My 5 month old

Mytortsampson

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Hey yall I'm new to owning a tortoise! I have a 3 month old sulcata that I've had about a week. He is currently in a terrarium with coconut fiber substrate, gets uvb and heat during the day (stays about 100°F) on one side of his tank, during the night he has an inferred lamp (stays about 90°F), he gets calcium and soaked every other day, he also eats grassland tortoise food, kale, and aloe vera (with spines taken off).
My question is that he just seems unhappy, he doesn't seem to be eating much, he doesn't really move around much, and he just kinda stays in his house majority of the day. When I went to pick him up from the breeder he was the most active out of all the tortoises there which is why I'm a little concerned .... I wanna try and be the best tortoise momma I can be and keep him happy. Please If yall can give me any help or advice on how to help my baby tort please let me know!
 

Blakem

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You should try to include some grasses, flowers and weeds in that diet. Purchase some Mazuri as well. I don't know how often you do the calcium, but I'd only feed it 2 times a week. You should have 4 temps at all times basking 95-100, ambient 90-95, cool side I don't like to be lower than 90, and the same with night time temperatures. Buy a temperature gun to measure throughout the tank. Soak him daily in like warm water and always provide a water bowl. Show us a picture of your setup and we may be able to help. He is possibly still adjusting to his new home.
 

Jodie

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Hi, and welcome. Read the care guides pinned in the Sulcata section. He needs a range of temperatures. 100 is good for basking, but he needs an area in the 80's. Humidity is also important. At this age I would soak daily.
 

Mytortsampson

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You should try to include some grasses, flowers and weeds in that diet. Purchase some Mazuri as well. I don't know how often you do the calcium, but I'd only feed it 2 times a week. You should have 4 temps at all times basking 95-100, ambient 90-95, cool side I don't like to be lower than 90, and the same with night time temperatures. Buy a temperature gun to measure throughout the tank. Soak him daily in like warm water and always provide a water bowl. Show us a picture of your setup and we may be able to help. He is possibly still adjusting to his new home.

I was told Mazuri wasn't a good food for them by multiple breeders and owners. Why do you recommend soaking daily?
I give him calcium every other day, I'm going to get a silicone mold to make my own calcium blocks for him so he can eat it when it wants
 

Mytortsampson

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Hi, and welcome. Read the care guides pinned in the Sulcata section. He needs a range of temperatures. 100 is good for basking, but he needs an area in the 80's. Humidity is also important. At this age I would soak daily.

I live in South Louisiana it's pretty humid here all the time. How do you add humidity to the tank?
I also have thermometers on his basking side and cool side and the cool side stays about 75-80°F
 

Tom

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Hello, welcome and congratulations on the new baby.

-What type of UV bulb are you using? The coil types sometimes burn their eyes and shouldn't be used.
- It should not drop below 80 anywhere in the enclosure, day or night.
-It should be dark at night, but still warm. Infra-red bulbs confuse their little tortoise minds and shouldn't be used. Use a CHE set on a thermostat instead.
-It is not humid enough indoors, under electric heat lamps and CHE's, in an open topped enclosure, in a heated and air condition house, anywhere in the country. You need a closed chamber. I don't recommend humidifiers.
-Mazuri is a great tortoise food and anything else that those people told you should be suspect. I like to use it once or twice a week as a supplement to an otherwise varied diet. You don't "need" it, but it is good for them and certainly does no harm.
-You are using too much calcium. Too much is as bad as too little. They only need a tiny pinch a couple of times a week in most cases.
-Kale is okay once in a while in small amounts, but not as a staple. Most babies won't eat aloe. Few tortoises will eat plain ZooMed Grassland pellets as a stand alone food item. Does yours? You need weeds, leaves, flowers, succulents and grasses. If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole, but use lots of variety and mix in your ZooMed food, chopped fresh young grass, or blended and rehydrated grass hay. "Herbal Hay" from tortoisesupply.com works well too.

There is a lot of old, out-dated, incorrect info circulating around out there in the world for this species. Much of it is based on incorrect assumptions about how they live in the wild. You are one of the lucky ones. You found us. Its all right here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Please come back and ask for clarification if needed. All questions are welcome.
 

Dizisdalife

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Welcome to the Forum. It is common for a baby tortoise, or a tortoise of just about any age, to withdraw when moved to a new environment. They want to hide, sleep, and they won't eat are all symptoms of being insecure in a new enclosure. Yours maybe going through a period of adjustment and will begin to act normal soon.

Although it's humid most of the time where you live your tortoise's shell will be getting dried out by the basking lamp and heat lamps used in your tank. To mitigate the drying effect that these lamps have most of the keepers here take steps to keep the relative humidity elevated in the enclosure area. Moistening the substrate, making a hide box that holds the moisture in, spraying the air with a mister, and sometimes using a humidifier, are some of the typical ways the humidity is raised in the tank. All of these methods work better when there is a top on the tank to hold the moist air in.

Daily soakings are perhaps the best way to ensure that the tortoise is well hydrated. Many breeders keep their hatchlings too dry and come to us a little dehydrated. It is import to the health of their internal organs that they are well hydrated all the time. My baby sulcata was kept dry before I got him. After soaking him daily for several weeks he pooped out a large white stone. I think it was called a bladder stone. Lucky that this happened when the stone was small. If it kept growing it could have developed into a size that would become life threatening.

There is a lot of good information here. One good thread to read is: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.78361/
And another one is: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
I like this one too. I think it is a simple way to start a sulcata or a leopard baby
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chamber-leopard-edition.109634/

All of these enclosures keep the heat and humid air inside the tank. By trapping the heat and humidity inside the enclosure it sets up an ideal environment for the babies. One that can be managed and controlled for the best results.

You will do well raising a sulcata in Southern Louisiana. Great climate for them.
 

Mytortsampson

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Thank yall so much! I'm off tomorrow so he will be getting a tank redo! We also just had our first try outside in the grass and he loved it!
 

Yvonne G

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In order to provide humidity, you don't need a humidifier, you just need to wet the substrate and cover the enclosure.
 

Mytortsampson

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Hello, welcome and congratulations on the new baby.

-What type of UV bulb are you using? The coil types sometimes burn their eyes and shouldn't be used.
- It should not drop below 80 anywhere in the enclosure, day or night.
-It should be dark at night, but still warm. Infra-red bulbs confuse their little tortoise minds and shouldn't be used. Use a CHE set on a thermostat instead.
-It is not humid enough indoors, under electric heat lamps and CHE's, in an open topped enclosure, in a heated and air condition house, anywhere in the country. You need a closed chamber. I don't recommend humidifiers.
-Mazuri is a great tortoise food and anything else that those people told you should be suspect. I like to use it once or twice a week as a supplement to an otherwise varied diet. You don't "need" it, but it is good for them and certainly does no harm.
-You are using too much calcium. Too much is as bad as too little. They only need a tiny pinch a couple of times a week in most cases.
-Kale is okay once in a while in small amounts, but not as a staple. Most babies won't eat aloe. Few tortoises will eat plain ZooMed Grassland pellets as a stand alone food item. Does yours? You need weeds, leaves, flowers, succulents and grasses. If you must use grocery store foods, favor endive and escarole, but use lots of variety and mix in your ZooMed food, chopped fresh young grass, or blended and rehydrated grass hay. "Herbal Hay" from tortoisesupply.com works well too.

There is a lot of old, out-dated, incorrect info circulating around out there in the world for this species. Much of it is based on incorrect assumptions about how they live in the wild. You are one of the lucky ones. You found us. Its all right here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Please come back and ask for clarification if needed. All questions are welcome.

- he has the flukers sun spot and a black ceramic during the day, and at night he has the infrared basking light. I will definitely look into the CHE lights also.
- I am going tomorrow to get a silicone mold to make my own calcium blocks for him, I am still gonna supplement it into his food occasionally though
- my little baby LOVES his aloe! It's usually the first thing he eats! He also sometimes will pick at the grassland and eat some but he goes for the junk food more then anything! Typical child!
I also have a play pen coming for him and should be here on Thursday and he's getting a complete tank redo tomorrow! He's getting burrowing spots and nice damp places to hide!

Thank yall so much!
 

Jodie

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I live in South Louisiana it's pretty humid here all the time. How do you add humidity to the tank?
I also have thermometers on his basking side and cool side and the cool side stays about 75-80°F
For humidity, I use closed chamber enclosure and 5 inches of coco coir kept moist. The cool side is a bit low. I keep temps above 80 day and night.
 

Cowboy_Ken

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For humidity, I use closed chamber enclosure and 5 inches of coco coir kept moist. The cool side is a bit low. I keep temps above 80 day and night.
I, too, keep my indoor, hatchling enclosures at a minimum temp. of 80°f day and night.
Keeping the humidity high is a need/must. Internal hydration of these little buggers from regular soaking as advised from Tom and Yvonne are strongly advised to encourage this process.
This may all seem backwards for a "Saharan desert animal" but think of the predators in their "normal" neck of the woods. Everything from four legged critters to overhead circlers looking for an easy meal/treat.
They hatch during the rainy season, with lots of plants to hide under. Damp plant clumps have high humidity. And this would be for the hatchlings that went topside. Instinctively knowing their safest chance at survival is to just stay home in the burrow they hatched in, that's what they oftentimes do. Steady temperature and regular high humidity, it's perfect.
Well I hope all this babbling has answered some questions for you, or at least brought more up for you. Keep asking questions and soon you will be answering question for others. You have found the CORRECT place for tortoises and turtles on the World Wide Internet Machine, and we're happy to have you join us.
 

Mytortsampson

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Okay yall Sampson (my baby tortoise) got a complete redo of his terrarium! He has a cuddle fish bone in there (I'm still gonna put calcium in his food twice a week if I don't see obvious marks), thicker coconut bedding, and a lot of bedding in his house for him to burrow in. I'm now soaking him every day, his cool side is warmer, and he has a mister on him that sprays his terrarium every other hour, I also have been getting his food from the yard and no longer at the grocery store (no more kale for this little guy), while I was redoing his tank he got to spend about and hour outside exploring! He has a outdoor play pen coming tomorrow(hopefully)! If yall can think of anything else that I could be missing please let me know!
 

Mytortsampson

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Okay guys I posted a similar post before but I am a worried first time tortoise mom and wanna make sure everything I am doing is 100% correct, but I do have some questions...
I have a 5 month old sulcata, calcium 2x a week and 30min soakings in warm water every day (is this to much?)
I give him 5 pellets of Mazuri in the morning to lasts him all day. He also gets fresh weeds and grass from my yard with the occasional spring mixed in there also herbal hay sprinkled on top. My question here is that he NEVER eats his veggies! He just wants Mazuri.... I've tried kinda tough love and didn't feed him any Mazuri and he went on strike....lasted about a week until I finally caved...no veggies were touched. How do I make him eat???

Also I wanna make sure he is growing correctly....the picture of him more tucked in is about a month and a half a ago...20161219_214728.jpg
 

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Mytortsampson

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Hey yall I had a few questions....
I have a 5 month old sulcata he gets calcium with d3 twice a week and soakings every day in warm water in 30 mins... is this to much?

Okay now to my main issue....
My sulcata only likes his junk food! He gets 5 Mazuri pellets to last him through the day which by the time is night time lamps go on him they are gone... he also gets a hand full of all different types of weeds and grasses from my back yard and occasionally a little spring mix and hibiscus. On top of this mound of food (that he doesn't touch) he gets herbal hay sprinkled on top. And he still won't touch his veggies!!! I tried tough love with him and gave him no Mazuri for about a week before I caved... nothing was touched...
How do I get my junkie to eat his veggies???

I also am gonna post pictures below I wanna see if it looks like he's growing normally.

Thank yall!
 
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