im new here, i am an avid reptile and lizard fan, and have 2 sulcata tortoises, a russian tort, and i recently purchased a leopard gecko. I figured i join here to learn and discuss a few things. Can any other sulcata owners tell me a little bit about their torts, and what kind of life they live. Im fairly new to the sulcatas, and im not sure my two juveniles are happy with their current life style, some pointers from an experienced owner with adult sulcata would be great.
What type of enclosue do you have them in? What's their diet like? What size and age are they? Just want to get the whole picture before we offer any advice. Welcome to the forum!!!
i have my 2 tortoises, 1 hatchlng, 1 yearling, in a 4 foot, by 2.5 foot wooden enclosure, with a cage top. I built it myself, and i feel like its a good amont of room for them now, since they dont seem to wander around to much anyway. I use alphapha hay, and timothy and orchard grass as a substrate, which is their main diet, and i give them lettuce and other fruits spareingly as an ocasional treat. I have a zoomed uv lamp and a regualr heat lamp. I live in Boston, so it tough to get them outside with the weather, but its summer now and they love being outside in the grass so i plan on building them an outdoor enclosure that they can hang out in during the summer days. I need to get it set up soon though because i think their depressed inside. They dont move around much, and the hatchling barely opens his eyes, only when i pick him up and soak him and stuff does he open them. what do your sulcatas act like in their enclosures?
I currently don't have any Sulcatas, but I have worked with them. Sounds like you have their diet under control. Do you give them any kind of calcium supplement? How are you planning on housing them in the winter once they are full grown? With two of them, I'd imagine they'd take up an entire room to themselves. They're not extremely active all the time. As long as they're eating well and active when handled, I wouldn't really worry about them too much. There's a lot of good info at Melissa Kaplans site www.anapsid.org under Chelonians, if you haven't found that yet.
