Just out of curiousity...

[megoon]

I just found out Ramsay is an African Sulcata, and I was just wondering if that means he's a desert tortoise...?

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

"Desert" is a very subjective term, especially in the reptile community. To be accurate and technical, most experienced and knowledgeable sulcata enthusiasts would tell you NO, a sulcata is not a desert animal. One could say that they are more of a savannah/grassland-type creature, but regrettably, many novice keepers interpret this as very close to "desert" - meaning, high heat, low humidity, dry substrate, and very little water (they get all their water from their food, right?). Wrong.

I'm sure others will chime in soon enough, but there have been some very enlightening discoveries made in the past several years regarding ideal care and husbandry for sulcata tortoises, especially babies and juveniles. Contrary to what one may think (and what many pet stores and online caresheets may tell you), young sulcatas seem to fare better in an environment with relatively high humidity and kept very hydrated.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Student is right. Sulcatas come from the Sahel, which is a grassland/savanna environment south of the Sahara (the biggest desert on Earth), but not part of it. Therefore, sulcatas are adapted to higher moisture and humidity levels than those of North America's desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii and G. morafkai).

 

[megoon]

Oh no! I've been treating him like a desert tortoise! :c he's extremely healthy though. I spoil and baby him.

 

[StudentoftheReptile]

Megoon, is Ramsay the same tortoise you are referring (and included a photo of) in this thread? http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-What-kind-of-bedding-should-i-use?page=2#axzz1uDZhvUXK

If so, then the animal in that photo is NOT a sulcata. I don't know who told you that it was, and I don't enough experience with other species to definitively say it is a desert tortoise, but I can tell you it is not a baby sulcata.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Megoon, is Ramsay the same tortoise you are referring (and included a photo of) in this thread? http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-What-kind-of-bedding-should-i-use?page=2#axzz1uDZhvUXK

If so, then you DO have a desert tortoise. The animal in that photo is NOT a sulcata.

Yeah, that's a young, and apparently leucistic desert tortoise, not a sulcata (you can tell by the smaller scales on the forelegs, and the more prominent nose). Do you have a permit to legally keep him? Desert tortoises are a threatened and regulated species.

In any event, all tortoises still require a moist substrate to resist desiccation, and that's especially true of young ones.

 

[dmarcus]

Megoon, is Ramsay the same tortoise you are referring (and included a photo of) in this thread? http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-What-kind-of-bedding-should-i-use?page=2#axzz1uDZhvUXK

If so, then the animal in that photo is NOT a sulcata. I don't know who told you that it was, and I don't enough experience with other species to definitively say it is a desert tortoise, but I can tell you it is not a baby sulcata.

I agree, if the tortoise in the photo is the one your referring too, then you do have a desert tortoise and not a sulcata.

 

[megoon]

My uncle works with tortoises and has a bunch. He told me he was an African Sulcata because of the horns on his chest.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

My uncle works with tortoises and has a bunch. He told me he was an African Sulcata because of the horns on his chest.

That's called a gular spur, and many tortoise species have those, including sulcatas and desert tortoises.

Again, both you and your uncle should have permits to keep and breed desert tortoises.

 

[megoon]

I'm only 16, and I got Ramsay as a birthday present from a friend. Is it too late to get a permit, or will they take him away from me!?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Megan:

I'd be very interested in seeing more and clearer pictures of your little birthday present. Some sulcatas have the flatter leg scales and sometimes its pretty hard to distinguish between the baby desert tortoises and the baby sulcatas with flat leg scales.

Don't worry...we recommend waiting until the tortoise is about 3 years old before applying for a permit, and by the time your tortoise is 3, it will be obvious what type tortoise he is.

Can you get us some more pictures of him?

Just so we all don't have to keep going back and forth between threads, here's the picture of Megan's tortoise from the other thread:

And, Megan, just to give you an answer to your original question, when we, here on the forum, refer to "desert" tortoises, we are referring to the Gopherus agassizii tortoise. If we were referring to something other than the G. agassizii, we would probably say "desert-type" tortoise.

 

[megoon]

http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/i418/_megoon/?action=view&current=photo-1.jpg

http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/i418/_megoon/?action=view&current=photo-2.jpg

 

[Yvonne G]

Ok...that's better. I'm assuming he's white in the other picture because of the substrate. In this picture he is deffinitely a desert tortoise, or a Gopherus agassizii:

May I suggest you get rid of that substrate and try something else that you can keep moist? Coco-coir or cypress mulch or orchid bark are all good substrates.

 

[megoon]

That's a picture of him all wet. He was outside for about two hours and I put a little water on him to cool him down. If he's a desert tortoise, I'm afraid that someone will take him away from me because I don't have a permit

 

[Yvonne G]

No, I meant in the other picture he's white. That's what caused one of your responder to assume it was a leucistic (no color) tortoise, because he was so white in the picture. But evidentally, he's white because of the dust of the substrate, because in the wet picture he isn't white anymore.

Don't worry about the permit until he's about 3 years old.

 

[megoon]

Oh, I get it. Well thank you so much!