I'm getting antsy!

[saginawhxc]

Hi Amanda. From one new member to another, welcome to the forum.

I also have a tendency to do tons of research and obsess over details and getting things just right.

We also started with a bearded dragon that we got like nine months ago. Even though I was against getting any lizard at all I have come to love my beardie.

We have been talking/researching about getting a tortoise for almost five years but never got around to pulling the trigger on one till about one month ago. Now we have had a tiny sulcata hatchling for almost a month.

If you get your supplies ready and based off of the info on this site you will be light years ahead of where we were when I brought Mr T home. Even though I had done plenty of research it was years old in the back of my head, and I had actually decided on a redfoot, but we came across a cute sulcata hatchling at a reptile show and came home with it.

Bought our supplies from suggestions the breeder gave us, but within days I was replacing all of it with stuff suggested on this site. I burnt up a lot of money by not being prepared first.

It seems you are doing things the right way right out of the gate instead of scrambling to fix things like I have.

 

[Amanda A]

Hi Amanda. From one new member to another, welcome to the forum.

I also have a tendency to do tons of research and obsess over details and getting things just right.

We also started with a bearded dragon that we got like nine months ago. Even though I was against getting any lizard at all I have come to love my beardie.

We have been talking/researching about getting a tortoise for almost five years but never got around to pulling the trigger on one till about one month ago. Now we have had a tiny sulcata hatchling for almost a month.

If you get your supplies ready and based off of the info on this site you will be light years ahead of where we were when I brought Mr T home. Even though I had done plenty of research it was years old in the back of my head, and I had actually decided on a redfoot, but we came across a cute sulcata hatchling at a reptile show and came home with it.

Bought our supplies from suggestions the breeder gave us, but within days I was replacing all of it with stuff suggested on this site. I burnt up a lot of money by not being prepared first.

It seems you are doing things the right way right out of the gate instead of scrambling to fix things like I have.

I'm glad I'm not the only one! I did lots of research before getting Falcor (our beardie) and had a similar experience with his equipment. I had bought a tank from a chain pet store that claimed to be a full starter kit, light fixtures, bulbs, temperature gauges, etc. Within a week of bringing him home I noticed severe lethargy and lack of appetite. I did some research and discovered the issue was likely in the UVB bulb - it was a coil bulb. I promptly replaced it with a mercury vapor bulb, replaced the crappy temp gauges with higher quality ones, adjusted the lighting for proper temps, and voila! A happy lizard we now have! And even with having to replace many things that came in the tank set I still scored because of the sale price. I just don't know how a product that is widely known to be bad for a pet - or many for that matter, based on recommendations I see here - can be marketed directly FOR that animal. Makes me sick. Anyway, that's exactly what I'm trying to avoid this time, especially since there are clearly, a lot more necessities for tortoise hatchlings than for bearded dragons!

I love your Sulcatas name! I also am loving the Sulcata breed in general. If I had a backyard that could accommodate a Sulcata it would make choosing much harder! A Leopard will be perfectly suited for us, and if I ever move it will be specifically for a bigger yard, so may be someday I'll get the Sulcata experience!

 

[saginawhxc]

I jokingly wanted to name it Torty McTortface in honor of the British research boat recently in the news. My nine year old daughter hated the name so much that I constantly refer to him as Torty just to torture her.

I never get to name animals at my house anymore. Last time they let me name something I named the stray cat we adopted... Cat.