Visited a sulcata rescue today for enclosure ideas

[Trishk]

 

[Trishk]

I visited a tortoise rescue a few miles from where I live to get ideas for building an an outdoor enclosure for Tiny Tim, who is about 20 months old now. That’s me holding her over one of the sulcatas for size comparison.
Mitch, who runs the rescue, thinks she probably a female because of her flat plastron and tiny tail.
He has 13 mostly sulcatas there, the biggest is named Rex and weighs about 220 pounds!

 

[wellington]

Hay is not a good substrate. The ceramic heat emitters are hung the wrong way and there should be some buckets of water in the hide area to add some humidity.
Otherwise not bad.

 

[Trishk]

I visited a tortoise rescue a few miles from where I live to get ideas for building an an outdoor enclosure for Tiny Tim, who is about 20 months old now. That’s me holding her over one of the sulcatas for size comparison.
Mitch, who runs the rescue, thinks she probably a female because of her flat plastron and tiny tail.
He has 13 mostly sulcatas there, the biggest is named Rex and weighs about 220 pounds!

Hay is not a good substrate. The ceramic heat emitters are hung the wrong way and there should be some buckets of water in the hide area to add some humidity.
Otherwise not bad.

I think you may be seeing the heat emitters as the wrong way because that is the lid opened up.
I think?

 

[wellington]

Oh that might be if that's a lid.

 

[SinLA]

@Maggie3fan - I feel like Mary Knobbins would make mincemeat of this place...

 

[Trishk]

Oh that might be if that's a lid.

Yes, I double checked, that is the lid opened up. So the plastic strips you see hanging down hang in front of the front doors when the lid is down.

 

[Tom]

I visited a tortoise rescue a few miles from where I live to get ideas for building an an outdoor enclosure for Tiny Tim, who is about 20 months old now. That’s me holding her over one of the sulcatas for size comparison.
Mitch, who runs the rescue, thinks she probably a female because of her flat plastron and tiny tail.
He has 13 mostly sulcatas there, the biggest is named Rex and weighs about 220 pounds!

Sounds like Mitch is new to tortoises, or just hasn't learned along the way.
1. No one should be allowed to bring in another tortoise to a tortoise compound. The disease risk is substantial to both the residents and the newcomer. They should certainly not have contact.
2. You can't sex sulcatas until at least 14 inches, but usually not until 16-17 inches when they are growing normally and well, as yours is. They all look female at that size.
3. CHEs are not safe and should not be used for larger tortoises. It will slow burn the top of the carapace. Mitch needs to switch to something safer and more effective.

 

[lynnefay]

@Maggie3fan - I feel like Mary Knobbins would make mincemeat of this place...

i love the name, lol

 

[Trishk]

Sounds like Mitch is new to tortoises, or just hasn't learned along the way.
1. No one should be allowed to bring in another tortoise to a tortoise compound. The disease risk is substantial to both the residents and the newcomer. They should certainly not have contact.
2. You can't sex sulcatas until at least 14 inches, but usually not until 16-17 inches when they are growing normally and well, as yours is. They all look female at that size.
3. CHEs are not safe and should not be used for larger tortoises. It will slow burn the top of the carapace. Mitch needs to switch to something safer and more effective.

Thanks for the info. I’ll pass it along. He has been caring for the tortoises for over 25 years and hasn’t lost any.

 

[Maggie3fan]

Because your Mitch has been caring for Sulcata for over 25 years...does not mean he cares for them in the proper way. CHE's desiccate the carapace on larger tortoises. I'm thinking Mitch is older, so he is still caring for torts in an old fashioned way. I would never have allowed the small tort into that 'rescue'. We are trying to save your tortoise. That's the bottom line...please understand...Mitch is probably a nice guy, who does NOT take the best care possible.

 

[Trishk]

Ok I understand and appreciate your expertise. I found my little one as a tiny one and a half ounce hatchling on my property in November 2021 and have relied on this forum to learn how to best care for it. Clearly I have a lot more to learn.

 

[SinLA]

I won't speak to his care of sulcatas because I don't know about that, but as someone who has done rescue for a long time, it *is* kind of weird to allow outside animals into a rescue space like that. For dogs you might do it for a "meet and greet" when adopting into a home where pets are already there, but even then you'd ideally want that done on a "neutral" territory (tho beggars often can't be choosers with resource availability in rescue worlds), but he actually put his reptiles at great risk by allowing you to bring yours there "for funsies." Its the same reason people can't bring pets to zoos, its just not a good idea for many reasons. So that alone would give me caution...

 

[Trishk]

Sounds like Mitch is new to tortoises, or just hasn't learned along the way.
1. No one should be allowed to bring in another tortoise to a tortoise compound. The disease risk is substantial to both the residents and the newcomer. They should certainly not have contact.
2. You can't sex sulcatas until at least 14 inches, but usually not until 16-17 inches when they are growing normally and well, as yours is. They all look female at that size.
3. CHEs are not safe and should not be used for larger tortoises. It will slow burn the top of the carapace. Mitch needs to switch to something safer and more effective.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the info. I’ll pass it along. He has been caring for the tortoises for over 25 years and hasn’t lost any.

All of us learned the wrong info decades ago. It was universally taught, and those of us who learned it taught it to others. I did it all wrong for nearly 20 years before discovering all this info I am sharing here on this site, and I never lost any either. Sadly, there is just an overwhelming amount of bad tortoise care info out in the world, and it is perpetuated by people with the best of intentions that just have not learned better. I was one of them for a long time.

This is why the info you get here on this site works so well, and why it is so different and contrary to almost all of the advice found elsewhere from vets, pet shops, YT, FB, breeders, and long time tortoise keepers like Mitch. Almost all of those sources are repeating the same old wrong info that has been repeated for decades.