Getting your Sulcata Tortoise!

Yay! First post in 2015!

We're gonna boogie oogie oggi, jiggle wiggle and dance with a Sulcata Tortoise. Yes, I am an animal lover and I also have a thing for reptiles. The number of reptile keepers are vast increasing these days especially in Sabah. So, this is my second guide about reptiles, go check out the first one which is on Guide to Bearded Dragons. 

Before I begin, Sulcata Tortoise can grow seriously big as in humongous, enormous, gigantic, supercalifragilistics huge! They are also known the African Spurred Tortoise. Sulcata are the third largest species of tortoises in the world. Baby Sulcata are pretty friggin' cute, trust me. Comparing to Sulcata in the wild, in captivity they grow 3-4 times faster. They can grow up to 80 cm in shell length and weigh 70 kg! I'll attached a picture of how big can a Sulcata get from google images later in this post.

Sulcata originates from the southern edge of the Sahara desert in northern Africa, and that is why they do not do well in wet, damp or cold conditions. They are very gentle and fun to play with. However, placing more than one male together in a housing can cause them to be slightly aggressive because they will ram into each other and attempt to flip them over. You MUST  always be cautious to make sure they do not lie on their backs because they might not be able to flip themselves over and eventually it might cause death. They love burrowing, climb and jiggle jiggle around in search for food. I just love to watch them walk around minding their own business. They're active, yes, very active.

Play and enjoy with them as much as you can when they're young because once they grow, it'll be harder to handle them with one hand due to their size and weigh. You can use brightly coloured edible flower or a piece of fruit to lure them if you need them to move. Baby Sulcata can be kept in vivariums or any dry aquarium. When they grow bigger, no aquarium can fit their size so, you can either build a tortoise house for them or just let them free roaming around the house/garden. If you're planning to put them outdoors, make sure you have secured fencing as they can be very strong and may take down your fences.
Also, make your that the house remains dry and it is best to raise the ramp slightly off the ground so it is not too steep for the Sulcata. Avoid steep inclines as it might topple the tortoise over it's back.

Here is what you need if you're going to get a Sulcata Tortoise.

UVB (Ultraviolet B) Lighting & Heating lamp

Fake grass as carpet or a mixture of soil and sand as substrate

Shallow bowl for water

Landscaping/Furnitures such as rocks/houses

Be reminded!

• African Sulcata Tortoises love to climb. Do not allow them to climb onto things that are too steep as they might topple over. Make sure your landscaping or furnitures are safe for them to climb on and off
• Sulcata love bright or colourful colours. It attracts them. So avoid having small colourful items that are accessible by them
• You have to clean their waste often. Daily is better. They might eat their own shit because shit happens haha!
• Water bowl must be shallow. Sulcata can't swim and get drown easily. They will also use it to soak their body so yea, just keep it shallow. Baby Sulcata love soaking their belly.
• Lighting is a MUST! Why? So they can produce vitamin D3 in their body for stronger shell and bones. Both lightings should be around 20 inches from the Sulcata's body

What to feed your Sulcata? 

1. Grasses (Main food) such as buffalo, bermuda grass, and many more. Do make sure that your grasses are of free pesticides
2. Flowers such as rose, hibiscus, mulberry and cactus (needles peeled/scraped)
3. Green leaves such as lettuce and choi sam
4. Fruits! They love fruits like smokers love nicotine and dessert after dinner.

So, where can you get your hands on them? There aren't many sources here in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah but I got mine from my friend Steven who owns an exotic reptile shop in Megalong. You can check out his Facebook page Exotic Reptile Paradise. Mind you, this is just a recommendation, not paid advertising. 

Once again, thank you all for your generous support! Do share our website to your friends and don't forget to like our Faceboook page! As always, be nasty, stay happy! Happy new year to all!

Picture Source : Wikipedia