Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought a baby Sulcata today at the white plains show. I had done plenty of research on them and understand the responsibilities involved, I just have a few opinion questions for you experienced keepers. what percent UVB bulb should i buy for my strip light? (2.0, 5.0, 7.0, or 8.0), what is your choice for substrate? and as a staple food?...I have seen that they should be fed mostly grasses instead of greens, where is a good place to get these grasses and is it ok to stick w/ only one species of grass?

thank you for reading,
Chris

As far as the lighting goes the choice is yours. Nobody hasactually determined that there is any benefit to these bulbs. I use them and I think there is a benefit but I don't know. I also prefer the mercury vapor lamps for the heat and it is supposedt to throw off more uvb. Right now I'm using T rex bulbs at 160w. I've been told that the 160w are pretty stable and last longer than most the others. I've also used the Active uv heat bulbs but switched due to availability.

On diet... the key is variety. No one item should be fed or omitted. Mix it up as much as you can. Mazuri tortoise diet is also a good item to add to the mix. I usually recommend shying away from the high moisture content foods.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

Ed,
thank you very much for the reply, it has been quite helpful...i got a great buy today on an exo terra 8.0 uvb ($10) so i picked that up. Pretty amazing, i dont know if its all in my head or due to some other reason, but he hadn't moved an inch today but as soon as i flipped that bulb on and threw in some food he has walked about 15 laps around his enclosure. Just one more question about diet. Are there any type of greens that i should avoid altogether or is it all good as long as i have variety? example...there happens to be fresh brussell sprouts in my house right now so i put in a few outer leaves of one, he seems to like it but i never read about feeding them this before. I am assuming that this is ok provided that i dont make this a staple diet for him.

Thanks again and sorry for the long post...im just trying to do this right,
Chris

Pretty much anything can be given as a treat. Brussel sprouts make quite a poor diet choice but as a treat they are fine and add some entertainment for the tortoise. They are also attracted to bright colours and other treats that I use sparelingly are flowering kale and strawberries. Carrots are also a favorite and I offer more often. Do to availability I must admit I probably feed a bit too much leafy vegetables, more like an iguana diet. To try and keep the fibre high I make sure the stalks and stems are also eaten. For grasses, contact someone with horses and they'll know all about getting alfa-alfa, timothy and other hays.

I used to keep my sulcata on a dry dirt substrate but for ease of cleaning and convience I have moved to the wood shavings that my russians are on. It works good, is less dusty and he still gets to have fun digging around, albeit without a burrow. I often consider moving to a hay substrate just for the fact that it's also great if he's munching it down. Anyone else use hay as a substrate?

If grocery greens are all you can get your hands on during this time of year, try to feed him turnip green, mustard, collard, endive, kale, etc. I can find dandelion at my grocery store year round when mine aren't growing outside which is a good staple diet. Try to feed him dark green leafy veggies and stay away from lettuces. Fresh pumpkin and opuntia is another favorite of sulcata.

sounds like i'm on the right track. I"ve looked for opuntia all over but can only find a few poorly labeled cacti that are $15-20 for maybe 100grams of food. A mere snack. Any good sources you may suggest?