New to forums and Sulcatas

[MangoKing]

Hello I acquired a sulcata three weeks ago. I am fairly experienced at keeping reptiles and so said yes when asked if I would take a baby in. The first week i thought i was doing well till my continued research taught me much of what i thought i knew was false. So for two weeks now i have had the enclosure at 80% humidity and kept at 80 degrees at night. I have been soaking at least once a day for 30 min.

I did know going into it that a sulcata would be a life time commitment and i am excited to continue to learn as i go.

This forum has been a very valuable resource and i want to thank all the experienced members that contribute so much of their experience and knowledge.

Currently the sully is housed in a 4`x 2` enclosure with a cypress mulch substrate. I do plan on changing that to coco core down the road. I am using a mercury vapor uvb bulb for basking and have a ceramic with temp control to make sure it stays at 80. I also have a large heat mat under the enclose also temp controlled but i have found it to be all but unnecessary.

Phase two i plan on turning one of the bed rooms of our house into an enclosure and phase three will be the building of barn with attached greenhouse and pasture. This summer the main goal is reseeding what till one day be the tortoise pasture. The hens have done quite a number on it the past couple of years and it has alot of undesirable weeks currently. (mainly ground ivy or creeping charlie, Glechoma hederacea which can be a pain to control i know being in the organic lawn care business these days)

So a couple of questions i do have. 1. Has anyone had any experience with a sulcata sharing a pasture with laying hens? I know they tort will have to get a lot of size before I could think about it but long term.
2 Admiral Thaddeus' stool was looser than average today. Could that be on account of me introducing aloe into the diet yesterday? Is a loose stool something to worry about?
3. with the mercury vapor bulb do i need to also run a t5 ho 12% uvb florescent bulb? I do plan on a day time pin in the the yard as the weather warms.

Anyways this is my introduction and here are some pics from today 4-18

 

[wellington]

Can't answer about the hens. However, the Mercury bulb is all you need, not a t5 too. And the aloe will/can make a loose stool.
Hello and Welcome sounds like your getting your plans in place and learning quickly.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi

 

[wellington]

Btw, the mulch you are using is fine if you don't want to change it.

 

[MangoKing]

Btw, the mulch you are using is fine if you don't want to change it.

I dont plan on changing it any time soon. Figure going to coco core when i change it all out in six months time (or when i feel it is time).

 

[Yvonne G]

Since the tortoise eats the grass, I wouldn't think eating chicken poop would be good for him. If the chickens have parasites, which they probably do, the tortoise will soon be infected. Also, chickens are drawn to shiny things, and a little tortoise's eyes are shiny. My advice is to keep the chickens out of the tortoise yard.

 

[Stuart S.]

Hello and Welcome! It sounds like your prepped for the long haul which is great news for your baby!

You can even mix the cypress mulch and coco if you wanted, it makes a great blend.
I wouldn't let him be with the chickens until they're scared of him, it could turn fatal for him otherwise. I would be concerned with him eating the chicken mess, I don't see that being too good for him. Torts tend to eat dog turds when they have the opportunity...

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

Greetings MangoKing,
Welcome to the tortoise forum! Well done with your research. Something to keep in mind, sulcata's can live, with proper care and husbandry, 125-150years. At the current human rate I'd figure you'd be making a double lifetime pet. LOL.
As for mixing with chickens, I say no. Chicken scratch no good, chicken mash no good, and chicken crap no good for tortoises. Plus, yes, chickens can be mean little critters and will ultimately peck your beloved shelled friend as food.
The watery stool is likely caused by the aloe recently fed. Cactus pads will produce the same results. Feed lots of the "safe broadleaf weeds"(mallow, plantain, dandelion as well as others) and you'll have a great, lifelong friend.
Read more here in the sulcata section, learn, and ask all the questions you can think of, plus the questions you don't have yet. Soon, you will be answering beginners questions yourself.

 

[MangoKing]

Well i do know my chickens do not have parasites. I currently only have a small back yard flock for some fresh eggs and have kept chickens many years now. I never would think of housing them together was more asking if anyone has had them share the same pasture. The chickens have thier own coop that will not be in the pasture i am currently replanting with sulcata friendly grass types (and eradicating the ground ivy). I feed the hens in their own coop. Now it would have to be a decent sized tort to not be food for the hens i am well aware. The waste left by a small flock of chickens pecking around a pasture would not be much more than if you had a handful of crows roost in a tree over your enclosure. In any case i am a long way from that and will have to decide down the road if i fence the chickens out.

The current feed i am giving my tort is mostly a mix of kentucky blue, pasture type tall fescue and creeping red fescue with dandelion green, wild violets, both broad leave and buckhorn plantains , some wild black berrie leaves and as they are starting to sprout rose of sharon leaves. I supplement this with mazuri softened and cuttlebone. I also have a few trays of tortoisesupply.com african grazers mix planted and sprouted and am going to plant out a baby pool with it this weekend, mostly as a test to see how i like the mix and what types in the mix thrive in my region.

Currently i am shaving cuttlebone onto the torts food a few times a week and it has chewed on the pieces i have in the current enclosure. Should i give a powdered calcium supplement or will the cuttlebone be enough? what are the thoughts on some of the vitamin supplements for my very young tort?

Has anyone done any research into the effect of grazing on grass types infected with endophytes? We all know the effects on grazing mammals i am sure but all the research i have read says no real effect on chickens. I have read some of the older threads around here but found no conclusive results. I do not plan to use any endophyte grasses in the pasture i am planting but i do have some endophyte enhanced tall fescue varieties in the lawn around the house. I have currently been avoiding them when i cut the tort feed each morning. I am fairly sure the grass types i am feeding are not infected with endophytes as i had sod web worms and chinch bugs infestations a couple times before i slice seeded in some endophyte enhanced tall fescue.

 

[Bee62]

If you want to loose ( to kill ) your tortoise, - keep it together with your chickens.
All chickens have parasites. They get them every day from wild birds. Chicken poop can contain various bacterias and mayby worms. Believe me, I own chickens too.
And if your tortoise isn`t killed by bacterias the chickens could kill her. It is like@Yvonne G said: Chicken like to pick shiny things and they like to eat meat. A slow tortoise would be a fine "slow food".
Please try never to keep a tortoise together with chickens. I know what they ( the chickens ) can do !

 

[MangoKing]

Advice taken! when my tort is big enough to be in pasture i will make sure i fence the hens out.

 

[Clawem]

I am also interested in the endophyte in the grass on the tortoise. I know it doesn't seem to bother the deer.