Care Sheet for TortoisesAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 3.43 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 10/22/2005 |
Main Category: | Aquatic/Land |
Sub Category: | Tortoises |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Herp_guard |
Years Experience: | Under 1 Year |
Species: | Sucalta Tortoise |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | Just a Sucalta. |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Its hard to sex them untill there about 5-8 years old. Usually the characteristics of a male is that there bigger and that they have long tails. Females usually have a shorter flat tail. |
Mostly Active During: | Day |
Substrate and Water Needs: | I personnaly use cedar mulch but some times they carry to much humidity, so dont spray the cage there desert dwelling animals.
Possibly you can also use play sand but it can cause impaction so make sure there food is not on it. A mix of half sand and half potting soil (no fertilizer in it) would probably be the best from what I have heard.
For water most people say there needs to be no water. However I feel that a shallow water bowl that is atleast big enough for him to fit in so he can soak. Just make sure it does not go over the carapace.
If you do not wish to put in a water bowl make sure to soak him in warm water up to his carapace atleast 3 times a week. Even if you do have a water bowl in there still soak him atleast one time a week. Usually a good soaking time should be about 20 minutes. |
Lighting and UVB: | UVB lighting is needed so they can get there D3. Its one of the most important things you can provide him. A good UVB bulb is important, some bulbs say they provide UVB light but they do not provide enough. The more UVB the better.
Change atleast every six months. |
Temperatures and Humidity: | The temps should be in the 90s they live in the desert so they like it hott. In the 100s is acceptable though. At night the temps can go down into the 70s.
Humidity is bad so dont spray because again they live in the desert where its dry. To keep him hydrated you gotta bathe him. |
Heating and Equipment: | I myself use a 60 watt blue bulb and a UVB light in the morning and at night just turn off the UVB bulb. Some people use heat matts which is actually better. |
Caging Provided: | Right now I have him in a 12"x30" rubbermaid, but at the moment I am making him a wooden 4 foot by 4 foot enclosure which will last him for abbout five years.
For hatchling I recomend a 10 gallon. Then in one year hell need atleast a 40 gallon. But why would you want to spend all that money so I would just go ahead and build him a medium enclosure. As adults they need to atleast have a 8 foot by 8 foot enclosure and thats the minimum. There roaming creatures so they need huge caging.
Heres a little tip to house a hatchling up to a three year old, go out and buy one of those cheap rabbit cages from petco. They work wonderful for them and are cheap.
I dont have the room so I give him more excercise by letting him have some roaming time. I let him walk around my house for about 20 to 30 minutes. It would be best to let him walk on wood surface because he may poop or pee then it would be easier to clean it up. For me I let him roam anywere because my carpet is destroyed and disgusting so if you have a nice carpet then dont do that. You can also let him roam around outside if its a warm area you live in or if its the summer. But make sure there is no chemical spraying in the areas because it will get in the grass which you tortoise will roam around and eat which could kill him. |
Diet: | Herbivorous |
Description of Diet: | I feed him 70% hays/grasses. These include:
-Timothy hay
-Orchard hay
-bermuda grasses
-other grasses and hays
20% greens
-romaine lettuce
-collard greens
-mustard greens
-turnipe greens
-kale
-arugala
-carrots
-peas
-yellow squash
10% fruit-sparingly
-prickly pears
-cantelope
-watermelon
-straberries
-blueberries
A really good food for your sucalta however would be prickly cactus pads. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | You really must use a source of calcium powder on there food everday. The calcium is imporant so they do not have the problem of pyramiding. |
Maintenance: | Clean there poop out daily. I would change substrate about every 3 months. |
Some Words on this Species: | Sucaltas are sometimes aggresive aspecially during breeding season. There like tanks ramming into everything. They are the 3 largest land tortoise in the world so think about how big they are. They have been known to kill dogs and much larger tortoises like Aldabras. These are not beginner pets you should go for a redfoot before you go for a sucalta to gain some experiance. I unfortuanatly made the mistake of buying one before I did research. Dont make the same mistake as I did dont buy on impulse they are cute when smaller but tanks when bigger rember that. |
How Members Rated
This Care Sheet | Rate This Care Sheet
Please keep all comments constructive to Sucalta Tortoise husbandry methods and care. Any degrading, sarcastic, or disrespectful comments will be removed. |
Total Members Rating: 7
| 1 |  ( 2 ) |
| 2 |  ( 0 ) |
| 3 | ( 1 ) |
| 4 | ( 1 ) |
| 5 | ( 3 ) |
|
|
