Well Hello There!

[Desi1031]

Hello! My name is Desiree, I recently purchased an nine month old Sulcata for my daughter Taylor.. WE ARE IN LOVE! He is about 3.5 inches long. His name is Master Ooogway (Kung Fu Panda) and she calls him Justin Bieber for Short........

I would like to make sure I have the right diet and dwelling for our little guy to thrive, any and all suggestions would be appreciated

Home: Right now we have him in a Aquarium 20L and will soon be building a tortoise table for him.

Lighting: Right now we take him outside for 1-3 hours a day so we don't have a UVB. I was told I would not need one until Winter came. We do have a Ceramic Heat Emitter to maintain temps, I was told to keep him 85-93 ish? Would I still need a basking light for him seeing as hes outside everyday?

Diet: We have been feeding him Mazuri, Zoo-med Grassland Tortoise food, Rose Petals, Parsley, Collard Mustard and Turnip greens, Spring Mix, Timothy Hay and Orchard Grass and diced cactus pads.

Substrate: A mix of Cypress Forest Floor and Loose Coconut Fiber. and we keeps his humidity between 60-80%. We do have moss on his little log to help keep humidity but he just discovered he can climb and I'm not sure its safe if he tries to eat it?

Im a little confused about the calcium and vitamins. I have just calcium, calcium with D3 and Vitamins. HELP@!!!![/size][/font]

We Soak him every other day for about 15-20 min. That's all I can think of for now. Oh yeah we are in Denver

 

[dmmj]

Welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy your visits here. I have to ask how is justin beiber short for master ooogway?

 

[mainey34]

Hi and welcome...what a little cutie pie.

 

[Desi1031]

Welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy your visits here. I have to ask how is justin beiber short for master ooogway?

No clue. Only explanation i have is my daughter is six years old

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[Zamric]

Welcome to the Forum!

Welcome to the forum, I hope you enjoy your visits here. I have to ask how is justin beiber short for master ooogway?

No clue. Only explanation i have is my daughter is six years old

That is the best answer any one could give with a 6 year old! (they are thier own excuse at that age!)

 

[wellington]

Hello and WELCOME. Sounds like you have conditions under control. No you don't need a UVB light for inside, while he is able to go outside to get it. As far as calcium. Get a cuttle bone sold for birds and put that in with him. He will eat on it as needed. The cal.D3 I give only once a week. But he doesn't like it so doesn't eat much of it even though I hide it well.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Desiree:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

Your new little tortoise is very cute.

 

[Desi1031]

Hello and WELCOME. Sounds like you have conditions under control. No you don't need a UVB light for inside, while he is able to go outside to get it. As far as calcium. Get a cuttle bone sold for birds and put that in with him. He will eat on it as needed. The cal.D3 I give only once a week. But he doesn't like it so doesn't eat much of it even though I hide it well.

So I dont need a basking light as long as i have a CHE? and Thanks for your suggestions about cuttlebone

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[kanalomele]

Welcome! I don't have sullys so I'm no authority there. But what you are doing sounds great to me!

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum..

 

[tortadise]

hello and welcome!

 

[Arizona Sulcata]

Welcome!

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. Click the links in my signature for more info about sulcatas and how to raise, house and feed them.

For your indoor set up you do need a basking light. There are four temps to be concerned with. Basking spot, warm side, cool side and night. If you put your CHE on a thermostat over the middle of the enclosure, it will maintain the ambient that you want 24/7. Then just put a regular incandescent flood bulb over one side on a timer for around 12 hours. I just click mine off when the torts are outside. They need a spot that simulates sunshine so the light coupled with heat from a basking bulb helps. Since your tortoise gets so much real direct sunshine, you really don't need any expensive artificial UV lights.

When it's time to build a new enclosure a closed chamber will serve you much better than an open tortoise table. It is really difficult to heat and humidify a large open topped table. Even with a tremendous amount of electricity and bulbs, the heat and humidity just rises up and out into the room and all that heat really wants to dry things out. Not good. In a closed chamber, by contrast, you need hardly any electricity to maintain temps and all your warm humid air stays right where you want it. IN the enclosure. This stability is much better for your tortoise.

It's all in the links...

 

[TORTOISEMAN1]

Hello and welcome!