My Sudan Sulcatas

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sibi

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. I found a plant called African Hibiscus or "rosella". It occurs over there in their natural range and they go crazy for it. They like it better than Mazuri. I'll be starting a new thread on this one soon.
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Where did you get that plant...did you order it online from "over there?"
 

jtrux

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Ive had poor luck getting my leopard to try anything new. Ill just keep offering it. Ive had luck adding bits and pieces of new food to Mazuri and he will devour it, slowly trying to increase the ratio of new food to Mazuri.
 

AZtortMom

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Beautiful babies Tom!
 

jtrux

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Been over a month...updates senor? I'm expecting the biggest to be pushing if not exceding 400grams by now.
 

Tom

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Haven't had time for pics, or much of anything else..., but last week two of them were over 400, with two more close behind. Still looking great. I'll get some pics soon.
 

Katherine

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Beautiful tortoises! If your African Hibiscus has a decently established root system it may survive the winter with just a little extra love. We wrap ours in Christmas lights or throw a packing blanket over it for a tiny bit of frost protection through the coldest portion of the year and it always dies back a bit but is raring and ready to go once it warms up again. It has actually proven to be hardier than most of the tropical hibiscus I keep.
 

Tom

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Katherine said:
Beautiful tortoises! If your African Hibiscus has a decently established root system it may survive the winter with just a little extra love. We wrap ours in Christmas lights or throw a packing blanket over it for a tiny bit of frost protection through the coldest portion of the year and it always dies back a bit but is raring and ready to go once it warms up again. It has actually proven to be hardier than most of the tropical hibiscus I keep.

Thanks. That's some good news. They all withered and dropped their leaves as soon as night temps started hitting low 40's. I was wondering if they'd come back. I didn't know anybody else had these.
 

Katherine

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I frequent my local horticulture and hibiscus chapters and breed every hibiscus I can get my hands on; they are good looking plants and fantastic reptile food. African hibiscus are not my favorite hibiscus but I keep them because they provide good shade cover for juveniles as they 'bush out' more than other varieties plus they are obviously a good natural food source. I move most of my tropical hibiscus into a green house, but this plant stays in ground year round. I believe you could find them in the states, I know I did.

PS; more tortoise pictures please :D
 

Tom

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I intend to do a post on this plant. I just haven't gotten to it yet. My tortoises love every part of it and it actually grew quite well for me too. This one lives just fine for me where I can't keep regular hibiscus alive for very long. I bet this one would do well for AZ members too.

And yes, I'll get going with some new pics for you. :)
 

lovelyrosepetal

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Hey Tom. I know you are super busy and will post updates when you can, with pictures but I was wondering if you were also going to post updates on your wild bunch? Thanks.
 

murdocjunior

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Im sorry guys im having trouble understanding what is Sudan Sulcatas? I guess im missing out on something, Thanks
 

TortoiseBoy1999

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murdocjunior said:
Im sorry guys im having trouble understanding what is Sudan Sulcatas? I guess im missing out on something, Thanks

They are a certain species of Sulcata's. They get bigger then normal Sulcata's and are from Sudan.... Go figure! :p
 

Tom

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murdocjunior said:
Im sorry guys im having trouble understanding what is Sudan Sulcatas? I guess im missing out on something, Thanks

Sulcatas have a huge range all the way across the middle of Africa. Most of the ones here in the states are "mutts". They are a genetic mixture of sulcatas from all over the range. There are at least three distinct "types" of sulcatas from throughout the range, but they are all one species, and so far no subspecies.

The parents of these babies came from the African country Sudan. It is unusual to find sulcatas that are from a known location. This particular type get very large and are a bit higher domed than "regular" sulcatas. They also are seeming to show less of a tendency to pyramid than "regular" sulcatas.
 

jtrux

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In the first post you have a pic of a heavily planted outdoor enclosure so I was wondering if that's where they lived 24/7 or did you bring them in at night to a closed chamber or what? I'm sure they are indoors now but since they are sooo smooth, just curious about how they were kept.
 

Tom

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I keep hatchlings in their closed chambers most of the time. I put them out for sun for an hour or two a day, soak them, and then put them back in their indoor enclosure. As they get older I leave the, out longer and longer. By the time they are a year old and 5-6" they stay outside all day and come in at night. By the time they hit 8-10" they move outside full time with a properly heated retreat in a large enclosure.
 

Tom

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Time for an UPDATE:
All is going very well. They are still the smoothest tortoises I have ever raised and growing like crazy on a mostly grass and weed diet. They are 10 months old now. Blondie is my smallest at 510 grams. The rest range from 660-789 and are really hard to tell apart. Enough talk! PICS!:

A trio. Notice how lightly colored Blondie is. They are all raised exactly the same in the same enclosures.
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A close up of "Gargantua". He used to be noticeably bigger than all the others. Now they are catching up. He's still the biggest though.
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Blondies' close up.
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One of the "catcher-uppers" previously mentioned.
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Dandelion destroyer.
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Tandem dandelion destruction. :)
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