# Sulcata Tortoise



## P. Novak (Jan 26, 2006)

Anyone know the growth rate of Sulcata Tortoises??

and is there any good care sheet on em? please.

also tips and hints will be welcome,

i might be planning on getting one in the future.


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## ReptileMan27 (Jan 26, 2006)

I have never kept sulcatas but know how big they get. They require alot of room when they get bigger, even though it takes many years for them to get big they still can get big and you need to be prepared. I would reccomend a russian tortise because they dont get big. I have a female russian tort and like all torts and turtles she is messy but pretty simple to care for and doesent get huge.


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## P. Novak (Jan 26, 2006)

i have a pretty big backyard, so size doesnt matter, i was just wandering how long it takes for them to go from about the size of a childs hand to full adult size. 


A carsheet for them would be nice, like the food they require and any extra stuff.


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## TheNothing (Jan 27, 2006)

i'd HIGHLY suggest adopting a larger one...
TOO many Sulcatas are being bred and sold to people that have NO CLUE how big they will get...

actually, at a show almost a year ago I heard a woman working for LLL say "these guys are great and when they get too big you can sell it and get another baby..."

growth rate will vary, but in general, they grow rather quickly.


I traditionally do what I can to talk people out of large tortoises because they really don't have a clue what they're doing.  If you own a home with plenty of property and willing to care for an animal that will likely live longer than you will at this point (50+ years), go for it.  


some links for ya
http://www.sulcata-station.org
http://www.anapsid.org/sulcata.html


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## P. Novak (Jan 27, 2006)

hey thanks! 

id really like a small one to begin with, and if any thing i can sell it when its get bigger, but im sure my backyard will be enough, oh and when its larger would it be alright to let it wander inside my house?


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## Mushroom Spore (Jan 27, 2006)

demonhunter said:
			
		

> if any thing i can sell it when its get bigger


Uh, that's not cool. :wall:


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## Galapoheros (Jan 28, 2006)

I had mine for about 9 years before it broke a hole in my gate and got out.  You will need a metal fence or rock of some kind for the base of the fence.  Mine was great!  Been a year now and I still miss it.  I plan on moving out to the country and going to make it more secure for torts.  Very, very active animals.  They move around ALLOT.  Eating, eating, eating.  They will dig too so I would put a barrier on the ground that is attached to the base of the fence (something like chainlink).  Chicken wire is not enough.  Mine ripped right through it.  I caught him halfway out of some I put on a ranch gate.  I would let mine in the house when it got too cold.  But I usually would put him in the garage or in the back of my truck in the garage with a heat lamp.  WARNING:  These guys drop bombs that you would think came from a good sized dog when they get bigger.  And as you might guess, their brains are programmed for walking and eating.  No room for being potty trained.  They will mess a rug up real fast.  I really miss watching this animal walking around and grazing.  It was kind of relaxing.  Here's a picture of it about two years before he escaped.  At that size he really seemed to start growing faster.  The sun and fresh, wild plants was the best thing I did for him I think.  I have a pair tree and that's what he is eating in the pic.  Not real good for them but the yard was his and he had a well balanced diet. With all the choices, it looked like he learned what not to eat.  They have a pretty good nose.  The shell pyramiding stopped when I let him out of the pin he was in and he started eating the wild grasses instead of Romaine lettuce and processed tort food.  He was a little baby when I bought him at the pet store.


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## P. Novak (Jan 28, 2006)

oh alright thanks alot and nice pic!!! 

what exactly did you feed em? or what should i feed it.

thats the only thing im confused about.

thanks


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## Scorp guy (Jan 28, 2006)

feed him lettuce, not ocean mist, bok choy, apples, oranges, bannas, celery, pretty much all vegetables and fruits will keep him on a healthy diet.


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## Galapoheros (Jan 28, 2006)

A little tricky when real young because most people pick the food for them.  They will eat almost anything but there is allot of controversy about diet and shell pyramiding.  Some think pyramiding is caused by too much protein in there diet.  So no dog food or stuff like that as a regular part of the diet.  Probably best not to do it ever.  A short book I have says:

High fiber grasses should make up the bulk of it's diet.  Soaked alfalfa hay or clover hay can make up a significant portion of an adults diet.  You can also offer squashes, cabbages, dark green lettuces, broccoli, carrots, melons....  As babies, it recommends baby tortoise diet.

When I started letting mine loose in the backyard (about 4 years), I absolutely didn't need to feed it anything from March to October.  But it had about an acre to walk around on with allot of wild, native grasses.  It really liked Bermuda grass which I read is one of their preferred grasses in Africa.  Don't know if that is true or not.  Mine loved cactus pads.  I have some growing in the backyard.  I could also get them at a few grocery stores around here.  He would choose a cactus pad over any fruit or grass.  Cactus pads aren't over loaded with sugar either like fruits are.  If I get another one, I plan on rarely offering the tort fruit.  Maybe once a week.

Just noticed you are in Cal.  Seems like they would ROCK there.  I'm in Tx.  It can get pretty cold here in the winter....but not this winter.  Oh and if you or, if you're married and your wife likes a well manicured backyard..  Well, when they get bigger, they will make trails,  and dig around here and there a little.


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## Scorp guy (Jan 29, 2006)

ya hes married, but his wife doesnt do the lawn much so...


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## Psycho (Feb 6, 2006)

I remember a while back alot of people on here gave me ALOT of grief about buying a baby sulcata!

To this day I love all of them! I own 3 now! Two adults and one juvi!

In the winter time they free roam the house with a pen to go into at night!

I totally disagree with Galapoheros about the potty training! All three of mine go to the pen when ever they need to use the bathroom! AND when they sleep they goto the pen! Trained vary well! They are alot like dogs, but never bark or beg to go outside! The ONLY diet they recieve is Timothy Hay and Romaine Lettuce and on occasion they get cactus pads in the summer time! We used to feed them Massouri Tort. Diet but we have slowed down on it for a while! We will still feed it but not so much!

Here is a picture of "Ralphys" night time pen:






We love our sulcatas and my wifes kitty cats seam to also:






Sulcatas do reach large sizes but if you can manage living arrangements for the animal that will out live you then I say why not own one?


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## PrettyHate (Feb 7, 2006)

Scorp_Lver said:
			
		

> feed him lettuce, not ocean mist, bok choy, apples, oranges, bannas, celery, pretty much all vegetables and fruits will keep him on a healthy diet.


Actually, Sulcata's shouldnt have fruit in their diet at all



			
				SulcataStation said:
			
		

> 3. AVOID giving your sulcata tortoise fruit! Even though sulcata love fruit, it's best NOT to give them any, if possible. Grazing tortoise species such as leopard and sulcata rely on beneficial bacteria in their intestines to help them digest and extract nourishment from the grasses that they eat. If you give your tortoise large amounts of fruit, the acids and sugars in the fruit can actually change the pH of the tortoise's digestive tract, and this pH change can cause the beneficial bacteria in the tortoise's gut to die off. When large quantities of gut bacteria die, they release toxins that can cross the gut wall and enter the tortoise's bloodstream, causing the tortoise to experience a form of Toxic Shock Syndrome that can be fatal.


More on diet here:
http://www.sulcata-station.org/diet.html

Entire site:
http://www.sulcata-station.org/

Also- to the person who is thinking of getting the tortoise- make sure this is something you really want. The fact that you said you could give it away if it gets too large makes me wonder if you really know what you are getting into.


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