Hi from York, UK

[Roo]

Yesterday i brought home my very first tortoise and am the proud new owner a dinky 9 month old horsefield.
meet Elijah!

I'm obviously very new to all this and with uvb/heat lamps, dietary requirements and appropriate housing tortoise care seems very complex and i'm a little overwhelmed. My main concern at the moment is that i'm going to something horribly wrong like poison or overheat him.
I've only had him a day but so far he hasn't eaten anything, I'm assuming it just takes a little while for him to settle in?

I've also managed to break my uvb light and I'm unable to replace it until saturday. To make up for this I've put him in our house's bay windows so that he has as much natural light coming in as possible from 3 sides. Hoping this is an reasonable alternative for the next 2 days until i can buy a new lamp?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Less than 24 hours and I'm already in love!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Your tort table is very open, and all the heat is escaping. Plus being next to the window adds more cool air in the habitat. Maybe you can cover it a bit to keep the warm air in??? Tortoises won't eat if they can't warm up their core temperature to at least 80F degrees. If they can't get that warm inside, the food just rots inside them, so they won't eat if they're not warm enough. Also, your MVB needs to me hanging so that it is straight down. It even tells you on the box it comes in that it shortens the life of the bulb if you have it at an angle like that.

I can see why you're in love. There's hardly anything that's cuter than a baby Russian tortoise. Warm him up, soak him every day and he'll start eating for you.

 

[Roo]

Oh really? I was told not to cover it for danger of over heating, i'm planning to get a thermometer on saturday as well so that I can monitor the temperature better and adjust the distance of the heat lamp. I'll have to have a think about what to hang it from though :/

 

[jaizei]

Welcome to the forum

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome If you have a Home Depot, Lowes or Menards around you get a thermometer from them. It will look similar to this http://t.homedepot.com/s/Digital thermometer/?searchtype=text.
The digital ones. They are more accurate then the disc type ones the pet stores sell. Also a hatchling should have around 50-60% humidity to grow healthy and smooth, less as adults. You can do this by covering the enclosure of most of it and adding warm water to the corners to moisten the bottom layer of substrate. A humid hide might work too. A substrate of plain dirt or coconut coir will also do better for humidity and for your little one to dig in.

 

[KevinGG]

Substrate should be either dirt or coco coir sand mix. You can go to Russiantortoise.org or check the care sheet above the Russian tortoise section which is in the Mediterranean tortoise section for an easy guide.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ,USA .


Sent from my iPhone using TortForum

 

[bouaboua]

Hello and Welcome. Good to have you here.

 

[JoesMum]

Hello and welcome. I assume you are in the original York in the UK. I am in Kent now, but grew up not far from you in Harrogate

UV light does not travel through glass or plastic, so moving your tort to the window will not help. Assuming the weather is not too bad(!) an hour a day outside will help until you can get a new lamp.

Your basking light should point straight down vertically. It needs to have a hot spot of around 32C directly under it. To measure this accurately, you will need a temperature gun thermometer which can be bought from Amazon for under £15. You should use a timer for the lights so that they come on and off at the same time each day. Put a flat stone, or tile under the lamp that will warm up and make a nice basking place.

Your tort is very new and all torts handle change badly. At the moment, you and his new home are very scary and he will hide away a lot. Handle him gently, stick to a routine doing the things at roughly the same time each day and he will become more confident, but this could take a few months. I suggest:
Lights on
Soak in warm water for a good 20 minutes. This is very important to ensure that a new tort does not become dehydrated.
Put food in the enclosure.
Pop your tort under the basking lamp and then walk away. Standing there watching is intimidating, so you have to resist the urge. You also need to resist the urge to keep taking him out. If he thinks he is going to be pounced on at any time then he will remain frightened. Handle him more once he is used to you. Torts are not social animals like cats and dogs; they don't want or need company ... you have to think of him more as an ornament that moves than as a pet to be cuddled and carried about.

Your tort's diet should a variety of leafy greens. Foods high in sugar (fruit, peppers, carrot) are hard to digest and could make you tort ill, so they should be fed sparingly and infrequently. Identify the weeds in your garden and the greens that you can buy in the shops and then look them up in the Tortoise Table Plant Database to find out if they are suitable http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/site/plant_database_14.asp

I hope this helps.

 

[becky_tortoise]

Very cute little tortoise !!!

 

[pam]

Soooooooooooooooooo cute Welcome

 

[Roo]

Thanks for all the advice guys, much appreciated! I managed to get a new Uvb light bulb and thermometer this morning before work. Happy to report the warm end of the table is 31.05C.
As well as new lighting I also had time to give him a 15 min soak in tepid water and left him with a wad of kale and dandelions. Arrived home just now to find him munching away, such a relief

 

[becky_tortoise]

Very cute looks a very happy tortoise !!

 

[Yourlocalpoet]

I am in Kent now, but grew up not far from you in Harrogate .

I used to live in Harrogate. BEAUTIFUL town. I used to work at the Army College there in Killinghall, and I want to get married in Valley Gardens!

Welcome to TFO Roo, I'm also from Yorkshire.

 

[JoesMum]

I used to live in Harrogate. BEAUTIFUL town. I used to work at the Army College there in Killinghall, and I want to get married in Valley Gardens!

Welcome to TFO Roo, I'm also from Yorkshire.

I lived just off the Leeds Road. I got married in St Mark's on Leeds Road and we had the reception at The Crown

 

[Yourlocalpoet]

I lived just off the Leeds Road. I got married in St Mark's on Leeds Road and we had the reception at The Crown

I know that church, I think if it's the one I think near the Stray. I lived on Dragon Avenue, best street name ever. How does Kent compare? I loved Harrogate, although, like York, when it's cold it's COLD!

 

[JoesMum]

I know that church, I think if it's the one I think near the Stray. I lived on Dragon Avenue, best street name ever. How does Kent compare? I loved Harrogate, although, like York, when it's cold it's COLD!

Funnily enough Kent is my native county, but I moved up North when I was 4. I now live near Harrogate's great rival Tunbridge Wells. I love this county, but I miss the hills of Nidderdale. It is rather warmer down here

 

[T1ME1]

Hi Roo, I am from the UK too, and have just got my first Tort. Some very wise people on here when it comes to Torts - so much iseful information to soak up. I will post links to the threads I started earlier in the week where I have asked a load of questions which you are likely to ask too at some point, and the help people have given.

Enjoy your little guy - he is very cute!

 

[T1ME1]

Here we go:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/93317/

 

[Flipper]

Hi! Your baby is sweet

I'm glad he's eating!