Sulcata tortoise newbie here. Need some advice

[craig655321]

Hello everyone I need some advice as a new Sulcata tortoise owner. I have a hatchling which arrived on Tuesday. Since then the tortoise has been sleeping a lot. He has not eaten at all and I offer him food everyday Celantro, carrots, papaya, mixed vegetables and fruits. Could it be that he is eating at night? He pooped yesterday and then two days before that. Today was the first day he drank water and he drank ALOT.
I have him in a 20 gallon long terrarium, with cypress mulch, the warm side is about 93 but gets up to 100 and about 80 on the cooler side during the day. At night it drops down to about 90 on the warm side and 75 on the cooler side. I have a 150w heat emitter, an exo terra 150w UVB bulb and another smaller UVB bulb that also emanates heat all on the warm side. No heat source or UVB lighting on the cool side. I attached some pics of my setup. Am I just being overly worried or do I need to worry? Him drinking water today was a good sign

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings.

Take a read of this care guide, you will see that you have a few things out of synch. Your food selection & night time temps need to be looked at. Are you soaking at all?


➡️➡️ https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...se-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181497/

 

[Maggie3fan]

You need to treat that tortoise like a baby, because he is one. He's confused and scared. He's pooping so that means he's eaten some time. I think for a hatchling Sulcata the cool side is too cool at night. He needs to be soaked DAILY for about 30 minutes. He needs a humid hide, find out from the breeder what he fed the baby. And he will settle down once he see's nothing is gonna eat him up. Read that care sheet that Maro2Bear gave you. Please continue to ask questions

 

[craig655321]

Thank you so much. Yes I soak him daily and that’s what encouraged him to start drinking. I think I may have to bring the humidity up in the enclosure a bit so I started that by covering the top with aluminum foil as well as misting the enclosure. The breeder I got him from said that he was was munching on cherry tomatoes so I’m going to head to the grocery store, buy them, clean them and dice them up for him! I’m working hard to make sure he is in good health and in an environment suitable for him so wish me luck!!!

 

[Maro2Bear]

Thank you so much. Yes I soak him daily and that’s what encouraged him to start drinking. I think I may have to bring the humidity up in the enclosure a bit so I started that by covering the top with aluminum foil as well as misting the enclosure. The breeder I got him from said that he was was munching on cherry tomatoes so I’m going to head to the grocery store, buy them, clean them and dice them up for him! I’m working hard to make sure he is in good health and in an environment suitable for him so wish me luck!!!

Before you pop off to the store....read the food section for Sulcatas. Tomatoes aren’t good & have too much sugar. Stay with leafy greens.

Some info on tomato greens & fruit....

• Common Name: Tomato
• Latin Name: Solanum lycopersicon; syn. Lycopersicon esculentum
• Family Name: Solanaceae

There is some disagreement over the toxic principle in tomatoes: some say it is the alkaloid tomatine, while others disagree and say it is the glycoalkaloid solamine. Despite this disagreement the tomato does come from the same family as potatoes and deadly nightshade, and the leaves and unripe fruit are TOXIC and should never be fed. The ripe fruit has a high sugar content, low level of calcium and high phosphorus content with almost no fibre, so it is not nourishing and we do not recommend feeding it.

Tortoises do find tomatoes tasty though, and the one situation in which it might be acceptable to feed is when it is used to administer medication.

 

[craig655321]

Interesting point. Leafy greens it is. Perhaps he is eating and I don’t know but it will calm my nerves to catch him in the act. I’ll report back. Thank you

 

[craig655321]

I picked up some chopped kale along with mixed green leaves (Spinach, Collard greens, Kale). He’s asleep now but I hope he wakes up hungry

 

[Maro2Bear]

I picked up some chopped kale along with mixed green leaves (Spinach, Collard greens, Kale). He’s asleep now but I hope he wakes up hungry

Hopefully by now you have found this thread too.

? https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sulcata-diet-sheet.64290/

 

[craig655321]

Hopefully by now you have found this thread too.

? https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sulcata-diet-sheet.64290/

Oh this is very helpful thank you!

 

[Tom]

I picked up some chopped kale along with mixed green leaves (Spinach, Collard greens, Kale). He’s asleep now but I hope he wakes up hungry

You've got to get your head out of the grocery store. Please read this:

For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...

Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[craig655321]

You've got to get your head out of the grocery store. Please read this:

For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata...

Over and over I type up and answer diet questions and try to get people feeding the right stuff, but I find that the "norm" is grocery store food. Grocery store food is expensive, a hassle to obtain, and very low on the list of what is best for sulcatas. These tortoises are GRASS eaters. From...

tortoiseforum.org

It’s not expensive if you shop at Aldi and everything being organic. Plus I have grass. I’m good. Let’s not turn this post into anything other than what’s good for my tortoise.

 

[Tom]

It’s not expensive if you shop at Aldi and everything being organic. Plus I have grass. I’m good. Let’s not turn this post into anything other than what’s good for my tortoise.

It has nothing to do with expense, and the ONLY thing we are talking about is what's good for your tortoise.

Grocery store greens are not good tortoise food. They need broadleaf weeds, leaves, grasses, flowers and succulents. Have you read what has been linked here for you? Grocery store greens lack fiber, lack calcium and some of them have deleterious compounds like goiterogens.

If you must use grocery store greens for part of every year due to your climate, they need to be amended by adding things that make up for their shortcomings as tortoise foods. All of this is spelled out in the threads that have been linked for you.

 

[Nandi]

I picked up some chopped kale along with mixed green leaves (Spinach, Collard greens, Kale). He’s asleep now but I hope he wakes up hungry

NO spinach!!

 

[Tom]

NO spinach!!

That is old info. Some spinach some of the time is just fine. Whole meals of spinach every day wouldn't be good. We are learning that oxalates don't affect our tortoises in the ways we once thought they did. Will @Kapidolo Farms is much better able to explain the technicalities than I am.

 

[Melissacoop]

I picked up some chopped kale along with mixed green leaves (Spinach, Collard greens, Kale). He’s asleep now but I hope he wakes up hungry

Do you have access to grass or weeds or hibiscus or aloe or cactus?
Please read the diet sheets. The people on this forum don’t sugar coat any advice. They are only interested in what’s best for your baby!

 

[craig655321]

I understand but as of right now what’s important is that he eats SOMETHING I don’t care if it’s a filet mignon, then I can worry about what is proper for him to eat. Right now I have chopped up Kale, some mixed fruits and veggies, some Spinach, yes I said it SPINACH as well as moistened tortoise pellets in his enclosure.

 

[Melissacoop]

I agree! You want him to eat. He should take to one of them, especially the kale. Once he’s eating you can focus more on the diet and habitat changes. The warm soak is very important. 30 minutes every day and keep the water warm the whole time. I use two bins and I keep changing and adding hot water the whole time. This site has been a life saver for me. ( and my tort) I was doing everything wrong at first, too. I’ve followed everything I have been advised, nursed an upper respiratory infection without needing a vet and have just learned so much from these guys. Stick around please.

 

[craig655321]

Plus I have a huge lawn with no pesticides or chemicals used. Plenty of dandelions and grass to be had. I pulled as much as I could and soaked them

 

[craig655321]

Pics of my setup

 

[Emmawilly]

Hello Craig, your Sulcata is lovely. What is he called? I wondered if your reference to Lidl meant you might be based in the UK? I'm in the UK too (Plymouth) and just joined this site. The people on here have been giving me great advice about my tortoise, helping me make sure he's warm enough. I have a Sulcata too, he lives outside as he's an adult.
Good luck with getting yours to eat well.