New Momma To a Sulcata Named Turbo

[sulcata_turbo]

proper uvb light?

I am a new momma to a baby sulcata named Turbo. I was just curious what the proper uvb bulb would be for a 40 gallon tank. I just dobt feel like his is enough. Maybe I'm just being a worry wart but I want everything to be right for my Turbo. I attached a photo of him and his home. the uvb is the one in the middle.

 

[sulcata_turbo]

Hello!!
My fiance and I are proud new parents of a Baby Sulcata Tortoise named Turbo! Turbo was his 25th birthday present and our first reptilian pet. We live on 12 acres in the country in Oklahoma and are so very excited to spoil our little man. The only other pets that we have are two full blood german shepards (named Jax and Kira) and one half bull mastiff/ half german shepard (named Roxxy). They are our gentle giants. Our little man turbo is currently living in a 40 gallon tank with a subtrate of half eco earth/ half sand. He has a infrared heat lamp that is 150 watt that we adjust to about 80 degrees at night and a 150 watt heat lamp that we turn up to around 90-95 degrees during the day. He has two hiding holes in his home and two spots of food. I planted a small patch of grass in his cage from outside. Everyday I wake up and soak Turbo for about 10-15 minutes in luke warm water and clean his home while he is soaking. i will mist his grass and mist his home. and just before I put Turbo back in his home I will spray his grass down with vitamin spray. at first I had a calcium block in his enclosure, but I never seen him eating it. Now I just put two drops of liquid calcium in his water whenever I rinse his bowl out (which is daily). He also gets sliced carrot everyday or every other day. Hmmmm... I'm trying to cover everything that I do so that if I'm messing up or forgetting something important all of y'all experienced owners can let me know now before anything harms him. But yeah, he seems very happy and is very friendly we take him out and let him roam on our bedroom floor (of course under VERY close watch and is ALWAYS within arms reach). Oh!! I have tried to wash the green stains off his cute little mouth with a soft towel and with a childs soft bristle toothbrush but he is just not allowing it so I have left him with a stained mouth.. i feel terrible fighting him. I have attached some photos of Turbo and His enclosure. If anyone has any advice please let me know!! I am a super worry wart momma! and if I am doing something right please let me know cause I'm super nervous I'm not doing enough.
Thank you for your advice and time!!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi sulcata_turbo, and welcome to the Forum!

 

[luvpetz27]

Hi! Turbo is beautiful!
Welcome!

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

Here are my tips:
Get rid of the sand. It's an impaction risk and it's helps nothing.

Get a terra cotta plant saucer instead of that water bowl and sink it into the substrate so the rim is level with the surface. Much safer. Many babies have drowned in your current style of water bowl.

Stop with the carrots. Too sugary. Use grass, weeds, leaves, spineless opuntia cactus pads, Mazuri, ZooMed grassland tortoise chow, and if you must, a wide variety of grocery store greens.

What sort of UV bulb are you using? The coil type cfl bulbs can damage their eyes. Use a mercury vapor bulb or the long tube type florescent. Reall sunshine is best, when weather permits.

BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR DOGS!!! They will chew up your tortoise if given the chance. This happens ALL the time with any breed, size or disposition of dog. Do NOT ever leave them unsupervised together. Please please please heed this warning.

I would not let him roam on the floor. Too many dangers and too cold down there. Build a nice big safe outdoor enclosure for roaming, grazing and exercise, and or make a bigger indoor enclosure.

I don't like infrared bulbs. They should have natural looking daylight bulbs during the day and darkness at night. I like to use a regular flood bulb or an MVB on a 12 hour timer for a 100 degree basking spot and a ceramic heating element on a thermostat to maintain an ambient of 80 day and night for a baby sulcata. A florescent tube is a nice way to brighten up the whole enclosure during the day too.

That's it for now. Hope this helps, and you have many happy years with your giant to be.

 

[Dizisdalife]

Welcome to you and Turbo. Glad you found the Forum.

 

[Eloise's mommy]

that lil turbo is soooooo cute!!! I have an RT but since becoming a tort owner I have fell in love with the cute little faces of the sulcata htachlings...maybe one day for now I'm happy with an adorable RT...welcome and good luck to you and Turbo!

 

[sulcata_turbo]

Since that photo i have actually gotten rid of the water bowl cause last night he flipped himself into it and we now have that little basin you're talking about.

The uvb light is a floresent tube not the coil.

His enclosure is kept around 75-85 humidity and his bowels are very regular. He has had sand for over a month now but its so mixed with the eco earth that is a normal dirt texture.

My little man is NEVER left alone any where out side of his enclosure. He is VERY closely watched around the doggies. I am just too worrisome to leave him any where alone or unsupervised. Especially around our clumsy gentle giants.

In my bedroom I have carpet and my room is usually around 80 degrees (i HATE being cold.. my fiance hates how warm i like it too lol) and when he is on the floor we also use the heating pad that i have for my back and set it on low so if turbo gets chilly he will go and lay out on it. But anytime he is out of the enclosure in my room I am right next to him. Im way to afraid to just let him roam!(what if he was to get stepped on or eat something he is not supposed to or get lost or flip himself)

I have looked every where for a set diet and there is HUGE debate over food. What to feed and what not to feed.. i have literally been on the computer for days trying to find a set diet. The only thing I found in common with all oages was grass and weeds (which are now planted in his enclosure) and dark greens and occasional carrots for vitamin A. I'm gonna for sure see if he will eat spinach.. he loves romaine.. carrots he only eats a couple and is done. I've never read they are too sugary.. how so?

Thank you for all of your advice!!! And I hope my further explinations helped. Also I would like to say someone is at home with my little man 99.9% of the time. Because I work nights and my fiance works days. So we are always monitoring him. (I guess you could say we are worry warts)

Thanks again!

 

[sulcata_turbo]

that lil turbo is soooooo cute!!! I have an RT but since becoming a tort owner I have fell in love with the cute little faces of the sulcata htachlings...maybe one day for now I'm happy with an adorable RT...welcome and good luck to you and Turbo!

Thank you so very much!! He is our "first child" lol

 

[DesertGrandma]

Love the name Turbo. He is adorable. 😍

 

[sulcata_turbo]

Love the name Turbo. He is adorable. 😍

Thank you!! Our other hobby is building import cars and Turbo just seemed to be the best fit for his name.

 

[mainey34]

Hello and welcome...your little one is adorable...i think what others are saying about putting him on the floor. The floor is much colder. He will catch cold on the floor. My suggestion, and its something you will need to get sooner or later..get a temperature gun. They have them on amazon. I use mine daily. You can see what your floor temp is. As far as diet goes, go to tortoiselibrary.com there are lots of good resources there..carrots are not good for a daily diet. I feed my sulcata lots of greens from my garden. Like turnip greens, collard greens, aruglia, endive, etc. One more thing i would like to suggest that a lot of sulcata owners here on the forum go by. The threads below my signature are for raising sulcatas. There are lots of helpful info in them. Sand is also not a good substrate, it causes impaction. I would hate to see that happen to him. He is so cute...

 

[surie_the_tortoise]

awsome little sulcata. since you like imports long live the fairlady Z and gtr

 

[pam]

Turbo is sooooooooooooooooooooo cute Welcome

 

[mctlong]

I have looked every where for a set diet and there is HUGE debate over food. What to feed and what not to feed.. i have literally been on the computer for days trying to find a set diet. The only thing I found in common with all oages was grass and weeds (which are now planted in his enclosure) and dark greens and occasional carrots for vitamin A. I'm gonna for sure see if he will eat spinach.. he loves romaine.. carrots he only eats a couple and is done. I've never read they are too sugary.. how so?

Hello and welcome.

This is the sully diet sheet I use and recommend:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-52677.html#axzz28oJwNcFW

 

[kanalomele]

Welcome to you both! We have lots of sully keepers here!

 

[immayo]

Welcome!! I don't browse the Sulcata sections too often but since you are a fellow ImportSweetheart I figured I'd stop by and say hello to you and little Turbo!!