Does he look healthy to you?

[Mindibun]

Someone commented today that my sulcata tortoise was pyramiding. He is still in the same shape he came to us in - we just recently got him. I hadn't really thought he was pyramiding when we got him. Maybe the tiniest bit but not enough to be a problem in any way. Now I'm second-guessing myself.

What do you guys think?





Also, can anyone shed some light on what the little red marks by his jaw might be? He has about three of them. I didn't know if he was bruising his skin on his shell or what...

[wafisherman]

Definately some pyramiding going on. Best thing you can do is ensure you are providing the right needs for him going forward and that should help.

How old is it?

Does he feel light in the hand or heavy? Does the shell feel thin at all or very solid?

Here is the checklist that you want to research:

Diet
Substrate
Exercise
Light (UVB and UVA)
Temps
Humidity

A baby tort needs humidity. Getting some good substrate helps here.

He should be in a good sized tort table now for indoor times, and should have an outdoor pen ready for when he quickly outgrows the indoor tort table. No glass tanks!

I use a mix of play sand (10%) and organic top soil (80%) in my tort table. Coconut husk fiber (the expanding brick stuff) is also good mixed with a little play sand. I have an area with about 5-6inches of the soil for digging. Part of that is covered and used as the hide for nap\sleep time. This acts as a humid hide also. The rest of the tort table is set up to allow plenty of exercise and things to climb up and around. Areas of tile to walk and climb and areas of tort seed mixes planted. And of course, a shallow dish to soak in that is easy to get in and out of.

Sulcatas need a very high fiber and low protein diet. Avoid suger high foods as well exept for monthly treats in small quantities (fruits and many veggies). A staple should be good quality grass hay (timothy and orchard grass for example - NOT alphalpha which is high in protien). They won't want this of course if you spoil them with fresh greens and treats all the time, but it is very important. You want slow steady growth.

Other greens inlcude collards, spring mix, dandilions (mine love these I pick from my non-fertalized and pesticide free yard), mustard greens, dark green lettuces (NO iceburg), and other weeds (just be sure you know what you are getting - some things can be toxic).

Soak him also for 10-15 mins at day in shallow slightly warm water. Change water if he poos in it...

Check out this site for some good info:

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

[Mindibun]

Thank you very much for taking the time to type all of that out. Here's the answers to your questions:

1. He is roughly two years old

2. He feels heavy and his shell is very thick.

3. He lives in a tort table that we made for our outside patio so he is getting natural heat, light, and humidity. The humidity is pretty constant at roughly 70-80% lately. The temps are always just over 80*. His substrate is a mix of playsand and cypress mulch, and he has a small pool that is in in all the time. We see him in it every day. Half of the table has pretty deep soil so he can dig, and we have a black cloth hanging over this half so that he can sleep there. He doesn't have any exercise room in there, but we let him have free roam of the house from time to time and we take him out into the yard for 30 minute increments.

4. His diet is mostly hibiscus flowers since they're in abundance here and he loves them more than anything. He also gets romaine lettuce and whatever grasses he chooses to eat while he's outside. We've tried to give him orchard grass (we have 4 rabbits and that's their favorite hay so we have PLENTY of it) but he hates it. He has never once touched it. We tried timothy and he wouldn't touch that, either.

- Aside from the hay, it seems like we're doing everything just as you suggested... Will the hay really make that much difference?

[wafisherman]

It doesn't need to be hay. A variety is key. Grasses should be the staple though. High fiber is a must. Seriously check out the Sulcata station link I posted. They go into much more detail and explain why.

[Patrick Long]

Chad already pretty much hit the nail on the head.


Maybe try some mazuri tortoise food, give him more of a fiberous diet.


I will also add, http://www.sulcatafood.com/#supp That this supplement, I put on a lot of the food.

[CTReptileRescue]

It doesn't need to be hay. A variety is key. Grasses should be the staple though. High fiber is a must. Seriously check out the Sulcata station link I posted. They go into much more detail and explain why.

I agree, everything seems to be covered in the the original post
Sulcata Station is awesome. Definitely check it out
everything will work out great with a few steps..
Beautiful lil tort by the way
Sincerely
Rusty