new to tortoise ownership

[kemistree4]

Hi everyone,

Ive owned a young sulcata for about 2-3 months now. Owning him is great and i hope to see him grow old. He seems healthy and eat well. I do have a few concerns though. For the first month or so i fed him exclusively spring mix lettuce. I've recently read that this much "wet" food might be bad for them. I've been trying to feed him ZooMed Natural Tortoise Food. I read the ingredients and it seems to contain alot of the recommended foods for a sulcata with its main ingredients being two types of hay.

My questions stem mostly from the things I feed him. About a month into owning him I picked him up and his shell felt a little soft. I started adding fluker's calcium with D3 to his lettuce in hopes that it would harden up his shell. I also have him on a calcium substrate which ive never seen him eat directly but ive seen it attached to his food sometimes. Apparently its safe for them to digest. The name eludes me but it basically just looks like sand. My questions:
1. Should their shell be completely solid or should it have some flex to it? I feel like he gets alot of calcium in his diet so maybe its just because he's young and his shell is still growing.
2. Ive seen conflicting things about the frequency of feeding. Should i feed every day or every other day?
3. He doesnt seem to like the new food but i dont want to put him back on the spring mix. He didnt eat any of it today. Will he eventually if i just wait it out or should i try to step him down with a mix of the old food and the new?
4. Since the calcium i use has D3 is it necessary for me to use my UVB bulb? Im a student and i think running both the UVB and Basking bulb all day doubled my electric bill.
5. Oh and how much calcium is enough. The book that i own and the container itself has no instructions about dosage relative to age.

 

[spikethebest]

Welcome to the forum!!! You have come to the right place to get all the information you need!

1. Solid, needs calcium, UVA/B from natural sunshine
2. I feed as much as they can eat in a 15 min period, once a day, my big ones graze all day long.
3. mix the new food in small amounts with the normal food he is on. then slowly take away the old food, and put more new food. a hungry tortoise will eat the new food, but some are more stubborn than others
4. natural sunshine is best and free, but you have to have UVA/B
5. its very hard to judge, so I dont use a calcium powder/supplement at all. I just feed Mazuri tortoise food that has calcium and other great things for the tortoise. I can ship you a sample if you want.

And again, welcome!

 

[Tom]

Welcome to the forum. Spike the best already answered your questions, but I wanted to add a few points.

A lot of what you read "out there" is either wrong or out-dated. New info is coming to light all the time. For example, we now know that sulcatas need some humidity when they are little to help prevent pyramiding. This info only became widely know in the tortoise community in the last couple of years.

Another reason for conflicting info is that different people in different parts of the world need to do different things to maintain their tortoises. Depends upon the weather, climate, age, species and many other factors.

I don't like any of those sand type substrates. They can cause impactions even if they are supposed to be "safe".

Your tortoises diet should include a lot of variety. The best things for them are chemical free grasses and weeds. The only prepared food I will feed any of mine is Mazuri, and I only use that once in a while for variety. Look up the numerous lists for which weeds and plants are good. This info is basically the same now as it was in the 80's. I like mulberry tree leaves, hibiscus and rose leaves and flowers, dandelions, despined Opuntia cactus, a whole host of safe weeds and lots and lots of fresh green grass.

Another point I emphasize to every one is SUNSHINE! As much as you can. Build a safe (for your area) outdoor enclosure and let your little tortie run around out there as often as possible. Watch out for predators, both wild and domestic and make sure there is some shade available at all times. This will help harden up your shell better than anything.

Lastly, get a "T-Rex Active UV heat bulb". In my opinion, these are the only reliable source of indoor UV and if you get one, you'll only have to run one bulb for heat and UV around twelve hours a day. If your tortoise' room stays around 70ish or higher, then you don't need night time heat.

 

[spikethebest]

as usual... great advice in a well put manner!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Kemistree4:

(May we know your name?)

to the forum!!

 

[kemistree4]

My name's Rikeem. Im a Marine Bio major at LSU. Im thinking of specializing in Marine Herpetology in grad school after owning this tortoise. They're fascinating animals. Oh my Sulcata's name is Tank by the way. Thanks for the info guys. I'll keep you up on how it turns out. Oh one more question. If i took my tortoise to the park on the weekends are there any common grasses that i should be weary of letting him eat. This applies for lawns too. I wouldnt want to let him run around and end up poisoning him.

 

[Scooter]

I think the main thing you have to worry about with public parks is whether they treat the grass. You need to find one that is chemical free.

 

[TortieGal]

I would get rid of the calci sand right away and put in a substrate that you can keep moist at one end. Like organic top soil or bed a beast you can get at a pet store in a brick and soak it in water them mix it with a little play sand which is very cheap a Lowes. Some people like to use cypress mulch.
Spring mix is a good choice for a young Sulcata keep feeding him that plus adding other weeds. A young Sulcata won't eat the hay yet. Good Luck!

 

[chadk]

Hi. And welcome!

I have a tort named "Tank" as well. Also a little one named "Thunder" and a bigger one named "Dozer".

Please read this - focus on what they say about temps, substrate, and humidity!
http://www.sulcata-station.org/pdf/hatchfail.pdf

 

[kemistree4]

Ill check out the other substrates even though im against cypress mulch. In LA we have a problem with clear cutting cypress swamps. It basically destroys wetlands for other species. Yeah he really seems to like the spring mix (with the exception of the dark purple lettuce but in his defense ive tasted them and im not a fan either). It just threw me off that it was posted to be bad for him. About what age do you think i should switch to the hay?

---

Thunder and Dozer are equally as awesome names.

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Oh and about the humidity, it seems like Its pretty humid in my part of the country to begin with. It was about 89% in the morning morning and about 62% in the afternoon yesterday. I wouldnt want the substrate to get moldy or even worse have him pick up some type of infection. Is there a way that i can avoid that?

 

[Tom]

You need to know how humid it is in your house and in your tortoise enclosure. I spent most of May and June in LA last year and it was ALWAYS humid outside, but it was quite dry in my hotel room.

If you don't like the cypress, you can use orchid bark, plain soil from the hardware store, coco coir, or a mixture of any of these.

I would take advantage of your fantastic tortoise climate and have him housed outdoors as much as possible the heat and humidity there are great for sulcatas. Just make sure its predator proof and always has some shade available.

I keep my young sulcata in swampy conditions. You shouldn't have any trouble with that. Just don't let him get a chill with all that humidity.

When you start feeding grass hay is more about size than age. I usually start them on it at around 6". I trim it into small pieces with scissors, sprinkle a little on their other food and wet it. It will rehydrate a little and get softer. It can be done sooner if you want, but you have such great weeds and green grass down there year round, why would you bother? Really, why would you ever mess with it. Grass hay is good for the Northern folks who can't find any green grass under the snow for half the year or Southern folks like me from very dry areas. Usually everything is dried up and gone here in June. Nothing left but, dry dirt and dryer, dead weeds. Grass hay is good for them, but the fresh stuff that you have year round is better.

 

[chadk]

Ill check out the other substrates even though im against cypress mulch. In LA we have a problem with clear cutting cypress swamps. It basically destroys wetlands for other species. Yeah he really seems to like the spring mix (with the exception of the dark purple lettuce but in his defense ive tasted them and im not a fan either). It just threw me off that it was posted to be bad for him. About what age do you think i should switch to the hay?

---

Thunder and Dozer are equally as awesome names.

---

Oh and about the humidity, it seems like Its pretty humid in my part of the country to begin with. It was about 89% in the morning morning and about 62% in the afternoon yesterday. I wouldnt want the substrate to get moldy or even worse have him pick up some type of infection. Is there a way that i can avoid that?

---

---

Spring mix is fine, but start adding grasses and weeds. I feed mine 95% of stuff from my yard.

Measure your temps and humidity INSIDE the enclosure at the level of the substrate. Your levels may be fine, but the heat lamps can eat the humidity pretty easily, so it is best to measure to know for sure. Mold and infection happen with you havd cold and damp conditions. Having the cool end in the low to mid 70's and a warm end to 85 or so, with a basking spot to 100 or so... you shoudl have no issue with mold, even with 60 to 70% humidity. Oh, a night drop in temps down to low to mid 60's is good as well.

 

[K9KidsLove]

Kemistree4...I am from MS. One of the best weeds for your tort is dandelions. They grow year around here. Check the list on here for edible weeds. Take a drive to the country to find some if you don't have a yard. Also if you don't have a vegetable garden, find someone who does. They love squash and cucumber leaves and blossoms, carrot tops, and squashes. I haven't found anything about watermellon vines, but I bet they'd like them too.
good luck
Patsy