New owner

[mwindman]

Hey I am a new owner of a sulcata tortoise that is about 2 years old. I came home from work and I live out in the desert in Arizona and he was trying to get up on my water stand to get water and falling over. He was real hot to the touch. I work at a vet office but only with cats and dogs. I need help in knowing how big of enclosure to start out with (not with a lot of money involved) and what desert plants I can plant in enclosure. Right now he is in my home in a large dog wire kennel with a light but would like to get him outside. I have also got the supplements. I am learning as listening to people talk. Please help with any information you can give. Thanks.

 

[Crazy1]

Welcome to the forum mwindman, I am sure you will get lots of help from Sully owners especially if you repost your question in Sulcuta Central Section of the foum.

 

[Yvonne G]

The only bit of advice I can offer you is to try to find the tortoise's owner. Someone is missing their beloved pet. Its not yours to keep. Put up fliers on utility poles around your neighborhood. "Found" ads are usually free in the newspaper. If you can't find the tortoise's owner, THEN you can worry about how to set him up to live at your house.

Yvonne

 

[Laura]

And please post some pics so we can help ID the tort. Diet and such will vary. How do you know its 2 years old? Growth varies greatly. I agree with Yvonne. The owner needs to be located or at least try.
Sulcatas get very large. so if you decide to keep him, then look at your situation first. Do you have a large yard? Lawn area? Secure fencing? locked gates, no dogs, a barn or some sort of heated housing for winter months.. they dont hibernate.
Start with a pic, that way you will know what you have and what to advertise being found. he is lucky to have found you.

 

[JustAnja]

And as I asked in the other thread, are you absolutely sure its not an AZ Desert Tortoise instead of a Sulcata, they can look very similar to the unknowing eye.

 

[mwindman]

And as I asked in the other thread, are you absolutely sure its not an AZ Desert Tortoise instead of a Sulcata, they can look very similar to the unknowing eye.

I have taken him to an expert and he is a sulcata. As far as putting up pics on poles we have one place to advertise and that is our post office. I live out in the desert there is not a lot around. We have had people move out around here and leave horses so it's not like a neighborhood. I live on a 1.25 acres.

 

[Jacqui]

Hi! Sounds like it was lucky you spotted him.

 

[mwindman]

Hi! Sounds like it was lucky you spotted him.

Thank you; you are the first person who has told me this; this weekend we built him a real nice big pen; I potted some herb plants and he seems to like them; He is so much happier now even though it is 113 degrees here. We have his pen under our big mesquite tree where he gets the morning sun and some of the evening; He has a kennel where he can get out of the sun. I am definetly learning as I go. We still have not found his owner so I guess we are going to take care of him so any help you can give I would appreciate it.
Thanks

 

[tortoiseman333]

nice!!!what did you name him???

 

[purpod]

Welcome and congrats to both of you! I didn't look to see what desert you live in, but he should be a happy camper what with all you appear to have as an offer to him for living arrangements. There are several posts here that talk about foods as well as enclosure requirements ~ I would imagine if you check things out a bit, you will find all kinds of answers ~ again, welcome!

Purpod

 

[mwindman]

nice!!!what did you name him???

We named him Morris; We live out by Wickenburg Arizona; He seems real happy in his new home outside; I work at a vet office but we mainly do cats and dogs; I use to rescue cats and have quite a few but tortoise are new to me.

 

[mwindman]

Welcome and congrats to both of you! I didn't look to see what desert you live in, but he should be a happy camper what with all you appear to have as an offer to him for living arrangements. There are several posts here that talk about foods as well as enclosure requirements ~ I would imagine if you check things out a bit, you will find all kinds of answers ~ again, welcome!

Purpod

I live out near Wickenburg Arizona; Morris seems happy outside now but I don't know how they handle 113 degree weather; I have looked around the internet and it just confuses me; some same he can have some food and then some say he can't; We planted a few herb plants and some cactus in his pen; Put some rocks and mesquite logs; I hope this is okay; He also gets grass hay and timothy hay; My question is how often do you give them there supplement and soak them?

 

[Yvonne G]

In the wild, sulcatas (and Arizona desert tortoises) dig a burrow in order to be able to escape the heat of the day. They emerge from the burrow as soon as they sense there is sun to warm up in. Then they roam around looking for food. It is perfectly ok for you to feed your new tortoise every day. An accepted diet would consist of (in the absence of grazing material) dark leafy greens, such as endive, escarole, turnip greens, beet tops, carrot tops, mustard, etc. There is also a product you can buy in your produce section called "spring mix." This consists of all of the above in a very young form..quite a nice assortment. I usually wet the greens then sprinkle either cut up grass hay or grass over it. The wet greens cause the hay to stick, and even though your tortoise might not eat hay on his own, he can't help but eat it when its stuck to the greens. It is also ok for you to feed "natural" foods that you might have growing around your property. Mulberry leaves are a welcome addition to the diet. Hollyhock, mallow, rose of sharon, etc. It is most important for you to build your pen larger than you might think is necessary. In the wild they roam quite far looking for food, and this exercise helps keep him healthy. One thing I have learned about sulcata is you can always make their pen bigger, but if you try to make it smaller they will break down the fence to get back to the other part. They are VERY territorial and they really do know their boundaries. They also love a mud wallow. ..flinging the mud and water up over their backs. Good luck with your new tortoise. We'd love to see some pictures of your habitat when you have it all built. And the tortoise too, of course!

Yvonne

Here's a picture of my Dudley:

And this is my sister's Bob who is around 50lbs:

 

[purpod]

MWindman, All of what Yvonne mentioned makes for a great 'salad' which can be tossed in a large bowl & kept refrigerated, making it easy to feed, even when you are limited on time.. Also, there is a great seed mix for grazing torties that can be purchased at Carolina Pet Supply that my lil' Leopard just loves; considering the amount of seeds sent, it's a good deal as far as a purchase goes. It didn't take but a few days for the sprouts to come up & King Tortie seems to just love grazing along, mowing off the tops, lol.
I was also thinking that should you build a 3 sided box {no bottom and no front} large enuf for a full grown sulcata, and sink it into the ground a foot or so, that might be a place that Morris could take a break from the sun.. of course, this is just an idea, as I am certainly no expert on such large critters..

And for Yvonne ~ You rock, my dear! You are always helpful with detailed info for peeps who have questions ~ You are a prize to this community! Also, talk about some cutie tortie pics! Had to laugh at Bob's sweet potato {I assume} covered face!

Keep up the xllnt work you guys!
Blessings,
Purpod

 

[mwindman]

In the wild, sulcatas (and Arizona desert tortoises) dig a burrow in order to be able to escape the heat of the day. They emerge from the burrow as soon as they sense there is sun to warm up in. Then they roam around looking for food. It is perfectly ok for you to feed your new tortoise every day. An accepted diet would consist of (in the absence of grazing material) dark leafy greens, such as endive, escarole, turnip greens, beet tops, carrot tops, mustard, etc. There is also a product you can buy in your produce section called "spring mix." This consists of all of the above in a very young form..quite a nice assortment. I usually wet the greens then sprinkle either cut up grass hay or grass over it. The wet greens cause the hay to stick, and even though your tortoise might not eat hay on his own, he can't help but eat it when its stuck to the greens. It is also ok for you to feed "natural" foods that you might have growing around your property. Mulberry leaves are a welcome addition to the diet. Hollyhock, mallow, rose of sharon, etc. It is most important for you to build your pen larger than you might think is necessary. In the wild they roam quite far looking for food, and this exercise helps keep him healthy. One thing I have learned about sulcata is you can always make their pen bigger, but if you try to make it smaller they will break down the fence to get back to the other part. They are VERY territorial and they really do know their boundaries. They also love a mud wallow. ..flinging the mud and water up over their backs. Good luck with your new tortoise. We'd love to see some pictures of your habitat when you have it all built. And the tortoise too, of course!

Yvonne

Here's a picture of my Dudley:

And this is my sister's Bob who is around 50lbs:

Thank you for your very nice letter. It was nice to hear that I am going in the right direction. We built a pen that is 3ft by 6ft using a large kennel cage that I use to use for my foster baby kittens; I put hardware wire on the bottom; set cage 2 inches off the ground and filled with a lot of dirt; then put wood around outside with dirt all the way up except for the top wood; This pen is under the mesquite tree that is quite large where he gets the morning sun and when it really heats up he has shade; I put half of one of my cat's kennel upside down and he has taken that for his cave; We planted some herbs and have mesquite wood with some large flat rocks in his pen; We also put a aloe vera cactus and little litter box for his water to soak in. He seems real happy now; I have a question about supplements now that he is outside. I will try to get pictures on this page for you to see.

 

[Jentortmom]

Hello and welcome to TFO!!! How big is this sully you are talking about?? Remember they will dig big burrows to get out of the sun. I would be careful with the kitty litter pan for water, try something with sloping sides like a paint pan or plant saucers depending on his/her size of course. As long as he is shaded for the afternoon he should be fine. Here are a few links for sulcata care.. http://web.archive.org/web/20070420173151/http://www.sulcata-station.org/
http://www.anapsid.org/sulcata.html http://www.africantortoise.com/ You can also check with AZ herptological society and Phoenix herptological society and also check on craigslist, I have seen a few missing tort ads on there lately. Just make sure the pen is secured and s/he can't see out or they will try to get out. Good Luck