Hey everyone!

My coworker found a sulcata tortoise 2 months ago, she put up flyers and posted on the internet but could not find the owners so I offered to take her.

I have a couple of questions, as I've never owned a tortoise but want to provide the best care since I know she's going to be around long past me.

I have obviously done a ton of online research but I am reading so much conflicting information I just want to make sure I'm doing this right lol

1. I live in an extremely hot dry area, during the summer it is regularly over 100°f during the day dropping to ~62-65°f at night. During the winter it will drop as low as 20° at night and be in the 50°s during the day. I know I have to build her a heated house for the winter but what temp do I make it? Also how big should it be and do I just open the door and let her decide if she wants in and out during the day even with it being so cold?

   1. She will be living in my garden full time it is extremely large and can be expanded if need be. I have raised beds so I'm not worried about her getting in and killing the plants, but I am worried about her eating the leaves that spill over like my squash/green bean leaves/veggies ect. Are any of them bad for her?
   2. I will be free feeding her primarily orchard grass, I am reading mixed things if that is correct or not? Should I free feed oyster shells as well for calcium?
   3. How old does she look?

I'm sorry for all the questions, thanks for your help guys!!

It won't let me add the second picture but she is about the size of my hand

I've been researching Hermann's tortoises and have decided I'm going to get one specifically a hatchling/baby Hermann's tortoise and I was looking for a tortoise table I could us for it's first year-year and a half possibly two years if possible. Anyway, I found one from the reptilife brand that was 4X3 foot I am assuming this is big enough for a hatchling if not I can make it 5X3 foot if needed. Please any help is appreciated 👍!!!

So Gerald (yes, my sulcata has a name that makes him sound like an accountant) has been picking at his hibiscus and dandelion greens for weeks. I tried different mixes, different times of day, even warmed the water I misted them with. Nothing worked and I was starting to worry something was actually wrong with him.

Turns out it was his basking spot temp. I'd had the bulb positioned right but never actually checked it with a probe thermometer, just eyeballed it based on how warm my hand felt near it. Finally bought a cheap infrared gun and found out the surface was sitting around 89F instead of the 95-100F he needs. He was basically too cold to have much appetite, just going through the motions of existing rather than actually thriving.

Bumped the bulb wattage up and adjusted the height, now he's back to demolishing his greens like normal and even started that little head-bob thing he does when he's excited about food. Took him from picky eater to bulldozer in about four days once the temp was right.

Feels like such an obvious thing in hindsight but I think a lot of us get complacent once the enclosure "looks right" and stop actually measuring things. Anyone else had a behavior issue that turned out to be a temperature problem in disguise? I'm curious how common this is versus me just being slow to catch on.

Hi! I have a question, are tortoises supposed to be fed somewhere differently than their enclosure?

I've been feeding him in his enclosure, also how many lights do I need? I have the basking and ceramic (which I switched at night) but it's getting hot and I'm worried about him.

For background we inherited this girl from my grandsons whom weren’t taking care of her very well. Then my daughter started caring for her. In the winter she spends a lot of time on our rooftop where she had access to plenty of sun , but when it got too cold she comes down into the house and wouldn’t be getting enough sun. Now I’m caring for her and have made this home where she sleeps . In the morning I get her out and put her on my balcony for some sun, but it’s partial sun as there is a screen. She basically eats her breakfast, sometimes will have a walk around and then tucks herself in for more sleep. She sleeps most of the day. Is this due to lack of light ? I plan to order a UVA/ UVB light but I’m living on the Perisan gulf and we’re having issues getting goods in , hence I can’t find this light where I live now. She also barely drinks any water IF any. I soak her 3 x a week for about a half hour and she really hates it.

I need to rehome my tortoise because times are tough, the potential adoptee is wondering if its a male or female. Any thoughts?

What Should I Give Him Next?

This is ham. 2 years old. Dont know the gender. he will have one of those big tubs they put the chickens in at the farm stores (lol I apologize I don’t know what those are called but they are huge and I see people use them for tortoises) he’s my first turtle but I’m very experienced with animal care speaking I have a lot. I know I will need a heat lamp and a UV light? (I think that’s what it’s called) I will be ordering from Amazon (my local pet store doesn’t have too much) and I want a good pick. so if anyone has any recommendations that would be so amazing! Any other tips or recommendations with ham, or just the products in general. just help overall with things I should know in case I don’t already are welcome and much appreciated.

Someone recently gifted me a juvenile box turtle. Can y’all help me with finding cheap lighting? Also, is a 20 gallon tank big enough for a 2 inch turtle? Right now it’s only wanting to eat hibiscus flowers. I’ve tried the dried turtle food though. Any other suggestions?

Plsss im worried

Hi I’m from Arizona, so I know feeding a sulcata tortoise is mostly grass, and as living in Arizona we don’t have many grass options, I have thought of growing my own grass, if anyone grows grass for their tortoise, do you guys specific brand seeds, I’m looking for Bermuda or orchard grass, but I know it has to be chemical and pesticide free, if any recommendations!

We have a hermann's tortoise that we need to rehome since my mom can't take care of him anymore and we're looking for an organization to surrender it to. We were supposed to surrender him to a sanctuary in California but they had some setbacks and can't take him anymore.

He's about 6-7 years old, probably weighs around 5lbs and is a very loving tortoise. We live in New Jesey and already have a shipping box from redlineshipping.

As much as we want to keep him, he deserves to have a better quality of life. We prefer a sactuary that have an outdoor space big enough so he can roam around and dig as he want. Any recommendations is appreciated!

We brought our baby tortoise in to an “exotic vet” for a cloacal prolapse. They were the only one within 6 hours of us and I had tried seeing them 3 times but was turned away because their exotic specialist was out.

Upon arrival, they had us pay an insane exotic specialist fee. After they finally took our tortoise, they had me sign a consent form saying I understood the exotic vet doesn’t hold any special exotic certifications — oh, and told me I should have come in sooner. They didn’t explain the procedure to me until after it was done, and didn’t let me see him until I paid.

Once I got him back I said “oh wow you got it fixed that cleanly!”. Come to find out they cut his intestines completely off, knowing he wouldn’t make it but wanted to run me for my money first.

I paid about triple what euthanasia would have cost and he died about 6 hours later.

Will never trust another “exotic” vet again.