New Sulcata

[turtletania]

I have a new sulcata... she is about 6 months old.
Since she arrived at our house 24 hours ago... we haven't been able to find what she likes to eat. I think she was only given dog food at the breeders.

Any ideas on how to encourage her eating vegies/grasses? We offer but she just walks over them.

Thanks

 

[TortieGal]

Get him some spring mix at the store in the salid area. Some boiled squash and Mazuri tortoise food is also good.

 

[turtletania]

do i soak the mazuri first? I tried it and she just sniffed it. and the squash... bite size pieces?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Make sure she is hot enough 95 degrees at the basking platform. Then offer her something that she might recognize as food such as Spring Mix. Give her time to settle in. She will probably eat tomorrow. Welcome to the forum. How do you have her set up? Can you post some pictures for us? That will help us to diagnose any trouble spots you might have...

---

Soften the squash in the microwave. Soften the Mazuri in some hot water. If she still turns away from food let her sleep tonight and give it a go tomorrow...

 

[Laura]

Give her time.. and I really hope the Breeder.. didnt feed Dog food!! And they should have given you a care sheet.. if not... Not a reputable breeder..
Anyway... READ READ READ>> go to the sulcata page and start learning!!! ask questions if you have them! ;-)

 

[turtletania]

Thanks folks.... i have read so much in the last 2 weeks since i found out i was getting her. As for the breeder... she came from Malaysia... so as for how reputable... i would say "not" compared to the USA.
We have just noticed her taking a bite of the mix i created...... carrot/timothyhay/grasses/mazuri. So maybe she is starting to settle. She is also exploring a little more.

I did take a photo... but it tells me it is too big to upload? So what now?

 

[TortieGal]

Use tinypic.com for your pictures its super easy and it resizes for you.

 

[turtletania]

Here is where she is set up..... 6foot long......3 foot wide.View attachment sulcata home.phpView attachment sulcata on disc.php

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. I'm not able to view your pics. I hope you have found the "Sulcata" section enjoyable. I didn't see an answer to Maggie's question above. Do you have a hot basking spot of at least 95 degrees F for at least 12 hours a day?

 

[Missy]

Hello, welcome to the forum you will love it. Everyone is so helpful. I can't open your pics.

 

[DeanS]

could you redo your photos...and use tinypic.com to host them. I'm sounding like a broken record, but I only use Mazuri to stimulate the appettite...at least it gets them eating...but I prefer Zoo Med Grassland, because ALL the ingredients are what they would eat naturally anyway...just make sure you soak both prior to feeding.

 

[turtletania]

I hope this works.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2pq25c5.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/azieq8.jpg

 

[DeanS]

Much better! The set-up is nice but your going to have to make his hide humid...and spray him every few hours...he's got a fair amount of pyramiding but it's possible that you can halt that (or at least slow it down), but varying the heat in the enclosure...85 in the cooler spots up to 120 in the basking area (which I'd like to see at the other end of the enclosure as well...i.e. 2 basking lamps. You wanna encourage her to eat grass...take her outside...I don't see a uv tube, so you need to get her outside for at least 6 hours quality sunlight...plus putting her on the lawn will get her some exercise as well as food. Remember to spray her bedding material every coupla days

 

[turtletania]

When i took the photo i didn't have the UVB... but i do now. She is sitting under it right now. Her hide is about 90-95.... the cool area is 85.... and her basking area is 100-110.... i have the temp gauges in there to check constantly. She is eating a little today. She loved the hibiscus and some carrot/springsalad. So hopefully that means she is settling. She has also had plenty of walk/exercise time... cos i love to sit with her while she walks around. I have sprayed her each day already and bathed her 2ce daily already. Anything else I can do?

 

[DeanS]

Sounds like you're on the right track...does she get outside at all?

 

[turtletania]

I will be getting her outside... but at the moment there is no where for her to go. My compound is not snake free, so we are waiting on the workers (next week) to build a secure fenced area where she can wonder safely.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Your substrate looks like it is mostly sand and that is not good for Sulcata. Her humidity should be 80% or so. You need to use a substrate that you can keep moist. The tort is already starting to pyramid so I would say she really needs that humidity. She needs a moist substrate, like cypress mulch or coir anything like those that you can make moist.

 

[turtletania]

Dixie is not on sand... cos i know that is bad.... she is on coconut coir/mixed with coral and pebbles. (maybe not clear in the photo, sorry) She loves digging in it that is for sure. In her hide is Timothy Hay. I have moved the heat lamp closer to her hide and that has bought the humidity up, cos i have sprayed that as suggested earlier. I have a hygrometer to check that. The pyramiding was how she came to me.... so anything to try to fix that is definitely handy...... so i have started spraying her, and will follow all instructions so she will be healthy and strong, like her name (Dixie) suggests.

 

[chadk]

Careful with moist timothy hay. It molds quickly and that can be bad for the tort. I'd switch that out for spag. moss. Holds humidity well and doesn't mold as easily.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I agree with Chad, you want humidity and you can't create that using hay. You want to aim for about 80% humidity...