I need some info regarding Sulcata Tortoises

[eframcas]

Welcome, great job for taking so much time to learn about your new baby. Also love the name Sammy. Due to my app on the iPad, it doesn't show where you are located... May I ask where you are? Your little guy is much younger than mine but know that later on its not to easy to keep up with the indoor grasses. I know a lot of people have had success but I never have. Mine eats it way to fast compared to how fast I could grow it.. I have had a lot of luck this year with growing a lot of his lettuces and veggies.. Keep asking questions, everyone on the forum is awesome about helping us newbies.. Good luck again...

Wait...there is an App for this site?! If there is, that is super great and I need to get it, if not, it would be a great idea. I live in Miami, FL and as many have mentioned, it is a great place to raise the little fella. I can imagine the problem with growing grasses inside their enclosure, since they probably won't let them grow big enough. He is now on a 20 gallon aquarium but I am planning on transferring him to a rubber maid tub or something of the sort with much more space. Once this is done, I think I will be able to grow the grasses before transferring him. Thank you very much for your welcoming, I love this site!

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Welcome, great job for taking so much time to learn about your new baby. Also love the name Sammy. Due to my app on the iPad, it doesn't show where you are located... May I ask where you are? Your little guy is much younger than mine but know that later on its not to easy to keep up with the indoor grasses. I know a lot of people have had success but I never have. Mine eats it way to fast compared to how fast I could grow it.. I have had a lot of luck this year with growing a lot of his lettuces and veggies.. Keep asking questions, everyone on the forum is awesome about helping us newbies.. Good luck again...

Wait...there is an App for this site?! If there is, that is super great and I need to get it, if not, it would be a great idea. I live in Miami, FL and as many have mentioned, it is a great place to raise the little fella. I can imagine the problem with growing grasses inside their enclosure, since they probably won't let them grow big enough. He is now on a 20 gallon aquarium but I am planning on transferring him to a rubber maid tub or something of the sort with much more space. Once this is done, I think I will be able to grow the grasses before transferring him. Thank you very much for your welcoming, I love this site!

Just got the app!

 

[mary t]

Wait...there is an App for this site?! If there is, that is super great and I need to get it, if not, it would be a great idea. I live in Miami, FL and as many have mentioned, it is a great place to raise the little fella. I can imagine the problem with growing grasses inside their enclosure, since they probably won't let them grow big enough. He is now on a 20 gallon aquarium but I am planning on transferring him to a rubber maid tub or something of the sort with much more space. Once this is done, I think I will be able to grow the grasses before transferring him. Thank you very much for your welcoming, I love this site!

I am in Lakeland, fl. Just up alligator ally from you.. I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure we have an app. But there is an app for just about everything..lol.. There are a lot of forum members in the Florida area. Your little guy makes a little jealous because I got mine when he was 6. We adopted him and got him out of his aquarium and into an outside habitat in a few days... Yes they kept him in a couple hundred gallon aquarium for 6 years no lights, proper food just dry and locked up.. Now he lives the high life.. In my backyard.. Has free run whenever we are home because of the pool otherwise he is in a habitat that will need to be made larger this winter but his house is awesome, a double insulated shed with heater and all. He visits the laundry room whenever we have bad storms.. Besides the food I grow for him I follow others Advise and get spring mix from SAMs... With cactus pads it makes for a good supplement diet along with calcium powder and a cuttle bone in his enclosure.. Sorry I've just rattled on.. Good luck again.. Your going to really enjoy him or her..

 

[eframcas]

Wait...there is an App for this site?! If there is, that is super great and I need to get it, if not, it would be a great idea. I live in Miami, FL and as many have mentioned, it is a great place to raise the little fella. I can imagine the problem with growing grasses inside their enclosure, since they probably won't let them grow big enough. He is now on a 20 gallon aquarium but I am planning on transferring him to a rubber maid tub or something of the sort with much more space. Once this is done, I think I will be able to grow the grasses before transferring him. Thank you very much for your welcoming, I love this site!

I am in Lakeland, fl. Just up alligator ally from you.. I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure we have an app. But there is an app for just about everything..lol.. There are a lot of forum members in the Florida area. Your little guy makes a little jealous because I got mine when he was 6. We adopted him and got him out of his aquarium and into an outside habitat in a few days... Yes they kept him in a couple hundred gallon aquarium for 6 years no lights, proper food just dry and locked up.. Now he lives the high life.. In my backyard.. Has free run whenever we are home because of the pool otherwise he is in a habitat that will need to be made larger this winter but his house is awesome, a double insulated shed with heater and all. He visits the laundry room whenever we have bad storms.. Besides the food I grow for him I follow others Advise and get spring mix from SAMs... With cactus pads it makes for a good supplement diet along with calcium powder and a cuttle bone in his enclosure.. Sorry I've just rattled on.. Good luck again.. Your going to really enjoy him or her..

Oh Mary don't be jealous. It's really cool that you adopted your tortoise, I plan to do the same in the future when I have plenty of space. I want to be able to adopt tortoises and turtles that need a new home or from people who just want to give them up due to lack of proper care or attention. I am really interested in turtles and tortoises and being member of a forum like this one allows me to learn about all species of turtles and tortoises. I know I am going to be the old man with the turtles and tortoises instead of cats, LOL! I am just taking my time trying to learn about these little fellas so that I can provide them great care. Thanks for your reply.

 

[Tom]

Tom, Haven't you mentioned before that a few or more hours a weeks of sunlight is good? I just want to check for myself!

I've stated that a half hour of direct sunshine twice a week is enough to prevent MBD. More time is better. Except for tiny hatchlings, I like to have mine in appropriate outdoor enclosures all day. This is the best thing for most tortoises in most situations. They really are outdoor pets in my opinion, but they can survive okay indoors when the weather dictates it.

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DON'T USE THAT BULB! The coil type bulbs can damage their eyes. Use either a long tube fluorescent or an MVB or better yet, just use your incandescent indoors and make sure he gets some direct sunshine several times a week.

Tom, I am planning on buying a Reptisun 10.0 26W Compact Flourescent bulb. I think this will cover it well, along with spending time outside. Right?

If this is a long tube type, then it will do no harm. Whether it does anything but light up the enclosure is debatable. Outside time in a large interesting enclosure is best. In areas where this is not possible, I prefer MVBs over florescents. In your climate, you really won't need any artificial UV lighting. If they go two or three weeks with no sunshine over winter, its no big deal. Regular incandescent floods will work just fine to give some heat and light while they are indoors.

 

[eframcas]

Tom, Haven't you mentioned before that a few or more hours a weeks of sunlight is good? I just want to check for myself!

I've stated that a half hour of direct sunshine twice a week is enough to prevent MBD. More time is better. Except for tiny hatchlings, I like to have mine in appropriate outdoor enclosures all day. This is the best thing for most tortoises in most situations. They really are outdoor pets in my opinion, but they can survive okay indoors when the weather dictates it.

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DON'T USE THAT BULB! The coil type bulbs can damage their eyes. Use either a long tube fluorescent or an MVB or better yet, just use your incandescent indoors and make sure he gets some direct sunshine several times a week.

Tom, I am planning on buying a Reptisun 10.0 26W Compact Flourescent bulb. I think this will cover it well, along with spending time outside. Right?

If this is a long tube type, then it will do no harm. Whether it does anything but light up the enclosure is debatable. Outside time in a large interesting enclosure is best. In areas where this is not possible, I prefer MVBs over florescents. In your climate, you really won't need any artificial UV lighting. If they go two or three weeks with no sunshine over winter, its no big deal. Regular incandescent floods will work just fine to give some heat and light while they are indoors.

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I don't know what you mean by "long tube" but it is not coiled. It is meant for lamps just like coiled ones but it is not like the one I had before. I have not bought it yet, just asking for opinion.

I have put some pictures of the bulb and the type of lamp it will go on.

 

[Tom]

There are two types of florescent bulbs. There are the long straight tubes that are anywhere from 18-48" and they click or slightly twist into a ballasted light fixture. This type does not harm their eyes, but it is debatable about how much UV benefit they offer. At the very least, these will brighten up the enclosure, might give them some UV, and won't do any harm. One of these in combination with a regular incandescent flood bulb from the hardware store (like your current 60 watt) for basking, should work just fine for you.

Then there are all the various cfl bulb (compact florescent lights). These ones screw into a traditional incandescent type of socket, tend to be small diameter glass tubes that are either in a coil shape or just folded over several times like the one in your latest pic. This type is the one that has been seen to cause eye damage in a number of tortoises, and most of us will recommend against using any of them.

Really if your tortoise can just get out for a half hour two or three times a week, you don't need any artificial UV bulbs. If you build a suitable enclosure somewhere outside, this should be easy to accomplish. I always try to encourage this because they really get a lot of benefit from being outside, even beyond the UV. This is especially important when their indoor set up is on the small side.

 

[jpmorganwebb]

Hello and welcome. There is a ton of current info in my signature, just click away...

Your bark is a fine substrate. Many of us prefer that. You might be able to sprout some seeds indoors. Won't hurt to try. You can also sprout some seed in organic soil in trays. Then just sink the tray into the substrate, so that it is level with the surface. Then you can rotate trays as they get eaten and trampled.

A few tips:
1. Soak your baby in warm, shallow water for about 20-30 minutes every day for the first few months.
2. Make a proper humid hide for your baby. This will help him grow smooth and simulate a natural wild burrow to a degree.
3. I don't think a 20 gallon is big enough for a baby. Once you add in a humid hide, a water and food dish, and any other "furniture", there is hardly any room to walk. I prefer a 40 or 60 to start them in, but even these only last a few months. They grow fast. You can go buy a big plastic storage tub at any hardware store for around $15.
4. Everyone has a different strategy for lighting and heating, so it makes me nervous when someone says they have "the necessary lighting." The general strategy is a basking light on a timer and a heating element of some sort, like a ceramic heating element, on a thermostat to maintain ambient temps day and night. Be aware that those coil type UV bulbs can damage their eyes, and most of us recommend against them.
5. Tortoises need outside time for sunshine grazing and exercise. It must be done carefully and safely though, and you live in a great place for this. In my signature are three different threads full of all sorts of ideas for this. I start my babies with an hour or two a day and by the time they are a year old, they spend all day outside, weather permitting. If I lived where your are with all that glorious humidity AND warm temps, I'd probably leave mine out much longer when they are tiny babies.

Good luck and feel free to ask lots and lots of questions.

Hi Tom I recently purchased a sulcata. I would love any information or tips you can give me. We live in ok. We have a slightly larger than half acre yard privacy fenced in, we built a 4'x4' shade dug out with mud pit, have a mister that comes on during the hottest part of the day, we ordered snow saucers to use for water. Steve the tortoise is 10 years old and about 60lbs... I would love to know exactly how much to feed him, him much water he needs, suggestions for wintering, I have a shed, signs of sickness? Best supplements? Anything you can tell me basically I just want to make sure and do everything right. Thank you so much

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome JP. This should really be another thread, but I'll answer since is already here.
Here's a few tips:
1. By privacy fencing, I'm assuming chain link with a visual barrier of some sort. Big sulcatas can push under chain link. You may need to add some sort of physical barrier like lining the bottom of the fence with 16"x8' sections of plywood, or something similar. Just keep an eye out for that.
2. Snow suacers are probably going to be too deep in the middle and too slick for him to feel comfortable going in and out. You can always try it and and see. Sometimes they surprise us.
3. For feeding in a large area like that, just plant lots of pasture mix and let him eat as much as he wants. Sulcatas are grazers and like to nibble all day. I like to let them. I feed mine all sorts of stuff during our dry season out here, but all winter long they just graze on weeds and grass, all day long.
I like to leave out some grass hay in a dry area too. Sometimes they really just seem to like this, even when there are other seemingly "better" things available. Also check into spineless opuntia and maybe get a mulberry tree going. Grapevines and hibiscus work well too.
4. With a good varied diet, I don't supplement my adult males. They get Mazuri once in a while, and that's about it.
5. I'm not a good person to advice on over wintering sulcatas in a frozen winter area. We have relatively warm weather all year long here and I really just have to keep mine warm at night and on the occasional cold day. Your shed should work, but it will need some serious sealing and insulation. And some serious heat too. Good luck.