In cold climates, a suitable enclosure can be built in the garage for large tortoises that need to spend a few months indoors during the winter. These enclosures should be heated enough to keep the tortoises comfortable during the indoor months. All of our baby sulcata tortoises raised indoors have access to a humid hiding area where they can snuggle in and get a dose of humidity, much like they would in a natural burrow.
This humid microclimate helps their shells to grow smoothly and helps in keeping the tortoise hydrated. Many different substrates can be used in indoor enclosures. For all sizes of tortoise, cypress mulch has proven to be a great bedding.
Other options are various hays timothy, Bermuda, alfalfa, orchard grass, etc. I also include a few large, flat rocks in an indoor enclosure. Sulcata tortoises that live outdoors are tolerant to various temperature ranges. High temperatures are not going to be a problem provided the tortoise has a shaded area to escape to if desired.
The tortoises themselves can handle surprisingly cold temperatures, as low as 45 degrees Fahrenheit, with no problems. When nighttime temperatures drop below 50 degrees, a heated hide box should be provided that maintains at least 55 to 60 degrees at night 70s is better , or the tortoises should be brought in during those times. Sulcata tortoises are kept outdoors year-round in some parts of the country where nighttime lows in the winter are 20 degrees including here in Las Vegas.
It is absolutely required that these tortoises are checked on each evening to make sure they get into a heated area and do not fall asleep out in the open and become exposed to these temperatures at night. Indoors, sulcata tortoises can be maintained at normal room temperatures: 68 to 80 degrees. They should also have a basking area heated by an overhead light. This spot should be in the degree range.
Like most diurnal, herbivorous reptiles, they need a UVB light in their indoor enclosures to help them properly process the calcium in their diets. Keep lights on 12 to 14 hours a day, and turn off all light and heat sources at night. Sulcata tortoises are eager eaters, rarely turning down a meal. With adult tortoises, the best staple diets are various grasses and leaves, the same as their natural diet. They will graze on any of the lawn grasses, mulberry leaves, grape leaves, hibiscus leaves and flowers.
With size, most sulcata tortoises will eat grass hays we like orchard grass hay. Baby and smaller sulcatas have a harder time eating the tougher grass and hay because of their less powerful jaws. We also use spring mixes particularly with baby sulcata tortoises , which have several leafy ingredients in them, and we supplement with kale, collard greens, turnip greens and any of the darker lettuce types.
Cactus pads have become a major part of the diet of many of our tortoises as well. Mazuri Tortoise Diet is offered occasionally to cover any of the nutritional bases that the other diet may have missed. Variety is the key. Feed tortoises from a grass surface, flat rock or concrete, or from a tray. To prevent them from eating soil or rocks, never feed tortoises directly from a gravel or dirt surface. Sulcata tortoises can have small water dishes in their outdoor enclosures.
Even so, it is critical to note that not all hay and weeds are safe for sulcata tortoises. Some, such as alfalfa hay, contain high oxalates that can lead to stone formation within the bladder. Greens such as kales, mustard, collard greens, dandelion greens, and turnips are suitable for your sulcata tortoise.
However, some such as spinach, rhubarb, beet, parsley, and collard greens contain high oxalates. Sulcata tortoises barely eat fruits in the wild. Pears, apples, strawberries, and bananas organically grown make great fruits for sulcata tortoises.
Since you can never be sure if your sulcata is getting adequate vitamins and calcium in their diet, you should brush up their diet once a week with those supplements.
Sulcata tortoises are born with a button on their belly. At this stage, the babies do not leave their burrows to search for food.
They get nourishment from the egg sac in their abdomen until they develop to stage 1. At stage 1, they have fully absorbed the egg sac and thus need to get food from the outside.
Since they are still young and cannot digest dried grass, they forage for soft grass, green plants, and flowers. Baby sulcata also need calcium to prevent them from soft shells and metabolic diseases. In the wild, they acquire calcium from thistles. Thistles and cactus are excellent sources of calcium. And, sulcata tortoises dig deep tunnels to prevent themselves from being dehydrated.
The babies stay in their hatching nest until they are big enough to dig their burrows. It is because they get nourishment from the egg sac located at their bellies. Instead, it would help if you coated the egg sac with a Neosporin antibiotic to prevent the egg sac from getting cuts, tears, or attacks from flies or ants. Sulctas are the third largest tortoise species in the world, and the largest mainland species.
Adult males can weigh nearly pounds and be close to 3 feet in length. Females tend to be smaller, but may still tip the scales at close to pounds. Owning a sulcata tortoise is a big commitment. Not only do they get very big, but they also live a very long time. In most cases, they will outlive their owners. All estimates indicate that a sulcata tortoise can live for close to years! Baby and juvenile sulcatas are best kept indoors under controlled heat and lighting.
One or two hatchlings can live in a 10 to 20 gallon terrarium until they reach about 3 inches. They should then be moved to larger quarters as needed until they are basketball sized.
At this size they can be housed outdoors in most climates as long as a heated shelter is provided for night and for cooler days. As such large tortoise, sulcatas to pose a unique problem when it comes to housing adults. There really is no right or wrong way to do it. Each keeper will have different resources and limitations with which to work. Key concerns are security, size, and availability of shelter.
Young tortoises housed indoors will require both a source of heat as well as full spectrum lighting. Within the enclosure you should establish a thermal gradient, that is, one end of the tank should be warmer and the other side cooler. This gives the tortoise a range of temperatures from which to choose at any given time.
For babies and juveniles, daytime basking temperatures should be around 90 degrees, while larger animals can have basking spots near degrees. In both cases, the side of the cage farthest from the heat source should not exceed Full spectrum UV lighting is a must for maintaining sulcata tortoises.
In the wild, they are exposed to unfiltered sunlight, and this light is what allows for the body to synthesize vitamin D3 which is in turned needed for calcium absorption in the gut. In captivity we have bulbs designed specifically for this purpose.
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