Re: My salcata Cornelius and general care for it????

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Posted by Jeff Seals on April 24, 2000 at 21:02:32:

In Reply to: Re: My salcata Cornelius and general care for it???? posted by Mark on February 02, 2000 at 00:22:15:

: : I recently bought a 1 or 2 year old salcata. I have it in a 10 gallon wiht a 60 watt bulb. I was wondering how often I should feed it romaine lettus ( or what foods to feed it and how often). Right now I feed it every 2 days, and it's winter time where I live ( rhode island).I sprinkle some calcium on top of the romaine lettus. BUt I was wondering what else I should do to keep my salcata healthy. What about Protein? dog food or no dogfood? And I've read that some owners sprinkle vitamin powder or their salcata's food. Should I do the same? I woul dappreciate some advice.

: I can only tell you what I am doing for mine. Not sure if it is correct or not but the vet says I am doing well and my sulcata is growing. I have a 20 gallon tank that my 7 month old sleeps in at night. I have a 60 watt basking heat lamp going all the time. It keeps his tank around 84 degrees and during the day mine gets out in the living room for it's exercise. His/her pen is 4'x4' square with a 120 watt basking heat lamp and a reptisun 5.0 uv light. I feed mine a mixture of potted grass/weeds that I have grown and some endive, greens, carrots. I sprinkle the food about every other day with some Calcium D3. Mine will get in the pen around 9am and stay there until around 9 that evening and sleeps a lot. The vet says the little one is health and doing well. I guess that is what counts. As for living where you do. I live in Ohio and finding natural grass for it to graze on is difficult. That is why I planted a mixture of rye grass, clover, buckweat and alfalfa in a planter. I have about three going at all times the natural diet is the best for the tortoise but one has to be creative when living in our part of the country. Sorry for the long winded message and I hope this helps. Mark

I bought my salcata in early December, 1999 at around a month old. I named him Tank because of his eventual size. I've been feeding him an assortment of romaine lettuce, carrots, and sometime apricots. Everyday I give him some lettuce and occasionally the fruit as a treat. I sometimes give him apples too. Every other day he gets a sprinkle of D-3 Calcium and a anti-bacterial bath every 10 days. He likes to get out and run around the apartment from time to time. I go to college at the University of Massachusets, Amherst and its too cold to let him run around outside yet. When I get home to NJ, I'll let him out more. I have him in a thirty gallon tank with a heat lamp and heat pad. Mine seems to be growing slowly but surely. I found some cool info on the net. It says that he could get up to 240 lbs (record size). I have big plans for him for next year. I'm going to have a 15 foot long - 2 feet wide tank that will span the width of my room. I'm making it out of ply wood and plexy glass. It should work out nice and I won't feel as bad when I'm gone all day. Anyway, I'm excited to see it grow and my roommates are too. jeff

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: : : : I recently bought a 1 or 2 year old salcata. I have it in a 10 gallon wiht a 60 watt bulb. I was wondering how often I should feed it romaine lettus ( or what foods to feed it and how often). Right now I feed it every 2 days, and it's winter time where I live ( rhode island).I sprinkle some calcium on top of the romaine lettus. BUt I was wondering what else I should do to keep my salcata healthy. What about Protein? dog food or no dogfood? And I've read that some owners sprinkle vitamin powder or their salcata's food. Should I do the same? I woul dappreciate some advice. : : I can only tell you what I am doing for mine. Not sure if it is correct or not but the vet says I am doing well and my sulcata is growing. I have a 20 gallon tank that my 7 month old sleeps in at night. I have a 60 watt basking heat lamp going all the time. It keeps his tank around 84 degrees and during the day mine gets out in the living room for it's exercise. His/her pen is 4'x4' square with a 120 watt basking heat lamp and a reptisun 5.0 uv light. I feed mine a mixture of potted grass/weeds that I have grown and some endive, greens, carrots. I sprinkle the food about every other day with some Calcium D3. Mine will get in the pen around 9am and stay there until around 9 that evening and sleeps a lot. The vet says the little one is health and doing well. I guess that is what counts. As for living where you do. I live in Ohio and finding natural grass for it to graze on is difficult. That is why I planted a mixture of rye grass, clover, buckweat and alfalfa in a planter. I have about three going at all times the natural diet is the best for the tortoise but one has to be creative when living in our part of the country. Sorry for the long winded message and I hope this helps. Mark : : I bought my salcata in early December, 1999 at around a month old. I named him Tank because of his eventual size. I've been feeding him an assortment of romaine lettuce, carrots, and sometime apricots. Everyday I give him some lettuce and occasionally the fruit as a treat. I sometimes give him apples too. Every other day he gets a sprinkle of D-3 Calcium and a anti-bacterial bath every 10 days. He likes to get out and run around the apartment from time to time. I go to college at the University of Massachusets, Amherst and its too cold to let him run around outside yet. When I get home to NJ, I'll let him out more. I have him in a thirty gallon tank with a heat lamp and heat pad. Mine seems to be growing slowly but surely. I found some cool info on the net. It says that he could get up to 240 lbs (record size). I have big plans for him for next year. I'm going to have a 15 foot long - 2 feet wide tank that will span the width of my room. I'm making it out of ply wood and plexy glass. It should work out nice and I won't feel as bad when I'm gone all day. Anyway, I'm excited to see it grow and my roommates are too. jeff

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