Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi there, just wanted to introduce myself. i'm the proud owner of a 15-year-old redfoot, and a week-old baby sulcata. actually, the baby is the whole reason why i joined this forum. im afraid to say, made a whole lotta mistakes raising my redfoot, which i received as a hatchling when i myself was quite young, and i want to make sure i do things just right this time. i currently have the baby in a 10-gallon tank, which will be upgraded to a 50-gallon terrarium in a few weeks. i have him on corncob and timothy hay substrate, and feed him turnip greens and mustard greens in addition to the hay. also, he loves baby carrots, which i give him every other day. the temperature in the cage runs from about 78 degrees in the cool areas to 85, depending on whether or not the light is on. he has a little water dish in the tank with him, and i soak him periodically. he sleeps most of the day, though he's active and eats enthusiastically when i wake him up, and drinks when i soak him. would this be considered acceptable? what should i do different? thanks for your help!

while you can keep the little guy in a 10 gal tank for a while it really increases your work load and risk. If you have the heat on and you are not home, any temperature spike in the ambient air temperature could overheat the little guy and conversly if the heat is off, a drop in temperature could chill it. Most people use a Rubbermaid Sweater box for hatchlings. Add a clip on lamp to one end with a 100w bulb (active heat uv bulb is always my recomendation) and you have it covered. For the substrate I suggest sand, carpeting, hay or just plain dirt. I don't recomend Calci-sand. Add to this a water dish and you have a complete habitat. Then you can add a hide space (box or pile of hay or whatever) where the guy will feel secure. From this you can build as you pick up more info.
Ed

I agree with EJ, get him into something larger now. My sulcata
had a temp range of 70 -105 degrees as a hatchling - as a big
tort he has a 125 degree basking temperature and loves it. He
started in a 300 gallon tank though, went to a 1000 g. and is now
outside in his own building 24/7.
Give yours collard greens, endive and escarole lettuces, green
and yellow peppers cut up small, and yellow and zuchinni squash.
The hay is fine if he'll eat it, most hatchlings won't. Mine
didn't sleep in the daytime (maybe a nap or two briefly) I think
yours isn't able to get his body temp up to be active in that small
tank with only a mid 80's high temp. Certainly don't try to get
a higher temp in that space, you'll cook him as he won't be
able to escape the heat if he wants to. I gave mine as a hatchling
Repti-Cal and Herptivite supplements (matchhead size amount) and
later went to cuttlebone scraped onto his food. I also feed him
Mazuri (once a week depends on how much grazing he gets in the
winter he gets it 3 times) which is a Purina based zoo food for
large tortoises. I didn't give mine that till he was 18 months.
Try to let yours have as much natural grasses and weeds as possible
plenty of hibiscus flowers, geraniums and dandelions. And as
much outdoor time as allowable in a very safe and secure enclosure
with lots of shade and plants to hide in.

yeah, im thinking of moving him to a large rubbermaid this week. for now though, what are your opinions on a heatpad, with that kind of substrate? is the occasional use of a pad a good idea to get the temp up..?

see the above post about substrate comparisons. I would recommend
Lizard Litter (natural hemp/ kenaf plant) I found some made by
LifeCare for small animals. As far as heat pads, I wouldn't
recommend them for tortoises (other than very large torts that
just need more heat possibly). Having heat under them might
bake bacteria into their shells underneath where many have
poop stuck sometimes. Better to go with overhead heat lamps,
get a mercury based UV/heat combination bulb.

cool, thanks.. since i haven't been able to secure a larger terrarium just yet, i've gotten rather creative with what i have. now, even the ten gallon terrarium retains areas with several temp. ranges, from 78-90. it seems adequate for now, since the little guy's now up and trucking about most of the day, rather than loafing .. i have to say, for a tortoise, he's quite the acrobat, climbing around up onto everything when he's out getting exercise. with such personality, i can see why this species is so well-spoken of..