Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Howdy,
I am trying to get in touch with some sulcata owners here in Texas, specifically the houston area to see how they keep their animals and how the torts fare.
I think I saw CDieter was in the houston area...anyone else close?
-mike

I "met" online some tort rescuers in the Houston area, they say the climate is fantastic for them even though it's very humid.
No real winter to worry about.. sounds great.
I'm 10-12 hours away to the west in the desert side of the state so.. I can't give much advice on keeping them where you are.
I can tell you that except for some extremely cold temps that usually happen in January, the rest of the year it's great keeping sulcata in the desert.
Don't even have to feed our tortoise, all she needs is growing right outside her door.
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PHRatz

Well, I have wanted a sulcata for a long time, let me ask a few questions, open to everyone and anyone to answer.
1. I have a "typical" suburban house (at least here in texas). A 6 foot wood fence flush with the ground. About 3000 sqft of backyard with st. augustine grass as well as some bermuda and zorsia (sp?). A dog door goes into the garage. We have only 1-2 days a year of freezing weather. What do you think about keeping a larger female outside? Will they dig under this fence if they are given almost 3000sqft? I have seen pics of ENORMOUS burrows dug by them. Should I worry they are going to dig under the house?
2. I assume they can live without dying of fright from dogs (as long as the dogs are not attacking them)?
3. I'm ready to supplement the diet...will they freely eat these grasses? (heck, maybe I can get rid of my lawn mower).
I would be very interested to hear from anyone who lives under "similar" conditions and keeps their sulcata basically as an outdoor pet.
-thanks, mike

>>Well, I have wanted a sulcata for a long time, let me ask a few questions, open to everyone and anyone to answer.
Hopefully someone else will chime in here.. I hate to think we're the only Texans on this board! LOL
I can answer you though so I will...

>>1. I have a "typical" suburban house (at least here in texas). A 6 foot wood fence flush with the ground. About 3000 sqft of backyard with st. augustine grass as well as some bermuda and zorsia (sp?). A dog door goes into the garage. We have only 1-2 days a year of freezing weather. What do you think about keeping a larger female outside? Will they dig under this fence if they are given almost 3000sqft? I have seen pics of ENORMOUS burrows dug by them. Should I worry they are going to dig under the house?

When we first adopted ours we had a dilapidated chainlink fence so we had to hammer rebar into the ground all along the fenceline to keep her from digging out. However in the beginning with her I'd read that if you place dogs houses or something similar around the yard for them to use as hide boxes then they are less likely to dig. We found that to be true with our female.
She never did dig. She has a heated home but we still keep unheated cheap dog houses around for her to use in summer time, she does use them.
She was already 12 inches long when we took her in.. she's never lived inside our house, she just couldn't because my gosh.. have you SEEN the size of the poop? There is NO way we could have ever worked out a place for her inside our house. You have less cold than we do, you should easily be able to keep one outdoors in your region.
About fences:
A fence that cannot see through is best, wood will work as long as it remains a sturdy fence. When our girl was 40 something lbs we had the flimsier ranch fencing around our spineless cactus patch that we'd planted for her. One day she walked right through that ranch fencing and ate all she wanted. We said right then.. if she can do this with the ranch fencing at 40 something lbs, what will she do to the chainlink when she's bigger? We had a new fence built a few months later. LOL
It's cinderblock she's not going through or digging out of this!
Now later when she was mistakenly placed with a male & became gravid she did dig large holes to lay eggs.. but still even after 7 clutchs of eggs- she has not done any digging for any other reason.

>>2. I assume they can live without dying of fright from dogs (as long as the dogs are not attacking them)?
Yes.. in fact our big girl who's about 70lbs today seems very interested in dogs.. but our dog is only 10lbs so he's not going to bother her much. Large dogs can hurt them but if you watch them & keep them apart most of the time they tend to do fine together. Kind of depends on the dog & if the dog accepts the giant tortoise in their territory but the sulcata isn't likely to drop dead from fright at the sight of a dog.

>>3. I'm ready to supplement the diet...will they freely eat these grasses? (heck, maybe I can get rid of my lawn mower).
>>I would be very interested to hear from anyone who lives under "similar" conditions and keeps their sulcata basically as an outdoor pet.
Because we're in a desert setting our soil is naturally high in calcium so I don't worry about calcium supplements. What used to be our lawn has Bermuda & rye grass in it, along with tons of wild broadleafed weeds that we now water instead of try to kill.. she does just fine with her lawn full of grass & weeds. Plus we have mulberry trees & she eats the leaves from the trees too. She freely eats whatever she wants & that makes life very easy for us. However, our fenced in part of the yard is half an acre- we still have to mow because one tortoise by herself just can't eat it all for us.

Now someone else in the Houston or Gulf region chime in on this please!
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PHRatz

:::::1. I have a "typical" suburban house (at least here in texas). A 6 foot wood fence flush with the ground. About 3000 sqft of backyard with st. augustine grass as well as some bermuda and zorsia (sp?). A dog door goes into the garage. We have only 1-2 days a year of freezing weather. What do you think about keeping a larger female outside? Will they dig under this fence if they are given almost 3000sqft? I have seen pics of ENORMOUS burrows dug by them. Should I worry they are going to dig under the house? :::::

If you give lots of houses that can stop the digging behaviour. Also, if it does want to dig create a hill in the center and they will tend to dig into the hill, rather than under your house. I would bury something along the fence line as a precaution personally. You should also provide a heated house as they will also burrow if to cold. If it has a warm place to go, or where you can lock it up if it is to cold, that would possibly eliminate that reason to dig.

::2. I assume they can live without dying of fright from dogs (as long as the dogs are not attacking them)? ::

Best to keep dogs seperate if possible. If its not possible just watch when they are together as dogs can chew shells. Also, always pick up the dog poop right away as some dewormers and stuff that dogs are given are dangerous to tortoises and can be in the feces.

:::3. I'm ready to supplement the diet...will they freely eat these grasses? (heck, maybe I can get rid of my lawn mower). ::

You could try also planting different grasses, and other foods. Encourage weeds to grow. Get a plant guide . . . ratz has a good one I can't remember the name. If you are worried about calcium, leave out a calcium block, the tortoise will eat it if needed.

Good reading:
http://www.sulcata-station.org/

has a good list of plants and grasses you could grow:
http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/Mistypardaliscare.htm

(leopard tortoise care and sulcata care are very similar, diets are pretty much identical).

>>::2. I assume they can live without dying of fright from dogs (as long as the dogs are not attacking them)? ::
>>
>>Best to keep dogs seperate if possible. If its not possible just watch when they are together as dogs can chew shells. Also, always pick up the dog poop right away as some dewormers and stuff that dogs are given are dangerous to tortoises and can be in the feces.
>>

OOh ooh good point.
We NEVER ever ever use a heartworm preventative for the dog that contains ivermectin. Revolution is one that does not contain that drug, Interceptor doesn't have it either.
I belong to a couple of other online tortoise groups and I remember a year or so ago someone on one of those groups lost their tortoise because it did eat dog poop from a dog that was on an ivermectin prevenative.
Ivermectin has long been known to kill tortoises, & when it leaves a dog's body it leaves through the poop. So you DO have to be very careful about what the dog consumes!

My field guides are Peterson's but frankly after seeing them I find the National Audubon Society field guides are better- they have real photographs in them. My Peterson's have some photos but more illustrations than real photos.
I'm slowly buying the Audubon books now.
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PHRatz

thanks so much for all the info.
I had read about the ivermectin, so I knew about that, but a ggod point to bring up.
can you refer me to some other online discussion forums?
-mike

Yahoo groups has several. I think there are one or two that are specific to sulcatas and leopards. These you can set to send you e-mails or you can view them online.

You may have already gotten your answers... but I have a sulcata in Houston and used to live in a situation very close to what you describe. Yes they can dig under your fence if they get the urge- though I never had that problem... Yes "native" grasses work good. Provide a dog house or suitable shelter to let them escape our endless rainy days and you'll do fine.