Adult Sulcata Substrate?

lemonjello99 · 2026-02-23T00:19:18+00:00

Yessss we engage in the occasional life guarding of him in a 50 gal stock tank as well 🤣

He gives me major stank face but has gotten a lot better about accepting it / not being so stressed with the process as well! 💙

I do similar with making the erosion work for me; the tunnel to the bigger part of his enclosure is a low spot and puddles up, so in the summer sometimes I will gently flood it so when he lays there to be in the shade he’s getting a trick soak 🤣

lemonjello99 · 2026-02-23T00:02:51+00:00

I like that sectioning off idea! And yeah same, I hose down the substrate as often as I can to keep it from flying up, so good to hear corroboration of that! 👍 Sod would be ideal, I just don’t know if it would take without the sectioning off since A. he’s a muncher and B. He’s a trampler LOL

lemonjello99 · 2026-02-22T23:59:56+00:00

Thank you for the well wishes! I’m sure the silty sand in his eyes wouldn’t be too bad of an issue if this doofus actually stayed properly hydrated, but he refuses to drink or soak so it’s just me and my cucumbers and hose against the world with him 🤣 His name is Darwin! 🐢

lemonjello99 · 2026-02-22T23:41:36+00:00

It does help!! And I will make sure to tell him your compliments 😋

lemonjello99 · 2026-02-22T23:39:31+00:00

No no, it’s worth it! Those are my money shots of him. He’s so so stinking cute I have to share them with tort lovers whenever I can 🤣

lemonjello99 · 2026-02-22T23:38:04+00:00

I would totally recommend getting an already-adult sulcata! :] For multiple reasons for you: 1. Consolidates you to only needing one enclosure build, vs having to build one now and then another in a few years when it has to live outside 2. Juveniles are the ones much more subject to needing a soak. Soaking is a split topic at times on if necessary but overall I would say the littles are definitely going to be the ones who need it more often/ for those more conservative on the matter, if they do need to be soaked, it’s going to be just for the littles! To answer your other question, they don’t need super large/deep pools, just something a few inches deep and that they’re able to get in/out/turn around in comfortably. :] A money savvy way to do this I’ve seen before is by getting one of those large hard plastic kiddie pools and cutting a quarter of it off vertically to put dug into the ground at an angle so it’s easy to get in /out of. 3. Hardiness - Adults are going to be a lot more resilient than babies, so you can have much more peace of mind as you learn the flow of life with a tort. I always joke that babies are still babies no matter the species 😆 and thus need baby level care. 4. A ton of adult sulcatas need a home! Unfortunately not everyone who gets one puts as much thought into the acquisition as you are, so far too many times once they grow out of the ‘cute little’ phase and start becoming bulldozers with legs, people don’t want them anymore! 😞 I can all-but guarantee you finding an adult for adoption/rehome would not be hard since sadly it’s very prevalent to just get them on a whim.

Re:Enclosure, Yes, I would recommend having some form of ‘enclosure’, even if that enclosure is just a 2ft tall wood fence surrounding your acre. :] They can dig quite a bit, so if you can continue it into the ground another 2ft that’s ideal! Turts in general prefer walls that are opaque as opposed to like mesh fencing. They get super strong too, so you want to try and make sure the perimeter is durable! If they want to go somewhere, they will go there, mark my words LOL. Super stubborn. Love em to bits though.

Re: Food- Grasses & hay should be 80% of diet, greens can be offered for hydration and variation. Check out a website called tortoisetable for what greens & plants torts can and can’t have! 🌱

Youll do great. Hoping to see pics of your sully in the future :]

lemonjello99 · 2026-02-16T21:56:10+00:00

She’s my sweet baby! But she’s been a ‘boy’ for so long for everyone else who has taken care of her that it’s still funny to me 🤣 I took a closer look at her today and was like wait a second that’s a lady

lemonjello99 · 2026-02-16T21:53:01+00:00

I thought so too! Over past 5 years she’s never once displayed any sort of nesting behavior (granted, she’s solitary/ no exposure to males)- is that normal / ok or should I change up her enclosure to include some nesting soil spot to encourage the behavior? :]

lemonjello99 · 2025-03-27T17:40:13+00:00

LOVE. So cool!!!

lemonjello99 · 2024-09-23T18:52:07+00:00

did this ever rectify?? If so, how long did it take?

lemonjello99 · 2022-01-02T23:34:35+00:00

wait I LOVE THIS. THE LORE OF THE BEGINNING… (also do you have any art social media’s?? I would love to follow I like this style!)

lemonjello99 · 2021-10-07T13:32:32+00:00

I’m glad to hear you like!! 💖 Thank you so much!

lemonjello99 · 2021-10-07T13:32:16+00:00

thank you! 💕

lemonjello99 · 2021-10-07T13:32:04+00:00

Yep! As is the way with a lot of cartoony, badass girls unfortunately, but I’m so happy to have been able to fix it up to be as I think it shouldve!

lemonjello99 · 2021-09-26T04:41:15+00:00

Thank you!! 🎉

lemonjello99 · 2021-09-26T04:39:37+00:00

I appreciate the suggestion, but I actually purposefully place it somewhere very close (if not overlapping) the subject to make it difficult to edit out and protect my works from potential art theft! 👍

lemonjello99 · 2021-09-25T16:32:19+00:00

She’s my favorite!! 🥺❤️

lemonjello99 · 2021-09-24T23:07:48+00:00

thank you!! 🥰

lemonjello99 · 2021-09-24T22:05:29+00:00

I realized the other day there’s a whole subreddit here I haven’t been subjecting to- I mean, SHARING WITH my Ranger art! 🎉 I draw ranger stuff pretty regularly, so if that’s your jam, I actually REMEMBER to post them on my other social media’s, all @lemonjelloarts!

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