Hi there, thanks for letting me join this group

[Catkins]

We live in Buckinghamshire England and we are picking up a gorgeous 5 year old Sulcata tortoise called Mary in a couple of weeks, she was rescued from a guy who had her in a glass vivarium in a flat! The guy that rescued her has made a fantastic 6ft x 3ft house for her which he is kindly letting us have but we are having a purpose built one made in our garden which will be 8ft x 5ft so hopefully she will love it. I have noticed looking through a few posts that she has pyramiding to her shell obviously from the wrong food and conditions up until she was rescued. I will be trawling through this site making sure we are giving her the best of everything and she will have a huge lawn to graze on so hopefully she will be happy, any tips muchly appreciated
Helen

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome from Kent, UK.

Pyramiding is caused by poor conditions. She was raised far too dry.

Your Sulcata will grow to over 100lb/50kg and cannot hibernate. They need warm conditions year round and 8’x5’ won’t be big enough soon.

I recommend you read the TFO care guides and compare them with your setup.

They're written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely available on the internet and from pet stores and, sadly, from some breeders and vets too.

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

How to raise a healthy Sulcata
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

For those that have a young Sulcata (contains a diet sheet)
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Sleppo]

Welcome! Mary is beautiful!

 

[Catkins]

Thank you for all the info I really appreciate it, we want to do the best for her. I own and run a boarding cattery in our garden so am home all the time. This is a pic of her in the house she has at the moment, the guy just had to take her out of the vivarium she was in when he saw her on Xmas eve (hence why she is called Mary) and has done a good job but hasn't got outside space for her hence why we are taking her on. She is really friendly and we are taking her straight to our vets once we pick her up to get her checked over

 

[Cheryl Hills]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Catkins]

Welcome! Mary is beautiful![/QU

Welcome to the forum

 

[Catkins]

Thank you, looking forward to finding out all I can to keep my girl healthy and happy x

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, Helen, and welcome to the Forum!

You've got your work cut out for you. It's do-able, but a bit on the hard side to keep a sulcata warm enough and with enough space to wander, during the cold weather months.

Mary (or should I say, "Merry") is looking a bit thin. See her upper legs where they go inside the shell? They don't look to have much meat on them. So it will be in Merry's best interest to have foods that put on weight. We use Mazuri Tortoise Diet here in the States. I think there's a product similar being sold on the Shelled Warriors site. Also, folks have used Komodo Dragon food to help bulk up a skinny tortoise.

Good luck with Merry. Please keep us in the loop. We're all interested in how well she does in your care.

 

[jsheffield]

Welcome to TFO!

Jamie

 

[JoesMum]

@Lyn W are you around?

Lyn has a Leopard Tortoise in Wales and the care is very similar.

 

[Lyn W]

@Lyn W are you around?

Lyn has a Leopard Tortoise in Wales and the care is very similar.

I am now!
Will have read through the last posts.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome to you and the lovely Mary.
Poor girl hasn't had the best start but looks as if her life is about to get much better with you.
Have you given her any warm soaks yet?
The links you have been given will tell you all about diet, temps, substrate etc so that is a good starting point for you.
My leopard is over a foot long now and lives indoors all year round. He has his own adapted room with a radiator which is on 24/7 and an Arcadia MVB for light, heat and essential uvb, along with another basking bulb and a che for night use and when extra heat is needed. Some members prefer the uvb tubes but MVBs are the easiest option for me.
He has an outdoor enclosure for when the ground temps are at least 70F. but he comes in at night or when he feels like it.
It isn't easy keeping an African tort in our colder climate but there are ways to make it easier especially if you have the space. Have a look at the Enclosures thread for ideas and see if you can find Tom's design for an insulated and heated night box which many members use for outdoor living torts. Any sheds or out houses will need to be insulated and heated too for our chilly days and nights.
Also don't spend a fortune in pet shops until you've checked what you need with TFO. Pet shops will often sell unsuitable or unsafe equipment such as coiled bulbs which can damage tort eyes, unreliable thermometers etc., so members here could save you a lot of money.
So read the caresheets and ask as many questions as you need someone is always around to help or point you in the right direction.

 

[Catkins]

Hi and welcome to you and the lovely Mary.
Poor girl hasn't had the best start but looks as if her life is about to get much better with you.
Have you given her any warm soaks yet?
The links you have been given will tell you all about diet, temps, substrate etc so that is a good starting point for you.
My leopard is over a foot long now and lives indoors all year round. He has his own adapted room with a radiator which is on 24/7 and an Arcadia MVB for light, heat and essential uvb, along with another basking bulb and a che for night use and when extra heat is needed. Some members prefer the uvb tubes but MVBs are the easiest option for me.
He has an outdoor enclosure for when the ground temps are at least 70F. but he comes in at night or when he feels like it.
It isn't easy keeping an African tort in our colder climate but there are ways to make it easier especially if you have the space. Have a look at the Enclosures thread for ideas and see if you can find Tom's design for an insulated and heated night box which many members use for outdoor living torts. Any sheds or out houses will need to be insulated and heated too for our chilly days and nights.
Also don't spend a fortune in pet shops until you've checked what you need with TFO. Pet shops will often sell unsuitable or unsafe equipment such as coiled bulbs which can damage tort eyes, unreliable thermometers etc., so members here could save you a lot of money.
So read the caresheets and ask as many questions as you need someone is always around to help or point you in the right direction.

 

[Catkins]

Thank you so much for all the info. The house we are building will be fully insulated with a heated area. We have a big conservatory which we can bring her in to if the temperatures drop too much but I think the coldest it got down to last year was -4c degrees in the UK. We have a couple of cats living outdoors and we have had houses built for them which are heated and when it was -4c outside it was 22c degrees in their houses so they were nice and toasty warm. Looking at all the comments sadly it looks like Mary hasn't had the best start in life but hopefully we can make it 100% better for her from now on - we pick her up in 2 weeks so I am trying to get everything prepared for her arrival. No doubt I will be pestering you guys for info and tips along the way - apologies up front lol

 

[Ray--Opo]

Welcome and thanks for giving Mary a good home.

 

[Catkins]

Well Mary has packed up her shell and finally moved in to her new house, finally got it built and up and running yesterday and she absolutely loves it. She goes in and out most of the day having a graze around the garden then going back in for a snooze

 

[dmmj]

Greetings! & welcome to the forum. Even if she had a bad start you are working hard to give her a better forever life, KUDOS. Enjoy your new tortoise.

 

[katieandiggy]

That is a fantastic tortoise house!

 

[atlfrog]

I LOVE your setup!

 

[Catkins]

I LOVE your setup!

Thank you