Hi. I'm new to the group and, like many others here, I'm looking to give better care to my two sulcata tortoises. Some background...
My tortoises were approximately 1 year old on Oct. 1, 2009. I got them as hatchlings about 10-11 months prior. I've been keeping them inside due to their size, but they have a fairly large area (a 3.5' x 3.5' kiddie pool) to roam and have a UVA/UVB heat lamp on 8-12 hour cycles for "sunlight". They also have a hide box. I rarely take them outside as I have dogs that might think they're toys and/or I have seen the occasional bird of prey (falcon, hawk) in my eucalyptus tree. However, I live in southern AZ (Phoenix area) and plan to transfer them outside permanently once they are of sufficient size.
Their substrate is cypress mulch (recommended by a local pet store that "specializes" in fish and reptiles). Their diet is ~98% bermuda grass with occasional (once per month) dark leafy greens (romaine lettuce mostly) and the very rare carrot shaving or strawberry (3 times per year). I started soaking them at 1 year (twice per week), but not before that as one of the web sites I read suggested soaking *juveniles* (over 1 year), but said nothing about soaking *hatchlings* (under 1 year). Though in retrospect, this may have been a mistake.
Anyway, I thought I was doing fairly well with care with advice from the local pet store (though I've since learned they have been wrong about multiple things), but I think I'm starting to see some slight pyramiding in their shells and I'm concerned that I'm not doing something right. I've attached a few pics so that some of the more experienced in the group can (hopefully) tell me if I'm on the right track. Regardless, I feel I can (and should) be giving better care to my little guys and I'm hoping this group will help me.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Keith
My tortoises were approximately 1 year old on Oct. 1, 2009. I got them as hatchlings about 10-11 months prior. I've been keeping them inside due to their size, but they have a fairly large area (a 3.5' x 3.5' kiddie pool) to roam and have a UVA/UVB heat lamp on 8-12 hour cycles for "sunlight". They also have a hide box. I rarely take them outside as I have dogs that might think they're toys and/or I have seen the occasional bird of prey (falcon, hawk) in my eucalyptus tree. However, I live in southern AZ (Phoenix area) and plan to transfer them outside permanently once they are of sufficient size.
Their substrate is cypress mulch (recommended by a local pet store that "specializes" in fish and reptiles). Their diet is ~98% bermuda grass with occasional (once per month) dark leafy greens (romaine lettuce mostly) and the very rare carrot shaving or strawberry (3 times per year). I started soaking them at 1 year (twice per week), but not before that as one of the web sites I read suggested soaking *juveniles* (over 1 year), but said nothing about soaking *hatchlings* (under 1 year). Though in retrospect, this may have been a mistake.
Anyway, I thought I was doing fairly well with care with advice from the local pet store (though I've since learned they have been wrong about multiple things), but I think I'm starting to see some slight pyramiding in their shells and I'm concerned that I'm not doing something right. I've attached a few pics so that some of the more experienced in the group can (hopefully) tell me if I'm on the right track. Regardless, I feel I can (and should) be giving better care to my little guys and I'm hoping this group will help me.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Keith