Sulcata Concerns

[Hypancistrus]

We have been researching sulcatas for several months now in hopes of acquiring a hatchling to grow for our educational events. We found a nice hatchling at the Hamburg expo yesterday and brought her home. It was a 2.5 hour trip, but we kept the car warm and her deli cup secure. She was very active at the show, with bright clear eyes and nostrils, and she was active on the trip home in her carrier.

She was asleep by the time we got home, and we put her into her viv with a little food, some hay and water. She cruised a little and then went back to sleep. This was around 7 PM last night.

This morning, she did not wake up right away. She then woke and moved halfway across her tank. I offered food again and still she continued to lay around. I am actually getting concerned at this point. Is it normal for a baby tortoise to sleep so much, or is something wrong? Her temps on the warm side are in the mid 80's via ceramic heat emitter, and on the cool side, mid-70's. She has food, hay and water. What should I do? Just wait for her to adjust?

[wafisherman]

Babies can dehydrate quickly! Soak it (won't know if it is male or female for quite a while...) in a shallow dish of luke warm water for 20 mins a day. Make sure it has access to a shallow water dish in it's cage as well. And make sure you use a good substrate that will hold moisture.

Read this ASAP:
http://www.sulcata-station.org/pdf/hatchfail.pdf




From here: http://www.sulcata-station.org/


Supplemental Humidity Sources
The smaller a tortoise is, the more easily it can become dehydrated. If you have a hatchling or juvenile tortoise, you should be aware that it can become severely dehydrated, literally overnight, if its habitat conditions are not corrected to prevent this.



You should provide a supplemental humidity source in the tortoise's enclosure -- in addition to a shallow water bowl -- to prevent overnight dehydration. One way to provide supplemental humidity is to pile up a deep, moisture-holding substrate like Sphagnum moss or Bed-A-Beast® in one corner of the tortoise's enclosure where the tortoise can dig in and sleep overnight. Make sure to keep this corner moistened.



Another way to provide supplemental humidity is to provide a hide box with a dampened sponge attached inside it. To do this, find a large plastic storage container (make sure that your tortoise will fit inside easily). Discard the container lid. Cut a doorway large enough for your tortoise in the side of the container, glue a cellulose sponge to the inside-bottom of the container, then invert it and put it into your tortoise's enclosure. Make sure to dampen the sponge regularly.



Soaking Your Tortoise
Some owners choose to soak their tortoises in addition to providing a water bowl and a higher-humidity sleeping area. Hatchling (less than 1 year old) torts can be soaked every day, since they are the most likely to become dehydrated. Juvenile tortoises (between the ages of 1 year and 5 years) should be soaked two or three times per week. If you have an adult sulcata tortoise, make sure you provide it with a very shallow pond so that it can walk into the water to drink and soak as necessary.



The water in which you soak a tortoise should be comfortably warm -- but not hot. The water level should be no deeper than the base of the tortoise's neck. It's best to use some sort of plastic container that you can clean thoroughly after each use. Your tortoise may poop when placed into warm water, so be prepared to change the water at least once during each soak. Soaking time can range from 5 minutes to 15 minutes -- just don't let the water cool down too much. After the soak, dry the tortoise off with paper towels before you put it back into its pen or enclosure. (After all, you don't like to run around the house without drying off after your bath, do you?)

[Hypancistrus]

She has perked up substantially and is now soaking on her own in addition to eating like a pig. We are now working to get her onto more hay and less veggies. Thanks for the comment!!

[wafisherman]

With a hatchling, the hay - espcecially the old dried out stuff, probably wont' be something it will eat much of. A full grown tort will eat it (hopefully), but with hatchlings, I'd stick with leafy greens and green grasses and weeds. No veggies other than a little pumpkin or squash about once a month. But spring mix salad from the store is good. Then mix in some other greens like collards and mustards. Stay away from things like tomoatoes, carrots (a bit here and there OK), beans, and other fruits and veggies.

Mine live mostly on grass and weeds in my yard.

Read the links provided and focus on the care and feeding sections dedicated to hatchlings for now.

Best of luck!

[Hypancistrus]

Sounds good. Spring mix is easy enough to find.

[Big Gunns]

You are also going to need a good phosphorus free calcium powder(a must). Do not give your Tort anything high in protein either. This will lead to shell pyramiding. Good luck with the leeetle guy. Big Gunns loves Sulcatas. They grow huge, but they are very active animals that will get to know you when they get larger. They can act like a dog.

[jenco]

Mine is about 40 lbs now lives outside year round, he eats mostly on grass weeds and old veggies that go bad. Feeding pumpkin is a good natural worm preventative which I highly reccomend once you move them outside.

Anyways, for now - make sure the mixes of veggies you feed contain low protein items NEVER feed spinach... Collards, dandelion greens, cactus pads (de-spined), and mustard greens are great... Maintaining a very mixed diet is great for keeping up a good variety of vitamins. One thing I think that people do overlook is a UVB light... Reptisun 10.0 or even a MVB like the T-rex kind or Mega-Ray from www.reptileuv.com/are great... Also abstain from the coil kind; some research has said that they provide eye problems with reptiles.

As for calcium supplements, like the above posts, use phosphorous free calcium supplements. Miner-All is excellent!

Good luck and pm me for any questions.