Hello all
I have an Hermann tortoise (she's 10 months old). I already post a message regarding my tortoise (I am waiting for my vet to call me about some results and she has to do a blood test because she urinates a lot).
Yesterday evening when I came home, she got out of her little house (she has a little house in her terrarium) and i made her walk on a towel on the floor. She walked for 45 minutes super fast. I put her in a bath, I think she liked that. After that she went in her little house. My question is, since I am not home during the day I cant be 100% sure but I think she eats the morning then go basks a bit and then go back in her little house and sleeps all day. Is it normal??? When I am home during the week end she does not do much also. She sleeps a lot. The guy at the pet store told me it is normal for a tortoise to sleeps a lot. When I put her on the towel she is always super active but in her terrarium, she is ofter kind of tired. I have a 100W for her basking spot. And I have 2 10.0 for UVB.
Thanks
Isa
THanks for your answer.
Hello
I will try to post the picture tonight after work. My terrarium is 36"x15". The distance between the lights and my tortoise is around 16". I thought 2 * 10.0 was a lot but the guy at the pet store told me I really had to buy that since Hermy needs UVB. I thought about 1 10.0 or 2*5.0. On the exo terra site (the company that provides the lights) it says to use 10.0 if the distance between the light and the animal is more than 12". I dont know what to do!!!!!
Can I use a infrared light at night or do I really need the blue one?
Thanks
Hi Isa
Did you read this thread?
http://tortoiseforum.org/bad-uvb-light-p...-1817.html
Your Exo-terra bulb might be one of them.
All of my hatchling sleep most of the time. Your Hermy might have been walking fast on a towel because she was looking for a place to hide. I think it's their instinct to hide most of the time to avoid predator.
I don't use extra heat at night if the temperature stays above 18 degree or so. I think it is good for them to cool down a bit at night. That's what happens in nature
Infrared light is just fine if you need extra heat. I have the heat and UV light set on a timer so it comes on in the morning.
Good luck,
Em
Mine are Greeks and yes they do sleep a lot. One of mine is a month old today. (happy birthday baby) (the others were born within five days of her) They come out and eat, drink, take a cruise around the enclosure. Sit under the MVB then retire and sleep. They may do that a couple of times a day. Come out take a cruise around and go back to sleep. So they do sleep a lot. Comet who is now 6 months old also sleeps quite a bit still. She is a little more active than the babies but still sleeps a good part of the day if she is not outside. Outside all the torts seem more active until the middle of the day at which time they are tucked away out of the heat and sun.
Em has made some good points. I'm sure when Em said temps stay above 18 degrees she was stating Celsius not Fahrenheit. If you do need more heat at night an infrared light or ceramic heat emitters are fine to use.
It will be easier to help fine tune your little ones environment when we can see it. So Pictures when you can, Please.
Yep, I meant celsius
I saw that Isa is from Canada, I think they use celsius there. Sorry, I should have specified. You would have a solid frozen tort at 18 F...
Em
Thanks a lot for your answer.
I'm going crazy right now... The vet called me yesterday to make an appointment for a blood test for my little Hermy. I told her about the UVB lights 2*10,0. she told me to put 1 10.0 and 1 2.0. I told her I wanted to put some substract in Hermy's terrarium. She told me to not put anything but the little carpet (the one I have now) and a little bit of timothee when we are going to be sure she does not have an RI anymore. At first, the vet told me to remove the substract because Hermy has an RI so that is what I did. I will post the pic later you will see, her terrarium is very boring... I put a bit of aspen on a napkin in case she wants to play in it (she does not want to). I put it in a napkin that way, it will be easier to remove a couple of hours later (because of her ri). She told me Hermann tortoises eat everything so thats why I have to leave the little carpet. I dont understand, Should I trust her, because my Hermy is going to be very sad on that substract.
Isa
Ok, Here is a pic of Hermy's terrarium with the carpet
. I put the 2 lights UVB on the warm side. Her food bowl is on the cold side (because there is not place on the warm side). I just took the pics and now she is in her little house. She did not bask today
. She ate this morning and went directly in her little house. She lives in the vivarium but I leave the 2 glasses open on the front. Let me know what you think please?? I really need some advices.
First, she can see out all the way around her. This will frighten her as it give her the sense she is open to predators. I would put paper or those viv scenes up all the way around the bottom of her viv. So she can not see out. Second what are the temps and humidity in her viv., the cold side the hot side and under her basking light? Is that a temp gauge I see about a quarter way up from the bottom? all temps should be taken at substrate (carpet) level. The carpet is ok until you see if she is ailing and what she is ailing from. It might be boring but she will be ok for now with the carpet. Two of my Greeks lived a whole winter on carpet and were I am sure bored but OK.
Hi Isa,
I'm sorry that you are feeling confused. People have different opinions (sometimes very strong). I think you should search for info as much as you can and ask a lot of questions and then decide what you think is the best. I know you are trying so hard for your little Hermy and he is so lucky to have you as his owner.
Personally, I don't like the carpet. It smells bad, hard to clean, and worst of all, tort cannot burrow into it. If the vet says dust from the substrate is not good for RI, I would just use the carpet or paper towel or even newspaper, until the treatment is complete (a couple of weeks?), but use something else such as top soil/coir and sand mix. Coir is coconut fiber that you can buy from pet store or garden supply stores. It is called "bed a beast" at pet stores and about 6 dollars (US). If you go to garden center, it is called coir brick and much cheaper, about 3 us dollars. I think it is important for tortoises to be able to burrow in. Not only that will make them feel secure but also, give them humidity. I keep the substrate SLIGHTLY moist. My little Hermann does not eat her substrate.
I'm not sure the blue thing under the tank is heat mat, if it is, I would remove it. Most people (in fact, everybody I've read his or her opinion of) are against the use of heat mat for torts. Unlike most people, I am not completely against using vivs for torts. I think it can work in some cases. But I would cover the walls with paper, maybe about 10cm high from the substrate all around, so Hermy wouldn't try to go through glass walls. As far as the light, I would use only one 10.0. If you can some how return it or afford to buy another one, I would stay away from Exo-terra. T-rex makes a good UV/heat combined bulb. If you need extra general lighting, I would just use regular full spectrum fluorescent bulb. Too much UV is not good for anyone. I use T-rex Active UV/heat 100w for two of my enclosures and Zoomed 5.0 tube for another.
If you want to make it more fun for Hermy, I would put something he can climb on, such as cork bark, or little bridge, or anything really, you can make steps using slate slabs too. But I would put that in after I have different substrate in, because I think it would be hard for him to right himself if he falls and turns upside down. Some people provide two hides, one on the warm side and one on the cool side so tort can choose which one he likes.
Sorry it is such a long post. These are just my opinions. Hope it helps
Ask more questions
Em
I had some paper around the vivarium but i remove them before yesterday because I cleaned the vivarium. I will put some put the paper back tomorrow. The gauge you see on the glass is for the humidity. the average humidity is 20-25%. The temp under the basking light is 35-36 celcius , on the warm side 30-32 and on the cold side 22-26. Do you think there is too much light with the 100W the 10.0 and the 2.0 on the warm side?? Do you think it is too much light for her?? For the carpet, what can I put?? Do you think my vet is right and I should let the carpet with timothee or put something else??
Thanks a lot for your help
Hello Em,
Thanks for your answer.
You are right, carpets are not super. I don't even try to wash them but I change them every month. I see my poor Hermy trying to burrow herself every night in her little house
. I'm really scared to put a substract because my vet told me not too, but why would Hermy be the only Hermann tortoise living on a carpet... I already put some coco husk in her terrarium and she eated it like crazy, she lovessss it, that is why I had to remove it. I could put some coco soil (eco earth) mixed with some play sand on her warm side and leave the carpet on the cold side. I could put some slate on the warm side
. Do you think I could put some coco soil and play sand in a bowl and put her in it to see how she is going to react before putting it in her vivarium??
For the heat mat, I only use it in winter when it is super cold and super humid. Since a week, I dont use it anymore.
For the lights, you would remove the 2.0? I dont know where to buy T-rex, I live in Montreal Canada, and I only find exo terra products here. Exo terra is not good
? I dont know if you see but I put some spirals lights (UVB), do you think their good? I would remove the 2.0 but if I remove it there wont be a lot of light in her cold side? Thats why I'm not sure what should I do.
The vet called me this morning with some results (last week they made a troat culure on Hermy) and the result is negative
. I am sooooo happy. But on thursday, I have to go back for a blood test (to see if she has a problem with her kidney).
Thanks a lot for your answer again.
Isa
For the info of all that have heat mats. As is agreed by most torts don't need bottom heat, well I talked to breeder who mounts it upside down on enclosure so it radiates heat down. So don't have to store your investment away.
Itort Wrote:For the info of all that have heat mats. As is agreed by most torts don't need bottom heat, well I talked to breeder who mounts it upside down on enclosure so it radiates heat down. So don't have to store your investment away.
Thanks Itort
It is a very good idea!
Isa