Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After all of my research i was ready to enter the world of the sulcata. I purchased him at the local reptile expo, he appears very healthy, i will run a fecal sample at work to make sure he's clean. They were feeding him crap, and did not listen to my reccomendations for the rest of their torts. Oh well, didnt hurt to try.I am converting his eating habbits at the moment from his vegetable and soft chewy tortoise bites that they were feeding him to dandelion, timothy hay, orchird grass etc. I just ordered some seed mix from sulacatafood.com to help me continue with a well balanced variety. I am between names at the moment, its between boulder, dozer, dando (inside joke, i know its a weird name but i like it). Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also what is everyones opinion on getting him a friend (another sulcata of the same size if i can find one).

Here is his temporary enclosure until the tortoise table is built. I think this should last about a year then he is moving to bigger and better things. As you can see under one of his basking lamps there is a mixture of timothy, and orchard grass...I feed him twice a day but i still see him eating the grasses, i assume that this is ok, he doesnt seem to eat the wheat grass that grows in the enclosure. Is this a problem, should i take the hay out? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

another view...

If he's eating the hay, let him. I had a sulcata and try as I might, he refused to eat any of the hay. I'm experiencing the same thing with the leopard I have now. The hay is good for him, so it won't hurt him.
Congrats, he's a really cute little guy with a nice shell.

He eats it occasionally, I also chop it up (its a mix of timothy and orchard grass) finely mix it with fresh grown bermuda grass, and clover. I throw in a small amount of dandelion greens, raddish greens, an occasional piece of carrot, and sometimes his favorite...yellow squash. He goes crazy for it, but i use it as an occasional treat, along with cucumber when i think he looks a bit dehydrated (which he shouldnt be because i soak him every day, keep his hide nice and humid, and feed him fresh moist grass and greens).