Hello from Anya and Master Oogway (or tiny-t for short)

Hello everyone i’m Anya and my tortoise is called Master Oogway (named after the tortoise from King Fu Panda). He is a Horsefield Tortoise that needed rehoming by a couple in Edinburgh who’d had him for 3 years from being a hatchling. He is now 5 years old so I have had him for 2 years and it’s been great! This is a photo of him just chillin from recently - he’s not been too well (eye infection but I went straight to the vets and he has gotten some antibiotic eye drops) but I will create a separate post for that if you have any tips.

I had looked into getting a tortoise before and had done lots of research online about their care including the equipment needed e.g. lighting, bedding, heat pads, tortoise table etc. food (what they can and can’t eat and how often), hibernation and also how to check if the tortoise is healthy in terms of weight and size and also clear eyes, nose, excretion and everything. So when I saw that this little guy needed a new home I was very excited but also nervous as to whether he would be healthy and stuff, but he was all fine and we took him home. I made a few adjustments to the lighting system as I noted that he didn’t have a source of uva & uvb light bar his basking bulb so I got that set up with an Arcadia light bulb and also got a timer so he got the correct amount of light everyday and so that I could change it for when winter came. He even has his own mini fridge for hibernation (which I checked the temperature of for over a week using a separate thermometer that I put in their to ensure it maintained 5 degrees and never lower).

He’s a proper bubbly little character and loves nothing more than to chase me at full pelt as I walk around - also escaping under the bed is great fun.

Any advice is welcome - I am still very much a newbie and am willing to learn more

Hi Anya and welcome to you Master Oogway! I live in Wales.
He looks lovely.
There is a lot of outdated information out there in books other websites and especially from pet shops, but this forum has lots of up to date info from very experienced keepers worldwide. So although you seem to have done a great job so far, read the Russian Tort caresheet https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/ - which will tell you all about, diet temps humidity and substrate etc so that you can see if there's anything you can further improve on. I've been a member for almost 5 years and I still learn something new everyday!

If you are using a clamp for your mvb then it would be safer to hang it. The clamps have been known to fail and cause fires and the heat and uvb will be concentrated in one spot rather than spread out an angle. You can also adjust the temps by raising or lowering the bulb. Be careful of letting him run around in the house as there are so many hazards like dust bunnies, small objects that could be a choking hazard, as well as cleaning chemicals etc.
We all love to see pics so looking forward to seeing more of Tiny T in the future.

Lyn W said:

Hi Anya and welcome to you Master Oogway! I live in Wales.
He looks lovely.
There is a lot of outdated information out there in books other websites and especially from pet shops, but this forum has lots of up to date info from very experienced keepers worldwide. So although you seem to have done a great job so far, read the Russian Tort caresheet https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/ - which will tell you all about, diet temps humidity and substrate etc so that you can see if there's anything you can further improve on. I've been a member for almost 5 years and I still learn something new everyday!

If you are using a clamp for your mvb then it would be safer to hang it. The clamps have been known to fail and cause fires and the heat and uvb will be concentrated in one spot rather than spread out an angle. You can also adjust the temps by raising or lowering the bulb. Be careful of letting him run around in the house as there are so many hazards like dust bunnies, small objects that could be a choking hazard, as well as cleaning chemicals etc.
We all love to see pics so looking forward to seeing more of Tiny T in the future.

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Thank you Lyn! okay, will have a read of that. Oh dear, I have quite high ceilings so not sure if that is possible but I will try and come up with something. I keep an eye on him at all times but I will, thank you

Anya Hall & master oogway said:

Thank you Lyn! okay, will have a read of that. Oh dear, I have quite high ceilings so not sure if that is possible but I will try and come up with something. I keep an eye on him at all times but I will, thank you

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You don't have to hang them from the ceiling, you could either buy a lamp stand or attach some wood in an upside down L shape to the side of his enclosure.
Have a look at the Enclosures thread as well to see what other do.
A very useful thing to have is a digital temp gun (about £10 on Amazon) which will allow you to spot check the temps at tort level for his basking spot and cool side etc.

Lyn W said:

You don't have to hang them from the ceiling, you could either buy a lamp stand or attach some wood in an upside down L shape to the side of his enclosure.
Have a look at the Enclosures thread as well to see what other do.
A very useful thing to have is a digital temp gun (about £10 on Amazon) which will allow you to spot check the temps at tort level for his basking spot and cool side etc.

Click to expand...

Ahhhhh of course yes, that would make much more sense - aha don’t think my brain is working, thank you. Ah okay, will have a look at that as well!

Anya Hall & master oogway said:

Ahhhhh of course yes, that would make much more sense - aha don’t think my brain is working, thank you. Ah okay, will have a look at that as well!

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I don't know if you've already seen this but www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is another good website and a great guide to tort safe foods.

Lyn W said:

I don't know if you've already seen this but www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is another good website and a great guide to tort safe foods.

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Ah yes, I used that site before, but thank you for sharing. A good reminder as well

Welcome! Luv his name

Welcome to the Forum!

I have found it helpful to use a light fixture with an aluminum dome to help direct the heat/light down into the enclosure:



(Notice the 'white' area that the bulb actual screws into. That's a ceramic base, it's what you want, and what you already have on your fixture) However, don't use the clamp feature. You can just remove that portion of the fixture and hang the light from something like this:



Amazon sells them. Or any place that sells reptile products - it's made by Zoo Med.

EllieMay said:

Welcome! Luv his name

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Haha thank you

Yvonne G said:

Welcome to the Forum!

I have found it helpful to use a light fixture with an aluminum dome to help direct the heat/light down into the enclosure:

View attachment 270235

(Notice the 'white' area that the bulb actual screws into. That's a ceramic base, it's what you want, and what you already have on your fixture) However, don't use the clamp feature. You can just remove that portion of the fixture and hang the light from something like this:

View attachment 270236

Amazon sells them. Or any place that sells reptile products - it's made by Zoo Med.

Click to expand...

Brilliant thank you!