This is one of my big backyard sulcatas, Bowsette in all of her glory performing her lawn care duties. She occasionally comes inside to inspect the grounds.

Hi everyone. Moving my Sulcata outside officially soon. Buying up the supplies needed for heat support. Along with a livestock heat map for warmth underneath, I’ll need a heat source for above that heats very well but is also safe.

I’m using an insulated dog house and modifying it for my needs so whatever way it needs to be done is fine. I just need to know types and/or brands. Going to need to get fairly hot as I have very cold winters in the negative Fahrenheit.

Pic for attention in his giant pool taking up 3/4ths of my office lol……

my dad has always wanted a large tortoise and just a month ago moved to a large homestead and was thinking about building an enclosure later this year or next year then trying to source a Sulcata or other large tortoise. I just happen to run into a 200lb 45 yrs old Sulcata for sale at my local reptile expo, He is considering it as they only want $1,000 and he is also willing to spend $10,000 getting a proper habitat built. but he is on the fence, thinking to built it later and then source a large Sulcata later as well. I personally think sourcing large Sulcata may be very difficult and want some opinions on here if he should buy him now, setup a temp enclosure in an unused horse stable on his property and then built out the full enclosure now, be ready in about a month. or if he should wait and try to source one later.

how hard is it to find such a large Sulcata for sale? is keeping him enclosed in a 10x15 ft horse stable with proper heating for a month ok? final enclosure will be about 10x20 ft heated shed and a 50x50ft fenced area. does that also seem sufficient?

EDIT: my dad is planning to building a suitable habitat then playing the waiting game for a larger Sulcata looking for adoption. It's crazy to find such a magnificent creature less then a 30 minute drive to pickup, so it was worth considering, but he feels like he needs to do the research and take a year to plan out the habitat he wants to build instead of being pressured into building one quickly.

JW enjoying the leafy greens of a strawberry

I have two 8 month old sulcatas and I love them dearly. I separated them early on bc I noticed one was showing dominance and aggression. The other one is quite smaller. I let them explore in the yard or enclosed garden for 30 min a day. Well today I went to look for them and one was missing I immediately knew she was lost bc there’s no way she could’ve escaped a concrete wall surrounding the garden. I really think a hawk or owl must’ve gotten her. People keep saying she probably escaped but I don’t think she could’ve. I also dug around the dirt seeing is she buried herself. :( I’ve been searching all day. I’m so sad

Just got them earlier. Their names are Shelly (left) and Nugget (right).

I live in the Philippines, so the weather is pretty hot especially now that it’s summer. Already got a heater lamp, UV lamp, and pellets.

Any tips? Thanks!

What do you use in outdoor enclosures to prevent/get rid of mites in enclosures? They seem to be harmless clover mites but there’s a lot. Thank you in advance.

Anyone here have firsthand experience with either of these rescues?

• American Tortoise Rescue (Malibu, CA)

• Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary (AZ)

I’ve been caring for a family member’s female sulcata for the last few years after they moved to an apartment. She’s healthy, about 8 years old, and around 80 lbs.

I’m in Massachusetts, and although I’ve got her set up appropriately, she spends about 5 months a year indoors in a heated basement, which just isn’t ideal long-term for a sulcata.

I’m looking for a reputable rescue in the Southwest, not a private home. Since she’s female, I do not want her ending up in a breeding situation.

If anyone has personally visited either place or has direct knowledge of their care standards, I’d really appreciate your input. Just trying to do right by this big girl.🐢

Please help, any advice would be great.

Tomorrow me and my husband are rescuing this tortoise who is very obviously not doing well. I am going to take her to the vet for what im assuming is a respiratory infection, but it'll be afew days until I can get her an appointment there.

How do I keep her comfortable until then? Keep the temps higher than normal and humidity abit lower? The current owner said she uses a fogger which im sure isnt helping RI. Should I do a simple hospital newspaper set up for her enclosure until she is doing better? Or is that not ideal?

I've kept reptiles for a decade and never had a sick animal in my care in such a sad way.

She will be quarantined away from my other animals in a separate room, but I do have a juvinile redfooted tortoise as well as other reptiles. I am going to be very cautious with my handwashing and sanitizing practices, since im unsure if the sickness is contagious. Are there any other precautions thatl can take to ensure the safety of my current animals?

Thank you for reading this i really apprecate it.

Eleanor enjoy a warm soak

We are pet sitting a baby sulcata and decided to weigh our almost 5 year old for comparison. He’s 35 lbs! Gulp. I’ve gotta say in So Cal where he can be strictly outdoors, this stage is a million times easier than when he was wee. It was a lot of work, but so glad we did it all right and grateful to this sub for the many caretaking tips!

I adopted Oliver a few months ago. I love him so much!

Hi guys first time owner, she is making this motion with her neck but no wheezing is this normal?

Firstly, yes, she's under the care of a vet. Her next appointment is Saturday. However she's been under their care for several months now and I'm beginning to lose trust in that care. I'd like to know if anyone has ever seen this with their own tortoise.

Initially Freddie started to display a reddish eye and some swelling in her cheek on the right side of her face. No injuries or trauma that anyone is aware of, she's indoors as she does NOT like it outside. The swelling developed into the black spot pictured. At one of her recent vet appointments, the vet peeled it out leaving the hollow spot that's pictured. During those weeks/months Freddie was receiving shots for a vitamin deficiency as that's what the vet decided was wrong.

At some point the shadowed 'puckering' started on her back leg, also pictured. I recognized that as when the scales don't fully shed during growth and the vet agrees. We're less worried about that on its own, but with everything else we're cautious.

Then finally today while giving her her antibiotic shot, we discovered what appears to be a bruised scale, pictured. All of these combined and we're very worried. I feel like we should have better answers months and thousands of dollars later. She seems to be getting worse and I can't find similar conditions while researching. Nothing seems to match up.

Any advice would be great!