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Re: questions about our new sulcatta


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Posted by SNAPPER on December 29, 2001 at 13:03:18:

In Reply to: Re: questions about our new sulcatta posted by Justin on December 28, 2001 at 08:46:43:

: : *The first question I have is about diet. I was planning on feeding her once a day for two days and then not feeding her the next day. Is this right? I have been feeding her romain lettuce, collard greens, and green beans. I have also plan on giving her a calcium supliment twice a week. Is this good so far?

: I feed mine 5 days a week, it works well when they are young. As food goes, feed endive, escarole, raddichio, chicory, dandelion greens, a little bit of squash and grass. Stay away from green beans and lettuce. For calcium use cuttlebone, the stuff used for birds.

: : *The next question is "how fast do these things grow? Right now she is about 3 or 4 inches.

: They can grow to 15 inches in five years.

: : * The next question is about the lighting. I have a regular tub light, a heat/uv light, and one of those red night lights. Are those red night lights useless? Right now I am giving her light and the heat light from 9am to 7pm. The red light from 7pm to midnight. Is this good?

: Buy an active uv, leave it on for 12-15 hours a day, and throw the rest away, unless you keep your house below 68 degrees. In that case use the red one at night.

: : *The next qustion is about when they get BIG. Right now we live in a apartment but we are buying a house next year. It is my understanding that it will need a full room when it gets big. One more problem. We live in Detroit. Right now there is about an inch of snow on the ground so it's safe to say that this sucker will have to spend a lot of time indoors. I was planning on building something for her in the basement for the winter and somthing on the back of the garage for the summer. Will this make our tortoise happy?

: Not as happy as you moving South. Florida and California are nice this time of year.

: : Thank you and please bare with us. I know these are basic questions but we have to start somewhere. Thanks

Hi Curt & Kelly, I'M NO EXPERT, just a guy with a turtle--
I was given my African Spur about 3 years ago by a friend who had a pet store that was going out of business. "Edward" was about the size of a silver dollar when I got him & I could easily lose track of him in the backyard grass.. He's now about as big around as a "duckpin" bowling ball & about as heavy, a tad bigger than an adult box turtle. He ALWAYS has a bowl of kale(sprinkled with vitamin powdr) available to him 24/7 and gets everything-- broccolli,peaches,apples, carrots,tomatoes,spinach,fruit cocktail, strawberries, cantaloupe,pumpkin,watermelon, banannas(he LOVES banannas)-I give him as much as he wants everyday. He wants to eat everyday, and if he doesn't get fed, he'll follow me around like a dog & nip at my feet. I'll give him (& he'll eat) pretty much anything that grows out of the ground except citrus. It may or may not be a "proper" diet but I knew nothing about turtles when I got him & this is what he likes now. I know hes getting all the vitimins he needs & probably THEN SOME, everything is almost always "dusted" with "Reptivite" powder. Since he's gotten to this size he has no special tank or "home", he just wanders around doing pretty much what he wants. Theres one walk-in closet in the room where theres a heating pad(just the old "human"type)set on low, a long UV light bar & a basking light for when he wants it.. He always has water available but only drinks occasionally. I know there seems to be a lot of "DO's & DONTS" with these turtles but I find if you have a basic knowledge of them & just use "common sense" then they'll be fine. I'd be willing to bet that most of the "problem" turtles you read about on this board were sick when the owners purchased them(ya gotta start out healthy). "Edward" is outgoing (even bossy), seems happy enough and has more personality than I knew a turtle could have. They're really a lot of fun, this one will actually "seek me out" if hes bored & start a "fight" with my feet. Go figure..Email me & lemme know how yours comes along..OUTLAAWW@WEBTV.NEW


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