SpeedyTheSulcata
New Member
Hi! I'm Jennifer, my husband is Mark, and we live in Fontana, Ca., which is out in the Riverside/San Bernardino area. Friends of ours just gave us their 5 year old male Sulcata, Speedy. They are getting ready to move to Oregon, and thought it would be too cold and rainy for him, since he lives outdoors 24/7 now. They previously lived in San Jose, northern California.
It does seem like the climate here would be more suited for him. We have a pretty large yard, with a small lawn, some rock and gravel areas, a side area that is gravel/dirt with trees and bushes, and concrete walkways and part of the yard is concreted in. They sent along his homemade "doghouse" which has a heating lamp in it. We aren't using the lamp at the moment because the temps have been pretty warm here. The yard is completely enclosed by a 9 foot concrete brick wall, and a solid metal gate. We also have a small koi pond with a resident red eared slider.
Speedy is a 5 year old male, 30 lbs. (We weighed him) Our friend told us what to feed him, though he seems to like to forage, too. We know he's eating because he poops a *lot*. We have several types of grasses growing in the yard, though he really only seems interested in the lawn. We have only had him for 2 weeks, and at first he seemed pretty freaked out--he kept circling the perimeter of the yard, like he was looking for a way out. We would have to find him when the sun was going down to put him in his house. Last night he finally put himself to bed, so I think he is starting to adjust. Our friend never said anything about soaking him, though. He has access to our dogs water dish, but I ordered a kiddie pool on Amazon so we could start soaking him. How often should we be doing that? It does seem like he has some pyramiding on his shell, but I don't know how much is normal or abnormal.
I'm glad I found this forum, and have been starting to read some of the threads to get a better idea of how to care for him. I've been googling "caring for a sulcata tortoise", but many times the advice often seems contradictory. If anyone has any advice for newbie sulcata owners, I would appreciate it.
It does seem like the climate here would be more suited for him. We have a pretty large yard, with a small lawn, some rock and gravel areas, a side area that is gravel/dirt with trees and bushes, and concrete walkways and part of the yard is concreted in. They sent along his homemade "doghouse" which has a heating lamp in it. We aren't using the lamp at the moment because the temps have been pretty warm here. The yard is completely enclosed by a 9 foot concrete brick wall, and a solid metal gate. We also have a small koi pond with a resident red eared slider.
Speedy is a 5 year old male, 30 lbs. (We weighed him) Our friend told us what to feed him, though he seems to like to forage, too. We know he's eating because he poops a *lot*. We have several types of grasses growing in the yard, though he really only seems interested in the lawn. We have only had him for 2 weeks, and at first he seemed pretty freaked out--he kept circling the perimeter of the yard, like he was looking for a way out. We would have to find him when the sun was going down to put him in his house. Last night he finally put himself to bed, so I think he is starting to adjust. Our friend never said anything about soaking him, though. He has access to our dogs water dish, but I ordered a kiddie pool on Amazon so we could start soaking him. How often should we be doing that? It does seem like he has some pyramiding on his shell, but I don't know how much is normal or abnormal.
I'm glad I found this forum, and have been starting to read some of the threads to get a better idea of how to care for him. I've been googling "caring for a sulcata tortoise", but many times the advice often seems contradictory. If anyone has any advice for newbie sulcata owners, I would appreciate it.