how to accommodate her growing size. I was wondering if a plexiglass greenhouse 6 x 10 would or would not be a good idea for an outside house with the yard sectioned off for her to roam during the day. I have about 2 acres (slightly hilly) and we get great sun here all year round. I was also considering potentially figuring in hooking it up as a functional all-year round greenhouse for a future outside home or if I should plan on dedicating a room in the house to her for the winter months once she's full grown.

I have read your threads about your night boxes and your fantastic burrow. Unfortunately, the soil here is all rock so a setup like that wouldn't work and a electric radiator like the one I saw in your pictures would probably still lead her to be a bit too chilly at night here. East coast weather varies in the summer from 80-100 F and the winters can get as cold as 10 F (but normally it's around 20-30s F).

Thank you again and everyone here for your warm welcomes. I've already dived in to reading all the wealth of knowledge this site has to offer. I hope to get Simon back in good health and on the right track with lots of tweaking along the way.

-Tea

 

[Vien Pelayo]

hi Everyone - I'm from the Philippines and is an avid fan or tortoises.. i was hoping if someone can help me get a Sulcata or 2 to avoid lonelyness.