Re: Baby sulcata not eating.....please respond

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Posted by Marissa-Turtle Homes on November 15, 2001 at 14:58:18:

In Reply to: Baby sulcata not eating.....please respond posted by herpgrrl on November 15, 2001 at 14:47:27:

I don't really recommend using a fishtank for housing, usually the basking bulb heats things up too much, as glass does not allow for dispersement and cross-ventilation. You should try using a large Rubbermaid tub instead, something a little bigger than the tank will do for now, Home Depot has them for cheap.

Everything else sounds pretty good, except the temp of 85F. No constant temp is good. YOu need to have a heat gradient of 75-100F, which is very very very difficult to maintain in a fishtank especially one that size. The tortoise HAS to be able to cool off and to heat up, and 85F is somewhat hot, but not hot enough to bask, and not cool enough to cool down. When you force a reptile to be at a constant temperature, you take away their ability to thermoregulate and they usually will not act right (i.e. not eating, lethargy, etc.)

A 20-minute soak sounds long, try for 5-10 minutes max, once a day is fine. Steer for lukewarm water and in about 5 minutes, the water should cool off, take the tortoise out. That's what I do.

I would not feed squash and zucchini, nor do I recommend tortoise pellets or alfalfa hay. Wheat grass is okay, but try some of the grocery greens that you can use, like chickory, watercress, escarole, turnip greens, collard greens. Make a little (very little) salad, and try that.

Sulcata Station

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: I don't really recommend using a fishtank for housing, usually the basking bulb heats things up too much, as glass does not allow for dispersement and cross-ventilation. You should try using a large Rubbermaid tub instead, something a little bigger than the tank will do for now, Home Depot has them for cheap. : Everything else sounds pretty good, except the temp of 85F. No constant temp is good. YOu need to have a heat gradient of 75-100F, which is very very very difficult to maintain in a fishtank especially one that size. The tortoise HAS to be able to cool off and to heat up, and 85F is somewhat hot, but not hot enough to bask, and not cool enough to cool down. When you force a reptile to be at a constant temperature, you take away their ability to thermoregulate and they usually will not act right (i.e. not eating, lethargy, etc.) : A 20-minute soak sounds long, try for 5-10 minutes max, once a day is fine. Steer for lukewarm water and in about 5 minutes, the water should cool off, take the tortoise out. That's what I do. : I would not feed squash and zucchini, nor do I recommend tortoise pellets or alfalfa hay. Wheat grass is okay, but try some of the grocery greens that you can use, like chickory, watercress, escarole, turnip greens, collard greens. Make a little (very little) salad, and try that.

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