# Radiated Tortoise Enclosure



## Syl20 (Dec 10, 2020)

Hi,
I have had a 18 months radiated tortoise for the last months and I am not entirely sure my setup is optimal as he/she is not active and spend most of his/her day basking in the same spot all day and night. She/he only moves twice a day just to eat. I have attached my enclosure setup to see if you guys have recommendations/comments that would help my tortoise be in the best environment possible

- the basking lamp is on dimmer thermostat set at 34C
- the heating bulb is on pulse thermostat and set at 30C
- the uvb light is *Arcadia ProT5 UVB Kit, 34in/39w Forest*
- substrate is top soil and play sand

I mist the enclosure 2/3 times a day to try and keep humidity level between 60 and 80 but it’s not an easy task as it dries out really quickly.

any thoughts on my setup?


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## TeamZissou (Dec 10, 2020)

I don't keep Radiated but hope to someday. The temperatures do not see far off of what I have read on this species. 

Sand and topsoil generally aren't recommended. Coco coir and fir bark or cyprus much are generally used. The coir holds a lot of water and will help keep the humidity up. Based on the shell, the tortoise looks like it's been kept dry. The care sheets for this species written by @zovick indicate daily soakings for the first three years. 

I have also read that they can be sensitive to new enclosures and may not eat well for a while. Did you change the enclosure recently?

How does the general health look? Are the eyes, nose, weight all good?


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## zovick (Dec 10, 2020)

Syl20 said:


> Hi,
> I have had a 18 months radiated tortoise for the last months and I am not entirely sure my setup is optimal as he/she is not active and spend most of his/her day basking in the same spot all day and night. She/he only moves twice a day just to eat. I have attached my enclosure setup to see if you guys have recommendations/comments that would help my tortoise be in the best environment possible
> 
> - the basking lamp is on dimmer thermostat set at 34C
> ...


On a quick analysis, it looks pretty good. It does appear as though you may need to lower your Arcadia tube closer to the substrate. I recommend lowering it until you can get an average UV reading of about 3.0 to 3.3 at the substrate level using the Solarmeter 6.5 model. This might perk up the tortoise a bit, but as @TeamMissou said, if the tortoise has only been in that enclosure a short time, it will be a while before it begins to show much activity.

Soak the tortoise daily for 15 minutes in the AM to keep it hydrated. After soaking it, put it directly in front of its food to eat. Eventually it will begin to move about more during the day as it becomes used to this routine


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## Yvonne G (Dec 11, 2020)

You may need to get the walls really, really wet to aid in a more humid environment, plus, add a layer of fir bark over the substrate then pour a lot of water over the substrate.


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