New Baby Sulcata Help!

leonelg009

New Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2020
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
La Mirada, Ca
Hello everyone! I just bought my son a 7 month old baby sulcata. We currently have him on a 20 gallon tank using a mixture of coco husk and eco earth coco peat as the substrate. I was concerned about the heat lamps that they sold us and really should have done my research on it before buying it. For the day time heating I have a day/night tropical lighting kit that has a 60 watt blue (for day time) and red (night time). After reading several pages I realized that these bulbs are no good. I also have a Reptisun terrarium hood UVB light that I use during the day. Is there a good bulb that I should replace the blue bulb with? I live in Southern California and stopped using the red bulb at night since reading that they do not need heat at night. Can you guys please recommend the best heating bulb to use with the type of tank that I have for him? We have soaked him in warm water every other day and take him outside to be in sunlight for at least an hour everyday. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! I want to make sure I give this little guy the best care! Also, feeding. I give him collards, mustard greens and lettuce with calcium sprinkled on top. Tips on how often I should be feeding it?
 

KarenSoCal

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 8, 2017
Messages
5,750
Location (City and/or State)
Low desert 50 mi SE of Palm Springs CA
Hello, and welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately, you have been given old outdated advice, and have bought the equipment that goes with that bad advice.

The best way for you to start is to carefully read this care sheet, and the others I will post. Read, then come back and ask questions. We'll help you with what to buy, and explain why we make the recommendations that we do.

One of the first items is the night heat. They do need it. Their enclosure temp should never drop below 80°F, day or night, baby or adult. Red bulbs are not good to use, but if you have no heat at night, I would use it until you learn what to buy.

Here are some links, and also a list of tortoise foods. He should be fed a wide variety of foods, all he wants every day.




Compiled by Tom: Good foods for tortoises are "chicories," types of lettuce that are likely to be on the far side of the more common floppy green heads of lettuce most people buy. Anything labeled as simply "chicory" is good, as are radiccio, frisee, escarole, and endive; you might even find something labeled as dandelions. You may find a bag of "Spring" or "Spicy" mix that is good, just check the label to be sure it has some of the chicories I just mentioned. The leaves (just the leaves) of turnips and radishes are also good, as are carrot tops. Collards, mustard greens, bok choy, and other dark, leafy greens are okay as well. If you have any kind of Mexican/hispanic market near you, they will sell cactus, labeled "nopales." Cactus is a great food to rotate in the diet, as it is high in calcium. You don't need to feed all of these at one time, just make sure your tortoise is getting access to different types of food. As you get more experienced, you can find the better types of food listed on the care sheets. Here are a whole bunch of non-grocery store suggestions. Mulberry leaves Grape vine leaves Hibiscus leaves African hibiscus leaves Blue hibiscus leaves Rose of Sharon leaves Rose leaves Geraniums Gazanias Nasturtium Lavatera Pansies Petunias Hostas Honeysuckle Cape honeysuckle Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc... Young spineless opuntia cactus pads Weeds: There are soooooooo many... Dandelion Mallow Filaree Smooth Sow thistle Prickly Sow thistle Milk thistle Goat head weed Cats ear Nettles Trefoil Wild onion Wild mustard Wild Garlic Clovers Broadleaf plantain Narrow leaf plantain Chick weed Hawksbit Hensbit Hawksbeard Other good stuff: "Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html Homegrown alfalfa Mazuri Tortoise Chow ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food Ones that you can buy in every store: Arugula Lambs lettuce Chicory Kale Mustard greens Organic kohlrabi leafs Organic carrot leafs Organic radish leafs Dandelions Radiccio Their main diet should be broad leaf weeds, succulents and grasses. Store bought foods are okay, but not the best. Collards and dandelions are a good food, but neither should be used every day. Check out the plant ID section for lots of ideas on weeds to feed. You can get spineless opuntia cactus pads from most Mexican grocery stores, or grow them yourself. You can also easily grow grape leaves, african hibiscus, regular hibiscus (if it will survive in your area), and mulberry leaves. You can try red apple, ice plant, and jade plant too. Also look into Gazania, pansies, nasturtiums, carnations, geraniums and many others. At the grocery store, favor endive and escarole, but also use cilantro, carrot tops, mustard and turnip greens, bok choy, radiccio, swiss chard, watercress, parsley, all the lettuces, etc. Lots of variety is best. There are also tortoise "weed" seed mixes that you can grow. I like the "Testudo Mix" from Tortoisesupply.com. Buckwheat; cactus; vetch; Mohave aster; creosote bush; desert four o’clock; tacoma stans; bladderpod; globe mallow; goldenhead; burro weed; so many things!
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Hello everyone! I just bought my son a 7 month old baby sulcata. We currently have him on a 20 gallon tank using a mixture of coco husk and eco earth coco peat as the substrate. I was concerned about the heat lamps that they sold us and really should have done my research on it before buying it. For the day time heating I have a day/night tropical lighting kit that has a 60 watt blue (for day time) and red (night time). After reading several pages I realized that these bulbs are no good. I also have a Reptisun terrarium hood UVB light that I use during the day. Is there a good bulb that I should replace the blue bulb with? I live in Southern California and stopped using the red bulb at night since reading that they do not need heat at night. Can you guys please recommend the best heating bulb to use with the type of tank that I have for him? We have soaked him in warm water every other day and take him outside to be in sunlight for at least an hour everyday. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! I want to make sure I give this little guy the best care! Also, feeding. I give him collards, mustard greens and lettuce with calcium sprinkled on top. Tips on how often I should be feeding it?
Hello and welcome.

I second all that Karen said.
 

leonelg009

New Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2020
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
La Mirada, Ca
Hello, and welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately, you have been given old outdated advice, and have bought the equipment that goes with that bad advice.

The best way for you to start is to carefully read this care sheet, and the others I will post. Read, then come back and ask questions. We'll help you with what to buy, and explain why we make the recommendations that we do.

One of the first items is the night heat. They do need it. Their enclosure temp should never drop below 80°F, day or night, baby or adult. Red bulbs are not good to use, but if you have no heat at night, I would use it until you learn what to buy.

Here are some links, and also a list of tortoise foods. He should be fed a wide variety of foods, all he wants every day.




Compiled by Tom: Good foods for tortoises are "chicories," types of lettuce that are likely to be on the far side of the more common floppy green heads of lettuce most people buy. Anything labeled as simply "chicory" is good, as are radiccio, frisee, escarole, and endive; you might even find something labeled as dandelions. You may find a bag of "Spring" or "Spicy" mix that is good, just check the label to be sure it has some of the chicories I just mentioned. The leaves (just the leaves) of turnips and radishes are also good, as are carrot tops. Collards, mustard greens, bok choy, and other dark, leafy greens are okay as well. If you have any kind of Mexican/hispanic market near you, they will sell cactus, labeled "nopales." Cactus is a great food to rotate in the diet, as it is high in calcium. You don't need to feed all of these at one time, just make sure your tortoise is getting access to different types of food. As you get more experienced, you can find the better types of food listed on the care sheets. Here are a whole bunch of non-grocery store suggestions. Mulberry leaves Grape vine leaves Hibiscus leaves African hibiscus leaves Blue hibiscus leaves Rose of Sharon leaves Rose leaves Geraniums Gazanias Nasturtium Lavatera Pansies Petunias Hostas Honeysuckle Cape honeysuckle Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc... Young spineless opuntia cactus pads Weeds: There are soooooooo many... Dandelion Mallow Filaree Smooth Sow thistle Prickly Sow thistle Milk thistle Goat head weed Cats ear Nettles Trefoil Wild onion Wild mustard Wild Garlic Clovers Broadleaf plantain Narrow leaf plantain Chick weed Hawksbit Hensbit Hawksbeard Other good stuff: "Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html Homegrown alfalfa Mazuri Tortoise Chow ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food Ones that you can buy in every store: Arugula Lambs lettuce Chicory Kale Mustard greens Organic kohlrabi leafs Organic carrot leafs Organic radish leafs Dandelions Radiccio Their main diet should be broad leaf weeds, succulents and grasses. Store bought foods are okay, but not the best. Collards and dandelions are a good food, but neither should be used every day. Check out the plant ID section for lots of ideas on weeds to feed. You can get spineless opuntia cactus pads from most Mexican grocery stores, or grow them yourself. You can also easily grow grape leaves, african hibiscus, regular hibiscus (if it will survive in your area), and mulberry leaves. You can try red apple, ice plant, and jade plant too. Also look into Gazania, pansies, nasturtiums, carnations, geraniums and many others. At the grocery store, favor endive and escarole, but also use cilantro, carrot tops, mustard and turnip greens, bok choy, radiccio, swiss chard, watercress, parsley, all the lettuces, etc. Lots of variety is best. There are also tortoise "weed" seed mixes that you can grow. I like the "Testudo Mix" from Tortoisesupply.com. Buckwheat; cactus; vetch; Mohave aster; creosote bush; desert four o’clock; tacoma stans; bladderpod; globe mallow; goldenhead; burro weed; so many things!
Thank you so much for this information! truly appreciate the advice.
 

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