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[Gagnonr01]

Hi there. I'm new here, this is my first post.

I've been noticing my Sulcata Tortoise becoming more lethargic and less responsive as times goes on. It's a baby.

I've been providing it with a 30 gallon plastic tub with coco-fiber substrate & feed daily spring mix (does not contain romaine).
I've been soaking her/him (unsexed) about 2-3 times per week. This usually results in defecation of course in the water, I know they like to go in the water).
The bottom of the shell is becoming somewhat soft and It's concerning to me. I've looked a few topics up and it appears to be from a lack of calcium but that confuses me because I'm providing a UVB light from Petsmart, along with a 75Watt Basking Bulb for lighting. The food (spring-mix) that I provide also is loaded with calcium. I am also adding some Fluker's druid veggie n fruit mix with added water (It was highly promoted as a good source of food/calcium as well along with the spring mix). In the picture you can see I typically mix the two. I've also tried a calcium block (as you can see in the corner) but he/she is afraid of it and wont go anywhere near it. I've cut it in half and same result.

Why would my Sulcata not be getting enough calcium? She/he is inactive for about 85% of the day sitting in the same spot. I've also had a hide since I've had the Sulcata which he/she typically sleeps in most of the day.

What Improvements can I make?

Am I doing something wrong and accidentally hurting my turtle somehow?

I am afraid I am doing something wrong and have come here to seek help and get some feedback so I can improve the life of my tortoise.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings..

A quick look, i see a few things that can quickly be changed.

✅ Increase your soaks to daily, minimum 30 mins, nice warm warm water
✅ Your substrate & overall enclosure is too too dry
✅ Open top enclosure is hard to maintain proper temps & humidity
✅ Get urself two terra cotta plant saucers sink sown into the substrate, one for food, one for water
✅ What are your temperatures? Ambient, basking. How are you keeping it warm at night.
✅ What kind of lighting/bulbs are using?
Here’s the best info you will find...

✅ ✅ Care Sheet - https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...se-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181497/

Good luck. I’m sure @Tom can provide additional info.

 

[Tom]

Hi there. I'm new here, this is my first post.

I've been noticing my Sulcata Tortoise becoming more lethargic and less responsive as times goes on. It's a baby.

I've been providing it with a 30 gallon plastic tub with coco-fiber substrate & feed daily spring mix (does not contain romaine).
I've been soaking her/him (unsexed) about 2-3 times per week. This usually results in defecation of course in the water, I know they like to go in the water).
The bottom of the shell is becoming somewhat soft and It's concerning to me. I've looked a few topics up and it appears to be from a lack of calcium but that confuses me because I'm providing a UVB light from Petsmart, along with a 75Watt Basking Bulb for lighting. The food (spring-mix) that I provide also is loaded with calcium. I am also adding some Fluker's druid veggie n fruit mix with added water (It was highly promoted as a good source of food/calcium as well along with the spring mix). In the picture you can see I typically mix the two. I've also tried a calcium block (as you can see in the corner) but he/she is afraid of it and wont go anywhere near it. I've cut it in half and same result.

Why would my Sulcata not be getting enough calcium? She/he is inactive for about 85% of the day sitting in the same spot. I've also had a hide since I've had the Sulcata which he/she typically sleeps in most of the day.

What Improvements can I make?

Am I doing something wrong and accidentally hurting my turtle somehow?

I am afraid I am doing something wrong and have come here to seek help and get some feedback so I can improve the life of my tortoise.View attachment 294188View attachment 294189View attachment 294190View attachment 294191

Hello and welcome. Excellent first post. Often we have to ask a bunch of questions to get this info. Your post was very thorough.

Mark answered many of the concerns, but I still like to word it my own way. You've gotten the typical wrong advice. We (the tortoise community as a whole) have been raising this species and several others all wrong for decades. The care advice is based on decades old incorrect assumptions of how they live in the wild, and how that translates to our captive enclosures. Outside of this forum, not too many other people are keeping up with advancements in tortoise knowledge that have been gained over the last 10 years as a result of a lot of hard work, study, consultation and experimentation.

I'll give you the short versions of what is wrong in your enclosure. I say these things so you know what to fix. Its not your fault you were given the wrong info, so don't shoot the messenger.

• Its nearly impossible to create the correct watt humid growing conditions in an open topped enclosure. You need a closed chamber, and it needs to be much larger.
• Your substrate is my second choice for sulcatas. You'll find it is too messy. Fine grade orchid bark works best, and either one need to be damp.
• I don't see any mention of night heat. They need to be at least 80 at night and all day too. Cool night temps will make a baby sick. You need an overhead heat source on a thermostat for this.
• You've got the wrong bulbs form the pet store, as is usually the case. The cfl types can sometimes burn their eyes. Those cfl bulbs shouldn't be used and they shouldn't be sold, but people keep buying them. In addition to the risk of corneal burns, they are poor sources of UV, so says my UV meter. Spot bulbs for basking will cause pyramiding.
• Spring mix is not a suitable tortoise food. It lacks all the things they need. It is NOT high in calcium. Just the opposite. It also lacks fiber.
• I've never seen any tortoise touch one of those blocks. I tried for years to get them to touch one. No dice here.
• As Mark said, babies need to be soaked every day.
• This last tid bit is no fun. No fun at all. Most breeders/flippers/sellers do not start or care for this species correctly. They keep them too dry. Sometimes they keep them outside all day. They don't soak daily, or ever in some cases. The end result of this chronic dehydration is renal failure followed by death weeks or months later. Read this thread for more explanation on that concept: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/
• By contrast, read this thread to see how babies SHOULD be started: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-incubate-eggs-and-start-hatchlings.124266/

This is a lot to take in. We might be able to save your baby, and if not, you will at least know what happened. Its not some cosmic mystery. Its not because "some of them weren't meant to survive...". What happens to these babies is a direct result of the care they do or don't receive. House and care for them correctly and 100% of them thrive. Keep them dry, too cold, and don't feed them right, and they don't survive. This is not a desert species. They hatch at the start of the hot wet humid rainy season over there in the wild. Dry conditions are unnatural and sometimes unsurvivable for them.

Read that link that Mark provided for you, and then please come back with all your questions. We are here to talk tortoises.

 

[Maro2Bear]

One other thing, i know Petstores all want to sell those logs, but they really arent good “humid hides”. Look through Tom’s care guide that I linked above And you will see his. A simple tub flipped over with a small entrance cut in works so well.

Here is another example of a good, cheap, quick & dirty tortoise hide. Pix courtesy of YouTube’s “Primative Predators”.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you still have the lid for that tub, there's a pretty easy fix for you. Ditch that dual light combo and buy a single light fixture with a ceramic base and a 10" dome. Cut out a hole in one end of the tub's lid that is ever so slightly smaller than the 10" dome, and hang the light so it's right over the hole. You can line the edges of the hole in the lid with some kitchen foil. Buy a tube type fluorescent UVB light and mount it onto the underside of the lid, over the middle of the enclosure.

Since the fluorescent light only puts out minimal heat, you are going to have a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) in your other light fixture. The CHE will be controlled by a thermostat (that you buy separately), and will be on day and night to maintain 80-85F degrees all the time. The UVB light will be on a timer and come on about 7a and go off about 7p.

Zoo Med make a dandy light stand.

You can buy the T-5 UVB light and fixture at lightyourreptiles.com.

Arcadia D3+ T-5 46 Inch 54 Watt *12% Desert UVB* Sale! 32.99

LightYourReptiles.com was founded on one simple idea: To bring the best in full spectrum lighting products to the herpetological community.

www.lightyourreptiles.com

22" T-5 HO Fixture *High Output* with 6.5K Daylight Bulb Included -

LightYourReptiles.com was founded on one simple idea: To bring the best in full spectrum lighting products to the herpetological community.

www.lightyourreptiles.com

You can buy the handy dandy light stand at amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255OUO/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20


You can buy the ceramic-base 10" dome light fixture at a hardware store.

Search Results for 10

Search Results for 10

www.tractorsupply.com

You can buy the CHE at amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H3YJB96/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

You can buy the thermostat at amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I15S6OM/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

These are all just suggestions and pictures to give you the idea. You can shop around and try to find these items cheaper.