Hi everyone,
I want to start by saying I love this forum and all the info on here. My family owns a Russian tortoise that we all take care of. Here is a little background info on how I got this sulcata baby. I own ball pythons and had a guy contact me because his father just passed away and left him with a bunch of animals. He knew nothing about snakes so he asked if I could take all the snakes (8 ball pythons and two corn snakes) which I was happy to. He also begged me to take a leopard gecko and this baby sulcata. Being the big heart for animals I am, as well as having no impulse control, I took them. I am hoping to find a better suited home for the sulcata but for the time being I am trying to provide the best I can for him/her. I have questions and hope for some feedback to help me out.
Right now I have the sulcata in a 50 gal stock tank that I used to use to house ocean corals in a sort of quarantine tank. It measures around 51" long, 31" wide and 12" tall. Don't worry, it was cleaned out really well before I put substrate in. I had a few blocks of coco fiber I put in there and a lamp that I need to double check if it's UVB or not. If I can't find the box it came in I'll just buy a new bulb to be on the safe side. Right now the warm side gets up to 86 F and the cool side is room temp so around 70 F (checked with a temp gun).The humidity in my basement is at 40% due to having several large saltwater aquariums. I do have coco husk pieces I use for my snakes I could use as well as peat moss available to add if that's any good too. I'd say there is around an inch, inch and a half substrate in the container for the tortoise.
I read that grass needs to make up the bulk of their diet so I plan on buying some Orchid Grass, would that be a good choice? I thought it might be better than timothy hay. The tortoise is young, I would estimate the shell to be around 4 inches long? He/she has pyramiding happening already which I believe is caused by environment being too dry, right? I got the peat damp, but not wet, and could easily make a wood hide box if that would be good too.
I know Russian Torts need to soak every now and then, does this guy need a soak too being so young? Also how can I tell the difference in sex? I know Russians it's based on the tail but I am not sure about Sulcatas. Am I missing anything? Again, I hope to find a better suited home as my house is smaller and the wife doesn't think a sulcata would work well for us. But I want to make sure while I do have him/her I take the best care I can.
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this, if you made it this far! I would love any and all input you guys have.
I want to start by saying I love this forum and all the info on here. My family owns a Russian tortoise that we all take care of. Here is a little background info on how I got this sulcata baby. I own ball pythons and had a guy contact me because his father just passed away and left him with a bunch of animals. He knew nothing about snakes so he asked if I could take all the snakes (8 ball pythons and two corn snakes) which I was happy to. He also begged me to take a leopard gecko and this baby sulcata. Being the big heart for animals I am, as well as having no impulse control, I took them. I am hoping to find a better suited home for the sulcata but for the time being I am trying to provide the best I can for him/her. I have questions and hope for some feedback to help me out.
Right now I have the sulcata in a 50 gal stock tank that I used to use to house ocean corals in a sort of quarantine tank. It measures around 51" long, 31" wide and 12" tall. Don't worry, it was cleaned out really well before I put substrate in. I had a few blocks of coco fiber I put in there and a lamp that I need to double check if it's UVB or not. If I can't find the box it came in I'll just buy a new bulb to be on the safe side. Right now the warm side gets up to 86 F and the cool side is room temp so around 70 F (checked with a temp gun).The humidity in my basement is at 40% due to having several large saltwater aquariums. I do have coco husk pieces I use for my snakes I could use as well as peat moss available to add if that's any good too. I'd say there is around an inch, inch and a half substrate in the container for the tortoise.
I read that grass needs to make up the bulk of their diet so I plan on buying some Orchid Grass, would that be a good choice? I thought it might be better than timothy hay. The tortoise is young, I would estimate the shell to be around 4 inches long? He/she has pyramiding happening already which I believe is caused by environment being too dry, right? I got the peat damp, but not wet, and could easily make a wood hide box if that would be good too.
I know Russian Torts need to soak every now and then, does this guy need a soak too being so young? Also how can I tell the difference in sex? I know Russians it's based on the tail but I am not sure about Sulcatas. Am I missing anything? Again, I hope to find a better suited home as my house is smaller and the wife doesn't think a sulcata would work well for us. But I want to make sure while I do have him/her I take the best care I can.
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this, if you made it this far! I would love any and all input you guys have.