FalconTort
New Member
Hello everyone.
I have a healthy full grown Russian tortoise and a seemingly healthy Sulcata baby (reason for 'seemingly' is below).
I over panic when things do not seem 'normal' for my Sulcata and am at a loss as to when to truly be concerned.
I've read all the possible posts on this website regarding proper care for Sulcata babies, what to feed them, what the enclosure should be like, etc. before deciding that I had enough information to properly set everything up prior to getting my little one.
To give more information: I have had him (using masculine term for ease of reference) for a little over two months. I noticed that his shell was a little soft today (I've read Tom's post about that Jerky syndrome thing and I freaked out more); however, it isn't really spungy... Anyway, his indoor enclosure has two shallow water dishes that I fill with warm water every morning and night because he goes in his water a lot and one was always getting really dirty. I give him daily soaks for 15 to 30 minutes every day (an extra if he is outside when the temp is over 90). His substrate is coconut coir and outside is just dirt (no chemicals used, i.e. weed killer). His indoor enclosure is that turtle box (I modified it to be more suitable to keep in heat and moisture) with two hides. One is under the wire top and the other is in the closed area. The humidity ranges from 70%-100%. Temperature at night is about 80 degrees and during the day it gets slightly above 100. He gets natural sunlight daily (inside and outside). His diet consists mostly of wheat grass, spring mix (omitting the spinach if it's included), kale, and timothy hay. His has a great appetite in the morning and in the evening. He has been pooping more regularly, but definitely not nearly as much as my Russian.
His outdoor enclosure is new. I was keeping him in a little kiddy pool with dirt mixed with the coconut coir and a moist hide. I was only setting him in this for an hour or two every day. Again I made sure he had access to a shallow water dish and food. I built him a better and bigger outdoor enclosure that has shade on all sides, two hides (one facing the morning sun and the other facing the evening sun), two water dishes at each end and a food dish on the cooler side. Right now the outside temp in Nevada is around 95. I spray hot water inside his hides before leaving for work in the morning (today was my first day leaving him in there all day). When I got home, he had eaten almost all of his food from the morning, was in his hide until the temp started to cool down a little and then he was out walking around like normal and ate most of the food I put in there for his evening meal (his meals are not a heaping amount. Maybe about the size of what you put soy sauce in for sushi). I put him back inside before it gets too cool and I soak him before he goes back in his indoor enclosure. This is when I noticed his shell being softer than normal... Then I started researching, and then I started to panic.
His weight is lower than it should be (42.5 grams), but his appetite is really great and he is very responsive when I pick him up or touch his legs... He does have a slight morph/indentation from where the egg sack area didn't heal properly (I'm guessing on this), but I don't know if this would cause problems.
My question is, should I be concerned? Should I not have him outside for too long? What would be considered too long?
Thanks for reading and I'm sorry there's a lot of content. I wanted to be thorough. I can post pictures tomorrow after work if needed.
I have a healthy full grown Russian tortoise and a seemingly healthy Sulcata baby (reason for 'seemingly' is below).
I over panic when things do not seem 'normal' for my Sulcata and am at a loss as to when to truly be concerned.
I've read all the possible posts on this website regarding proper care for Sulcata babies, what to feed them, what the enclosure should be like, etc. before deciding that I had enough information to properly set everything up prior to getting my little one.
To give more information: I have had him (using masculine term for ease of reference) for a little over two months. I noticed that his shell was a little soft today (I've read Tom's post about that Jerky syndrome thing and I freaked out more); however, it isn't really spungy... Anyway, his indoor enclosure has two shallow water dishes that I fill with warm water every morning and night because he goes in his water a lot and one was always getting really dirty. I give him daily soaks for 15 to 30 minutes every day (an extra if he is outside when the temp is over 90). His substrate is coconut coir and outside is just dirt (no chemicals used, i.e. weed killer). His indoor enclosure is that turtle box (I modified it to be more suitable to keep in heat and moisture) with two hides. One is under the wire top and the other is in the closed area. The humidity ranges from 70%-100%. Temperature at night is about 80 degrees and during the day it gets slightly above 100. He gets natural sunlight daily (inside and outside). His diet consists mostly of wheat grass, spring mix (omitting the spinach if it's included), kale, and timothy hay. His has a great appetite in the morning and in the evening. He has been pooping more regularly, but definitely not nearly as much as my Russian.
His outdoor enclosure is new. I was keeping him in a little kiddy pool with dirt mixed with the coconut coir and a moist hide. I was only setting him in this for an hour or two every day. Again I made sure he had access to a shallow water dish and food. I built him a better and bigger outdoor enclosure that has shade on all sides, two hides (one facing the morning sun and the other facing the evening sun), two water dishes at each end and a food dish on the cooler side. Right now the outside temp in Nevada is around 95. I spray hot water inside his hides before leaving for work in the morning (today was my first day leaving him in there all day). When I got home, he had eaten almost all of his food from the morning, was in his hide until the temp started to cool down a little and then he was out walking around like normal and ate most of the food I put in there for his evening meal (his meals are not a heaping amount. Maybe about the size of what you put soy sauce in for sushi). I put him back inside before it gets too cool and I soak him before he goes back in his indoor enclosure. This is when I noticed his shell being softer than normal... Then I started researching, and then I started to panic.
His weight is lower than it should be (42.5 grams), but his appetite is really great and he is very responsive when I pick him up or touch his legs... He does have a slight morph/indentation from where the egg sack area didn't heal properly (I'm guessing on this), but I don't know if this would cause problems.
My question is, should I be concerned? Should I not have him outside for too long? What would be considered too long?
Thanks for reading and I'm sorry there's a lot of content. I wanted to be thorough. I can post pictures tomorrow after work if needed.