hello

russ gurley has a good book out on the husbandry of sulcatas

or www.chelonia.org

i offer cuttlebone to all my tortoises in their enclosures this is a great source of calcium i break the pieces up and spread them around the enclosures

they are grazers

seed mixes can be ordered from turtlecafe.com

my adults graze on a half acre and i supplement with carrots ,mazuri,tortoise chow,dark leafy weeds and greens, opuntia cactus, and a wide variety of hays

i feed them on top of a fresh hay pile and kind of mix it together

when i see their eyes running i let the hose run in the enclosure or turn the sprinklers on

my biggest male likes to sit right next to the sprinkler like a dog and drink

if these tortoises are not allowed a natural burrow they can become dehydrated

so you have to make sure water is available by sprinklers , a running hose or what ever you can get them to go for is the bottom line

with a good complete diet these tortoises are very hardy

remeber in the wild the get almost all the water intake from plant matter but they maintain this by sleeping in burrows

we often forget this when we set them up in igloo huts or wood shelters with heat bulbs

so you have to offer them water in my opinion to balance this out

by either offering them a micro climate or by giving them access to water

hope this was a little bit of help

thanks

jeff

planet reptiles

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