3 questions about my sulcata

Question
Hello, i have 3 questions about my 1& a half year old sulcata tortoise. First off i try to give him that calcium powder stuff on his food once every 2 weeks but he usually doesn't eat it or he trys to scrape or brush it off. When he does eat it on his food its a once and a while or rare occasion. Is this normal? My second question is; can natural sunlight, every day soaking, and eating mainly grass/weeds benefit a sulcata and help prevent or get rid of illnesses common to the species: like (RNS), respitory infection, and that weird squeaky noise? My sulcata is healthy and eats pretty good (mainly grass/weeds)i just want to see if these steps will ensure a healthier tortoise and treat possible sickness that may occur to the species? last he makes that squeaky noise only when i give him a bath or its like winter season; but i have a uva, uvb, and heater bulb and live in southern California. is this normal?

Answer
Hi Blake,

It would help if you were a little more specific about how you're keeping your tortoise.  It sounds like he's outside at least part of the time, which is ideal, but small sulcata are fairly temperature sensitive so he shouldn't be out when the temperature is below about 65 (if sunny) or 75 (if damp).  They aren't very tolerant of cool and damp, especially at a smaller size.  As he grows, he'll be able to live outside all year round in your climate, but you will still have to provide a heated shed or something similar for nights and cooler days.

URIs and other illnesses are actually not common, if the tortoise is healthy and kept in good conditions, but once an upper respiratory infection develops it will require antibiotics.  However, tortoises will also sometimes wheeze/bubble during or after a bath and when eating wet food, so if you don't see symptoms at other times I wouldn't worry.  Being kept too dry will also sometimes cause respiratory symptoms--sulcata shouldn't be kept bone dry.  At minimum, there should be moist substrate in the warm area of the enclosure.  However, they shouldn't be soaked daily.  This can cause problems because it will help food to move too quickly through the digestive tract.  A few times a week is adequate, as long as there is also moisture in the enclosure.

Rather than dusting with calcium, provide a cuttlebone in the enclosure.  The tortoise will nibble it as needed, and allowing them to self-regulate is better than supplementation, since it's possible to overdose calcium.  

A grass/hay/weed diet is ideal.  As your sulcata gets larger, providing outdoor grazing area may be a challenge, because a large sulcata can eat a ton of grass.  If your sulcata isn't eating hay yet, now is a good time to get him on it as part of his diet.  Orchard grass hay seems to be the most favored, and Oxbow has it in bags.  When he's mature, you'll probably want to buy it by the bale because it will be cheaper, but the bagged type should be fine for now.  Chop it up and mix it with the greens until he's eating it well.  You can also put a small pile in his enclosure, although they tend to spread it around quite a bit.

I hope I answered your questions.  If I can help further, or you need more specific information, please post back!