Hello from Houston

Tpayne15

New Member
Joined
May 29, 2018
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Houston, TX
hey there!

I’m a soon to be new mom to a baby Jordanian Greek tortoise! He/she will be here tomorrow. Here’s my set up and the details, let me know what y’all think and any improvements I could make.

4x2x12
2-3inches of 50/50 playsand and top soil
Hide with moist spagum moss (spelling there feels weird)
Mercury vapor bulb at 16inches from the ground and seems to be holding at 95/96 degrees F
There’s a terrocata plate for food and another for water
A small plant for shade/comfort

12634540-3C49-4BF6-85D4-7DCE7341EE56.jpeg
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome!!!

If it were mine, I wouldn't use sand. It's too much of a chance for impaction. They track it in the food, then eat it. Also, try to get the black saucer down deeper in the substrate. I like the size and the hiding place and with the indoor/outdoor carpet on the clay pot, you can keep the carpet wet, which will seep into the clay, and your baby will have a little humidity in his hiding place. They do need a bit of humidity when they're babies.
 

Tpayne15

New Member
Joined
May 29, 2018
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Houston, TX
I was/am worried about that as well. I based my build off the recommended build here on the forum. I'm tempted to just add a layer of top soil as a precaution.

Hi, and welcome!!!

If it were mine, I wouldn't use sand. It's too much of a chance for impaction. They track it in the food, then eat it. Also, try to get the black saucer down deeper in the substrate. I like the size and the hiding place and with the indoor/outdoor carpet on the clay pot, you can keep the carpet wet, which will seep into the clay, and your baby will have a little humidity in his hiding place. They do need a bit of humidity when they're babies.
 

Pearly

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Jul 14, 2015
Messages
5,287
Location (City and/or State)
Central Texas, Austin area
Hello and welcome from Texas. Don’t bother with top soil, your baby is almost on your door step. Instead I’d get few more plants and plant them directly in the substrate (or bury the pots in it) then the areas remaining open, I’d get few bags of sheet moss and line the floor with it completely covering the sand. Your enclosure is big enough to do some stuff. I’d get couple of loose slate tiles at Home Depot of Lowes (they are only like a 1.50$ a piece) this will be your feeding area. A BIG feeding area. I would line the whole surface with the moss, this way your feeding tile will not be getting any if that grit on. Put your cuttle bone there too, this way the food will stay clean. Also, do this same with your water bowl, line around with either frog moss or mood moss (it’s puffy) or, flat smooth rocks, again, to keep things clean. Get your baby settled with his temps/humidity (the temps will be your top priority now) and once you figure all that out and baby is doing well, then you can direct your attention back to the substrate. If you have very good lighting or can get some grow lights you could indeed add more organic soil and just plant the heck out if it with tortoise mix seed and other tortoise friendly plants. But all that is what I WOULD DO, and I am just sharing the ideas with you to help and not confuse you even more than as a new keeper I’m sure you already are. We have all been there.IMG_1676.jpg this is what I meant about the water bowl
 

Tpayne15

New Member
Joined
May 29, 2018
Messages
6
Location (City and/or State)
Houston, TX
I ended up getting a slate plate and that's where I feed at now. He does seem to love sleeping by the one plant I've put in so far so planning directly inside may benefit him even more. I bought the broadleaf seed mix and it's growing amazingly! I wanted to wait for the seedlings to really be established before transplanting them to half/a third of the table, should I put the moss there too? Also, I'm hating the sand myself and it seems to irritate his little eyes so I kind of want to cover the sand mixture entirely. I also like the idea of adding that moss, especially since we aim to make this look more like the Shire.
Thanks for the tips guys!


Hello and welcome from Texas. Don’t bother with top soil, your baby is almost on your door step. Instead I’d get few more plants and plant them directly in the substrate (or bury the pots in it) then the areas remaining open, I’d get few bags of sheet moss and line the floor with it completely covering the sand. Your enclosure is big enough to do some stuff. I’d get couple of loose slate tiles at Home Depot of Lowes (they are only like a 1.50$ a piece) this will be your feeding area. A BIG feeding area. I would line the whole surface with the moss, this way your feeding tile will not be getting any if that grit on. Put your cuttle bone there too, this way the food will stay clean. Also, do this same with your water bowl, line around with either frog moss or mood moss (it’s puffy) or, flat smooth rocks, again, to keep things clean. Get your baby settled with his temps/humidity (the temps will be your top priority now) and once you figure all that out and baby is doing well, then you can direct your attention back to the substrate. If you have very good lighting or can get some grow lights you could indeed add more organic soil and just plant the heck out if it with tortoise mix seed and other tortoise friendly plants. But all that is what I WOULD DO, and I am just sharing the ideas with you to help and not confuse you even more than as a new keeper I’m sure you already are. We have all been there.View attachment 245268 this is what I meant about the water bowl
 
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