Sulcata & Desert Tortoise mama looking for helpful tips and info

[Earthmama]

This passed June I recently inherited four dessert tortoises approx. 2 years old give or take they are still small and shells are not hardened yet. The desert tortoise's were not in the best shape as my grandmother fed them a poor diet of mostly lettuce. I know this is a horrible diet! Additionally I adopted a Sulcata hatchling that is now 8 months old. I let my DT roam my yard and they had a variety of weeds and grass to eat plus I gave them special treats like kale and yellow squash. I felt they were healthy enough for hibernation so currently they are hibernating. I'm trying my best to keep the temperature around 45-50 degrees. I check on them about once a week and they seem to be doing okay. I would love any tips or suggestions from health, diet, environment, etc. I researched a lot on line. However, I feel like I would love to know more about this species who's dealt with the tortoise first hand.

As for my Sulcata she's my stubborn one! She is very picky when it comes to her food. I feed her so many greens plus she's allowed to roam my yard I also bought her a grape tree, orchid plant, and Dwarf elephant grass and she has turned her nose up at everything. A lot of times I have to grade yellow squash up and chop up a variety of the plants in the squash to get her to eat it. In any case I love her! I would also love any tips about health, diet, shell care? Environment... etc. Anything helps! Also I have read sulcata's do not hibernate, but then the man at petsmart told me sulcatas do hibernate?

Thanks again

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

Please don't listen to the man at Petsmart. I won't resort to calling him names, but he is very incorrect.

Here is the care info for sulcatas:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

I typed this up for russians, but I raise my DT babies exactly the same:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello

 

[dmmj]

do you plan housing the 2 different species together?

 

[hingeback]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

You should not mix species....wlecome

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

At that age, your desert tortoises' shells should not be soft. Hopefully they make it through hibernation ok.

You run the risk of making some of your tortoises sick or even dead, by allowing them to run the same yard. It's never a good idea to mix species that wouldn't ever come into contact with each other in the wild, and your two species come from two different continents.

Pet stores are in business to sell things and make money. Yes, it would be in their best interest to know a bit about the type of animals they sell stuff for, but, sad to say, most of them don't know much about turtles and tortoises. Never take their word for anything.

Here on the Forum, we have members who have taken care of turtles and tortoises for a very long time. Some of them have done experiments and shared their outcome with us. We also have members who have been in contact with a very knowledgeable conservationist in Africa, Tomas Diagne, and Tomas has shared with us his findings on sulcatas and their habits. So, you can trust what we say about the turtles and tortoises. It's easy to say, but our past posts and threads speak for themselves.

So, buckle up your seat belt and enjoy the ride.

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome !

 

[popeye tortoise]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Earthmama]

Hello and welcome.

Please don't listen to the man at Petsmart. I won't resort to calling him names, but he is very incorrect.

Here is the care info for sulcatas:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

I typed this up for russians, but I raise my DT babies exactly the same:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

Thats great! thank you for the links!

 

[Earthmama]

do you plan housing the 2 different species together?

Not going to house them together, however they may end up grazing in my back yard together while their still the same size.
Should I keep them completely separated ?

 

[Earthmama]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

At that age, your desert tortoises' shells should not be soft. Hopefully they make it through hibernation ok.

You run the risk of making some of your tortoises sick or even dead, by allowing them to run the same yard. It's never a good idea to mix species that wouldn't ever come into contact with each other in the wild, and your two species come from two different continents.

Pet stores are in business to sell things and make money. Yes, it would be in their best interest to know a bit about the type of animals they sell stuff for, but, sad to say, most of them don't know much about turtles and tortoises. Never take their word for anything.

Here on the Forum, we have members who have taken care of turtles and tortoises for a very long time. Some of them have done experiments and shared their outcome with us. We also have members who have been in contact with a very knowledgeable conservationist in Africa, Tomas Diagne, and Tomas has shared with us his findings on sulcatas and their habits. So, you can trust what we say about the turtles and tortoises. It's easy to say, but our past posts and threads speak for themselves.

So, buckle up your seat belt and enjoy the ride.

Thank you Yvonne. I will take that into consideration. I allowed them to hibernate only because they started slowing down, and were not interested in food any more. Fingers crossed they make it, I sure do love these little reptiles. Im glad I found the tortoise forum. I feel much more confident in trusting people that have had hands on experience with the tortoises, instead of someone trying to get me to buy their products!
Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Earthmama]

Hello
View attachment 161879

thank you grandpa turtle!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Are they Calf. Desert torts ? I have AZ desert torts they are great .