alc2016dvm
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2014
- Messages
- 2
First let me introduce myself. My name is Alissa and I live in Oklahoma. I am a 3rd year veterinary student at OSU and have three dogs, and recently two tortoises!
So I purchased two sulcata three weeks olds last Monday. Yes, I do know now that they do not do well in pairs. I am working on getting another hatchling. If I do not, I am also prepared to seperate them if needed. They are closely monitored and so far have no issue sharing space, however they are very young still. They are currently getting daily weigh-ins to insure that no one is losing weight.
Right now they are in an open tortoise table, which I have realized is a bad idea. This weekend I will be building a large "closed" enclosure. It will be 5' x 30". I was curious how long do you think it will be before they outgrown this size? They will not be able to go outside until at least the spring, as Oklahoma winters can be quite cold.
Diet: Their diet is a mix of spring lettuce mix (mainly romaine), collard greens, mazuri LS, grass from the yard, and small flowers from the yard. The have one cuttle bone broken in two in their enclosure. I have ordered zoo med repti cal to add to their diet a few times a week, it will be here tomorrow. I have also ordered the Sulcata Seed mix from Sulcata Grove to grow for them to graze on.
Lighting/Heating: I have purchased a Zoomed Powersun UV 100 watt MVL and a Zoomed Ceramic Infared Heat Emitter. Right now I am keeping their enclosure where the cool end is around 80*. Should I be letting it drop to 70* at night?
Humidity: The humidity right now is only staying around 60-70% due to being in an open box, I know I should be shooting for 80% and that will happen once I have their new enclosure built this weekend. I am using the ecoearth coconut fiber for their substrate.
Soaking: The babies are getting soaked for 20-30 minutes every night in warm water, 85*+, it seems the warmer I make it, the more they like it.
I have read all of the care sheets on this forum and the pinned posts. I would just like to know if any of these things should be changed, if I should add any more changes to their care, etc.
I would also like to have some feedback on how the new layout for the enclosure looks, should I add two log hide outs? They seem to like the log the best out of all of the hides. I will add the picture in the next comment, as I cannot get it to upload. The CHE will be on the end by the plastic tub and wood house, which will be the cool side of the enclosure. The CHE will be connected to a thermometer to turn on and off. The UVB light will be in the middle of the enclosure. The terra cotta saucers are for food and water. I will be adding logs, and an area for a small pan of home grown plants. The enclosure is taped off in green and measures 5' x 30". The babies are in the picture, just so you can get an idea of size.
Also, they don't have names yet, so If you have any names (female, or could be female/male) I would appreciate this too.
Any advice or suggestions will be welcomed! Also feel free to ask questions if you need any additional info.
Thanks in advance!
So I purchased two sulcata three weeks olds last Monday. Yes, I do know now that they do not do well in pairs. I am working on getting another hatchling. If I do not, I am also prepared to seperate them if needed. They are closely monitored and so far have no issue sharing space, however they are very young still. They are currently getting daily weigh-ins to insure that no one is losing weight.
Right now they are in an open tortoise table, which I have realized is a bad idea. This weekend I will be building a large "closed" enclosure. It will be 5' x 30". I was curious how long do you think it will be before they outgrown this size? They will not be able to go outside until at least the spring, as Oklahoma winters can be quite cold.
Diet: Their diet is a mix of spring lettuce mix (mainly romaine), collard greens, mazuri LS, grass from the yard, and small flowers from the yard. The have one cuttle bone broken in two in their enclosure. I have ordered zoo med repti cal to add to their diet a few times a week, it will be here tomorrow. I have also ordered the Sulcata Seed mix from Sulcata Grove to grow for them to graze on.
Lighting/Heating: I have purchased a Zoomed Powersun UV 100 watt MVL and a Zoomed Ceramic Infared Heat Emitter. Right now I am keeping their enclosure where the cool end is around 80*. Should I be letting it drop to 70* at night?
Humidity: The humidity right now is only staying around 60-70% due to being in an open box, I know I should be shooting for 80% and that will happen once I have their new enclosure built this weekend. I am using the ecoearth coconut fiber for their substrate.
Soaking: The babies are getting soaked for 20-30 minutes every night in warm water, 85*+, it seems the warmer I make it, the more they like it.
I have read all of the care sheets on this forum and the pinned posts. I would just like to know if any of these things should be changed, if I should add any more changes to their care, etc.
I would also like to have some feedback on how the new layout for the enclosure looks, should I add two log hide outs? They seem to like the log the best out of all of the hides. I will add the picture in the next comment, as I cannot get it to upload. The CHE will be on the end by the plastic tub and wood house, which will be the cool side of the enclosure. The CHE will be connected to a thermometer to turn on and off. The UVB light will be in the middle of the enclosure. The terra cotta saucers are for food and water. I will be adding logs, and an area for a small pan of home grown plants. The enclosure is taped off in green and measures 5' x 30". The babies are in the picture, just so you can get an idea of size.
Also, they don't have names yet, so If you have any names (female, or could be female/male) I would appreciate this too.
Any advice or suggestions will be welcomed! Also feel free to ask questions if you need any additional info.
Thanks in advance!
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