grumpytort
Member
Hi,
I have a yearling russian (called Tort) who i’ve had for 3 weeks now, he’s in a 4 x 2 ft tortoise table with a 125W UVB lamp. Attached is a photo of his current set up. This is my first tortoise and i thought i did lots of research before bringing him home but have realised i think his set up may be wrong. The temps on the cool side are around 20C, basking gets up to 35.5C (too hot?) and his warm side 30C. Humidity in his table varies day to day, from 50-70%, does it have to be around 80%?
here’s a photo of my set up currently:
I now realise i have the wrong substrate and need it to be more humid for him, i am getting him coco coir and fine orchid bark (5cm deep) after being recommended them on another post on here. The lady I bought Tort from did not tell me about humidity and how important it is for baby torts. I am giving the guy daily soaks.
So my question is, should he be in be a vivarium rather than a table? My concerns are that with living in the UK, temperatures will start to drop very soon and I feel that i won’t be able to control them that well in his current set up.
If i do go with a vivarium (i do have a spare wooden vivarium, about 4 x 1.25 ft), i would have to get a lower wattage uvb and also a thermostat? I know vivariums aren’t recommended by Tortoise Trust due to lack of air (thought about having holes in the viv to solve this?) and lack of space but I kind of feel that him being at the correct temperate and humidity during the winter is a bit more important. Of course I plan on having him outside when the weather permits but with living in England, that won’t be for a while.
Apologies for all the questions, just feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the conflicting info out there and just want to get it right.
ANY advice is greatly appreciated, and tell me if you notice that i’m doing anything wrong
here’s a photo of Tort
I have a yearling russian (called Tort) who i’ve had for 3 weeks now, he’s in a 4 x 2 ft tortoise table with a 125W UVB lamp. Attached is a photo of his current set up. This is my first tortoise and i thought i did lots of research before bringing him home but have realised i think his set up may be wrong. The temps on the cool side are around 20C, basking gets up to 35.5C (too hot?) and his warm side 30C. Humidity in his table varies day to day, from 50-70%, does it have to be around 80%?
here’s a photo of my set up currently:
I now realise i have the wrong substrate and need it to be more humid for him, i am getting him coco coir and fine orchid bark (5cm deep) after being recommended them on another post on here. The lady I bought Tort from did not tell me about humidity and how important it is for baby torts. I am giving the guy daily soaks.
So my question is, should he be in be a vivarium rather than a table? My concerns are that with living in the UK, temperatures will start to drop very soon and I feel that i won’t be able to control them that well in his current set up.
If i do go with a vivarium (i do have a spare wooden vivarium, about 4 x 1.25 ft), i would have to get a lower wattage uvb and also a thermostat? I know vivariums aren’t recommended by Tortoise Trust due to lack of air (thought about having holes in the viv to solve this?) and lack of space but I kind of feel that him being at the correct temperate and humidity during the winter is a bit more important. Of course I plan on having him outside when the weather permits but with living in England, that won’t be for a while.
Apologies for all the questions, just feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the conflicting info out there and just want to get it right.
ANY advice is greatly appreciated, and tell me if you notice that i’m doing anything wrong
here’s a photo of Tort