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Posted by Lisa and Virgil on January 17, 2002 at 16:48:02:
In Reply to: Update on baby Sulcatta and a few concerns posted by Curt and Kelly on January 16, 2002 at 17:52:49:
: We have had our baby Sulcatta since Christmas. Kelly has always wanted one so I bit the bullet and got her one. I have to say I wasn’t too crazy about the idea but now I love the thing. We named her Jasmine. She eats everyday except Wednesday and Saturday. We have been feeding her a mix of romaine lettuce, collard greens, carrot tops, and kale mostly. We also have been giving her small amounts of carrots, bananas, tomatoes, and oranges. We are going to get some hibiscus plants in the spring and are looking into getting that special grass stuff off the Internet. She gets calcium on Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday. She gets multivitamins on Monday and Thursday. We have been soaking her about 4 times a week. She hasn’t been to the vet yet but we are planning on doing so soon. The place we got her from gave us the number of a vet that specializes in them. I guess he has some big sulcattas. Anyway there are a few things that are concerning us. I now everyone downs glass tanks on this board …. But that’s what she is in right now. It’s 36L X 18W X 12H. Her bedding is a towel duct taped to the bottom. I monitor the heat and everything seems fine. It’s about 94 in the hot area and 84 in the cool zone. We give her about 10 ½ hours of light a day. We plan on increasing the light in the summer. Anyway …… since last week she has been just standing on her back legs and almost trying to climb out of the cage. She has flipped over on her back three times. It’s pretty safe to say she doesn’t want to be in there. I’m going to try and use a smaller wattage bulb first but if that doesn’t work we are going to build a wood home. Does anyone have these problems with their tortoise doing this in a wood home? It kind of sucks because of the money we spent on the whole set up. I even sprung for the fancy shmancy stand. Anyway ….We are planning on making it 42L X 24W X 10H or so. Does this sound good? The other question is about the shell. I know a soft shell is trouble. Her shell is hard as can be ….. but her belly has a little bit of give when I put a little pressure on it. Is this normal? If anyone has suggestions I would appreciate it. Thanks!
I've had Virgil a year and a month now. He's a year and 4 months old and a little over 3" long. Terry and Niki were a huge help when I got Virgil and asked question after question. Little Virgie is just a pistol. He was in a glass tank for about 2 weeks before I realized it just was not going to work. They can see out and that's where they want to go. Virgil's winter indoor wood box is about 3' long and 2' wide. I went to Home Depot and gave them my measurements. They cut it all up for free and I came home and hammered away. It is not fancy, but very functional. I hope for him to spend much more time outdoors this spring/summer now that he has his first year under his belt. I will be making him a larger box this summer for next winter. Right now he just tools around the perimeter, climbs on his rocks, hides in his cave, and sits in his water dish. I rarely find him on his back. I use Carefresh for his bedding. His UVA/basking light is at one end and his UVB fluorescent light is at the cool end. His rocks are on the basking end. He has a people heating pad for overnight only. That is my basic set-up and the wood box is the least of the expense involved. One sheet of plywood makes the whole thing. Good luck.
