proud mama of two sulcata tortoises, Dexter & Scully

[TurtleAsylum801]

Hi there! I have two 5 month old sulcata tortoises that I acquired 1 month ago from a private seller. There names are Dexter & Scully. I was told they were incubated to be female so there is a 90% chance that they are. Yes I know Dexter is not a girl name but it definitaly suits her.
I have had other turtles/tortoises in the past but these girls are by far my favorite. I love their cute little personalities & how curious they are. They love to explore!!!

I live in Salt Lake City so we see all types of weather here. I currently keep my girls inside because fall is here and it’s way to cold to keep them outside. I have a 2x3’ zoo med tortoise house with cocunut fiber substrate. For heat I have a zoo med terranium hood with 1 60 watt infrared bulb. I also have 1 dome light fixture with a 150 watt uvb bulb. There is 1 small water dish for drinking or soaking. The left side of the cage is covered so they have a place to cool off. I feed them a variety of green & red leaf lettuce with dandelion greens & also a grass mix that I planted. I sprinkle calcium on the greens every other day. The substrate was dry at first but I recently started misting it down to add himidity.

 

[Jacqui]

Love the names! Hi and welcome to TFO. How did you happen to decide to get not only one, but two sulcata?

 

[TurtleAsylum801]

Sorry my post was incomplete. I'm new to this forum, lol... Thank you! I had a hard time choosing names but they totally fit them. I have always loved turtles/tortoises my whole life! I have had red eared sliders, box turtles & a red footed tortoise. All of them I loved but sadly had to give up because I wasn't able to give them the proper attention that they needed. It was not easy to do at all!!! I cried for days after each one... Now I own my own home and have a wonderful boyfriend that helps so I am in a much better situation to take care of them .
We recently came back from Mexico where we were able to snorkel with some green sea turtles & watched 2 of them lay there eggs & my boyfriend even got to see a nest hatch right under his feet. Since our trip I was fascinated with getting another turtle. I knew I wanted a tortoise because I didn't want to deal with water filters or aquariums. I searched the local classified and saw an ad for sulcata hatchlings to I inquired about them and made arrangements to pick up Dexter. When I got there the guy had little Scully in the same bucket and I fell in love with both of them. He didn’t want to sell Scully because he wanted to keep her for himself but he had no choice because he was moving. I asked him how much for both and you could tell he was relieved to find her a home but sad to give her up. I took them both home and then tried to figure a way to tell my boyfriend that I got not 1 but 2 sulcatas. He knew I was getting a tortoise but didn’t know anything about sulcata’s, especially how big they get.
Once he saw them he was immedietly attatched so it has been a wonderful addition to our family. Our cat Voodoo has been a really good big brother, lol.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum, TurtleAsylum801!

 

[TurtleAsylum801]

Wellington, I really like the links you posted. They are very helpful. Thank you!!

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[pam]

Welcome.