Baby Salcata coming soon

Hey everyone !!

I'm so excited . I'm getting a baby Salcata Tortoise soon, maybe in a week or two. I was wondering if you all could recommend certain supplies i need to get this week. I have a UVB light right now, 10 gallon tank ( i know i will need a pen in the future). Any helpful web sites that you recommend ? How long do UVB lights last for ?

Thank you


Chelsea !

Two helpful links for sulcata care:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-63788.html
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-52524.html

A UVB will last 6 months or until your UVB meter says that the output has diminished. Or, if the tortoise can be outside at least 20 minutes a day, skip the artificial UVB and just use the sun. Tortoises can develop eye injuries including blindness when compact fluorescents are used (the coil bulbs) so only use tube-style bulbs or mercury vapor bulbs (MVB).

The 10 gallon is way to small for the temperature gradient and furniture you need for a baby. Note I didn't say too small for the baby, they're tiny. But it is too small to have a cool side in the high 70s/low 80's and a basking spot with a surface temperature of 100+ degrees. And you need a hot-side hide, a humid hide in a spot that stays 80 24/7, a cool-side hide, a shallow water dish (plant saucers work well), and a piece of slate to use as a feeding station.

I have used concrete mixing tubs, 3'x2', for smaller tortoises without issues. They've got lots of room for little tortoises, an appropriate amount of space for gradients, and cost less than $20. Make sure to add a couple inches of substrate that is dry on top, moist at depth, to help keep your tortoise from dehydrating. Cypress mulch or a 50/50 mix of soil/sand work well. I like to use a hodgepodge mix that includes cypress mulch, orchid bark, soil, sand, sphagnum, and leaf litter.

Good luck with the little one, they're fun tortoises. I live in 'cold country' too so you'll have quite a challenge on your hands in a year when you need to build the heated barn outdoors.

I have a Repti Glow 10.0 UVB light froms months ago. Where can i see the meter where it says its all done ? I might need to get a UVB bulb for the winter but its summer now so he or she can just bask out side for 20mins.

You are going to need WAY more than a 10G tank!!!! ESPECIALLY if you are using the PROPER MVB for UVB/UVA!!!! My Ohms table is 4ft by 2ft and she is just under a year old and 300 grams! She will not be in this enclosure for much longer than a year before it is upgraded!

Tanks ARE okay for torts, they need HIGH Humidity ( THIS INFORMATION IS VERY NEW AND NOT AS COMMON KNOWLEDGE AS IT SHOULD BE!) If you want your tortoise to grow a SMOOTH shell with NO pyramiding you need to provide a HIGH fiber diet, grasses weeds. NO FRUIT. LOW protein as well, although you can supplement Mazuri tortoise chow a couple times a week and HIGH HUMIDITY. ( Not soaking wet! mind you)

You need to build an ENCLOSED tortoise table or use tubs of some sort. The bigger the better as they need a LOT of space to roam. Eventually your tort will get TOO BIG and need to be housed outside! They need a LOT of space and grazing room and appropriate feed available at all times.

Torts should be free fed whatever they want to eat, as well. They will eat what they NEED. I Give ohm as MUCH as she will eat every day. She only eats what she needs.

I feed Grasslands* SPECIFICALLY THIS * Tortoise chow, Mazuri Tortoise Chow, Opuntia cactus and cactus fruit as a RARE treat. ( No common fruits ever!), Weeds such as dandelion and grasses and hibiscus flowers and leaves and such. I will also feed her Spring mix ( ORGANIC, NO CHEMICAL STUFF ONLY) on occasion with 90% of the spinach removed because it is not good for tortoises to eat!!!

You need to provide proper calcium supplementation too! An adequate dish for the animal to crawl into, and out of SAFELY so that they will not drown. Do not put ANY objects in that the tort can climb ON TO and then fall off of and tip over. And upside down tort for TOO LONG will die! This you will learn. A PLASTIC hide that the animal can go into buried with the entrance is safer with coco coir/cypress bedding piled on and around it is the safest that i have come to learn.

Please just buy a Powersun UV MVB ( Mercury Vapor Bulb) these are the BEST for torts and provide heat and UVB for the animal. COIL BULBS ARE NOT SAFE NEVER USE THEM.

Okay where can i get these "grasses" from? A food store or pet store ? ? I bought a calcium supplement also.

I can go to walmart and buy a big tub

Tortoisesupply or similar tort supply site. They sell pre packaged grass seeds for tortoises that you plant, either in the enclosure or in separate trays to feed with and the "Grasslands" food is made by Zoo Med, you can order that online as well.

spring mix is safe to use too every few days. You also want to add in orchard grass hay ( if you dont use grasslands for whatever reason) moistened and cut up into little bits.

the key is variety and high fiber! You do not need to supplement calcium every feeding.

Again, Serious humidity and monitor your temps in the enclosure BEFORE you put the tort in! Please! Join Tort forum too and read EVERY post written by a user named Tom, over there. He knows his stuff and supplies a TON of links in his signature on how to care for these animals in the best way possible!!!

Originally Posted by cezcal20

I have a Repti Glow 10.0 UVB light froms months ago. Where can i see the meter where it says its all done ? I might need to get a UVB bulb for the winter but its summer now so he or she can just bask out side for 20mins.

An UV meter is a separate device from the bulb. They are fairly expensive and most people don't own them.

Sulcata do require access to high humidity. Whether you need a sealed enclosure or just a humid hide will depend on conditions in your house.

Thank you for all the help !!

Also what is "grasslands" made of. I have seen that in pet stores? How often would i feed that?