I'm new! Am I taking care of my little guy the right way?

rissa_noelle

New Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2018
Messages
10
Location (City and/or State)
Utah
Hello! I'm a new sulcata tortoise owner! I got Scribble for my birthday last month. He's/she's about 4 months old. I love him so much and I just want to make sure I'm taking proper care of him.

I currently live in Utah and we keep him indoors with a heat lamp that's set to about 90 degrees and a natural UV lamp.

Since he's so small and the dishes were too big for him, we switched out the typical food dish and water dish- so he uses the water dish for his food and a Tupperware lid for his water dish.

I feed him once a day in the morning and he eats until he's content, then he will usually go and snack on the food a little bit throughout the day. We feed him a variety of food that we try to change a little each week. He seems very picky- he doesn't like Rosemary, Oregano, or Sage very much, but LOVES kale and aloe vera from the plant. We feed him a green food (herbs, kale, etc) mixed with Tortoise Entree from National Geographic or aloe vera. I also dust a calcium supplement on his food once a week.

His substrate is 100% natural Cypress mulch mixed with half a block of compressed coconut fiber expandable substrate. I pick up his poop every couple of days as I see it and throw it away. We have newspaper lining the bottom underneath the substrate so his pee will sink down instead of sitting in the substrate.

I bathe him every 2-3 days for 10-15 minutes in lukewarm water.

I do have some questions.
1. How often do you need to change the substrate?
2. It looks like the cracks in between his scutes are getting more noticable, does that just mean he's growing? Or am I doing something wrong?
3. I've read that their home should be kept humid... How humid? How do you keep it humid? I've used a spray bottle to spray down his substrate in the morning when I feed him, but it doesn't last. Any tips on keeping it humid enough for him would be great!
4. Can I put plants in there for him to eat off of? Such as dandelions or cacti? Has anyone done this before?

Any other suggestions would be helpful and appreciated! I've done some research on my own, but I'm still new at this [emoji4] TIA!!
 

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Mobileturtle500

New Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2016
Messages
12
Location (City and/or State)
Orlando fl
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/ https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/ https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/sulcata-diet-sheet.64290/ those are all good things to read through. It looks like you have a coil type uvb bulb. Those are known to cause eye problems and they don't produce enough uvb. I would change over to a zoo med 10.0 reptisun bulb. and do you have a ceramic heat emitter or anything to keep night time temps at at least 80 degrees. And the humidity needs to be at at least 80% or higher. If you close the top of your enclosure with something like a plastic sheet or anything that will help. And welcome to the forum you will find some wonderful people and information here.
 

Bambam1989

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2017
Messages
3,112
Location (City and/or State)
East Texas
Hey there it looks like a previous poster tried to supply so links for you but they are not clickable on my end, so here they are along with a couple extra.
Go through and give them a read and any questions you still have or want clarification on just let us know.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-45180.html

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/sulcata-diet-sheet.64290/

http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/index.php
 

MrMarg&me

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2017
Messages
258
Location (City and/or State)
Temecula California
Welcome. Scribble is very cute. I have been reading this forum for many months and have learned about the extreme importance humidity plays in the proper development of sulcata hatchlings. In the natural range where they originated they hatch during the monsoon season. It is very humid and warm. This can not be stressed enough. Read and follow all advise given on this forum on sulcata care. The life of your tortoise depends upon it.
 

TammyJ

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Messages
7,119
Location (City and/or State)
Jamaica
Welcome. Scribble is very cute. I have been reading this forum for many months and have learned about the extreme importance humidity plays in the proper development of sulcata hatchlings. In the natural range where they originated they hatch during the monsoon season. It is very humid and warm. This can not be stressed enough. Read and follow all advise given on this forum on sulcata care. The life of your tortoise depends upon it.
I certainly agree that the healthy and thriving life of your tortoise will be enhanced by knowledge gained from caring and wise experts, many examples of whom are to be found on this site - and maybe also on other sites that are known to be accurate and consistent with their advice.
 

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