Advice needed

[kazza Mellor22]

Hi everyone, I'm a new tortoise owner. We rehomed a hatchling and have had some advise, he's approx 6-8 weeks old and not cared for. I have received advice of how to get him healthy and have changed all the lighting, bathing him twice a day, clean water and food (romanion lettuce and dandelion leaves) everyday. Vitamin A drops as told to, and some retroboost in the bath. I have been doing this everyday for 5 days and he doesn't seem to be getting much better, he sleeps a lot and doesn't eat everyday and poos every couple of days. Is this normal, he's tiny

 

[Yvonne G]

Looks like it might be a little Russian (horsefields). I think you've been steered in the wrong direction. This little baby needs consistent warmth, day and night, and high humidity. This changes as he gets bigger, but for now, while he's little, set the temperature over his whole enclosure to around 80°F, day and night. In order to accomplish this you need to cover the enclosure, with the lights inside.

He needs a good UVB light (not a compact fluorescent light).

I like to use fir bark for the substrate because it can be moistened without molding, and it's not harmful if he accidentally eats a piece. and moistening the substrate is how you provide a humid environment.

Another thing is the dishes you've provided. If you use terra cotta plant saucers sunk down into the substrate the benefits are twofold - it's easier for him to climb in and out because of the sloped sides, and the terra cotta is easier for him to walk on.

A couple things may make him interested in eating - a GOOD UVB light, and baby food carrot soaks. Using a bowl with tall sides so he can't climb out, add half and half strained carrot human baby food and warm water. Fix enough solution to come up to the middle of his sides so he doesn't have to strain to keep his head out of the water. Set the bowl back inside the enclosure to keep it warm. After the third day of soaking he should look more awake and active.

For babies I chop up dark, leafy greens into baby bite-sized pieces, using turnip greens, escarole, endive, baby lettuces, and maybe edible leaves and weeds from the garden.

Good luck with your baby. Read our care sheet shown under the russian tortoise section.

And WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello! Aw he’s a little cutie!!

Perfect advice above! I agree in that I think you’ve potentially been sold the wrong starter set up. As well as Toms Russian care sheet, hopefully this one might help too, I’d use it to double check your bulbs, substrate etc. This thread covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc), correct levels, importance of a closed chamber for younger tortoises(only way to maintain the humidity you need), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out! If going with a greenhouse, the lower the ceiling height, whilst still allowing for recommended bulb height, the better! But maybe some of the ideas in the second link can work for your current one!

Housing young Russian/Herman

Hello there! In this thread, I’m going to include some information on an effective way to tackle a starter set up/a way you can build a bigger size once your baby is an adult. I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to break down any information...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes a bunch of different closed chamber options, some run more efficiently than others, but some of the options should help with the current set up too

Visual inspiration

Hi guys! I’ve had some lovely messages complimenting me on my care sheets I made for all the visuals they include! That makes me so happy because as a visual learner myself, that was my goal🥰 I’ve recently had some requests for some more visual inspiration for set ups that can house babies/...

tortoiseforum.org

Specifically this one perhaps?


Lastly, this one is probably most important to go over and keep on hand! it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Really hope they help! Feel free to ask any further questions on anything, they’ll always be someone around to help advise, welcome to the forum

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Here’s Tom caresheets too!

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[kazza Mellor22]

Looks like it might be a little Russian (horsefields). I think you've been steered in the wrong direction. This little baby needs consistent warmth, day and night, and high humidity. This changes as he gets bigger, but for now, while he's little, set the temperature over his whole enclosure to around 80°F, day and night. In order to accomplish this you need to cover the enclosure, with the lights inside.

He needs a good UVB light (not a compact fluorescent light).

I like to use fir bark for the substrate because it can be moistened without molding, and it's not harmful if he accidentally eats a piece. and moistening the substrate is how you provide a humid environment.

Another thing is the dishes you've provided. If you use terra cotta plant saucers sunk down into the substrate the benefits are twofold - it's easier for him to climb in and out because of the sloped sides, and the terra cotta is easier for him to walk on.

A couple things may make him interested in eating - a GOOD UVB light, and baby food carrot soaks. Using a bowl with tall sides so he can't climb out, add half and half strained carrot human baby food and warm water. Fix enough solution to come up to the middle of his sides so he doesn't have to strain to keep his head out of the water. Set the bowl back inside the enclosure to keep it warm. After the third day of soaking he should look more awake and active.

For babies I chop up dark, leafy greens into baby bite-sized pieces, using turnip greens, escarole, endive, baby lettuces, and maybe edible leaves and weeds from the garden.

Good luck with your baby. Read our care sheet shown under the russian tortoise section.

And WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!

Thanks Yvonne, ive read the care sheet. I changed the light as the one that the previous owners had was basically too hot, it was a 100w basking lamp and it was cooking him. So the fluorescent one is a t8 with 5% uvb and the heat lamp is a ceramic bulb and it keeps the temperature on a thermostate at 80 ° . Do you still think i should cange the fluorescent one. I'll try the carrot tomorrow. When I took him to be looked at they said his underneath was soft, it was a cream colour and over the last week it feels harder but now I'm worried about shell rot. I can't stop checking on him I'm so worried

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thanks Yvonne, ive read the care sheet. I changed the light as the one that the previous owners had was basically too hot, it was a 100w basking lamp and it was cooking him. So the fluorescent one is a t8 with 5% uvb and the heat lamp is a ceramic bulb and it keeps the temperature on a thermostate at 80 ° . Do you still think i should cange the fluorescent one. I'll try the carrot tomorrow. When I took him to be looked at they said his underneath was soft, it was a cream colour and over the last week it feels harder but now I'm worried about shell rot. I can't stop checking on him I'm so worried

For a basking bulb, was it a floodlight, or a spot bulb? Either way you want an incandescent reptile floodlight, if the 100watt was too hot, maybe try the 75watts? Pro rep and Arcadia brand do them. You ideally want to find the right watt and height to achieve the desired basking temperature underneath(95-100f) the rest of the enclosure can range 75 cool end, then 80ish in the middle. 70 is considered a good night temperature.

Ceramic bulbs are good for upping the ambient heat when the basking light alone isn’t enough to keep the entire enclosure in range during the day, or to provide night heat if your house gets particularly cold.

T8’s definitely aren’t the worst source of uv! Though arguably weaker and less efficient than the more updated t5 bulbs. 5% is quite weak for a Russian too I believe.
The ones generally recommended on the forum are ‘Arcadia prot5 kit 12%’ which comes with the reflective fitting, the smallest size will do, or, ‘zoo med reptisun 10.0’ which usually needs the hood buying separately depending on the listing.

Something interesting of note, with the uv timing, every other source of information will tell you 12hours of uv. This is essentially an old fashioned rule that has stuck with a lot of keepers, it stems from the presumption that once the basking light or ambient lighting is on, ie the ‘sun’, that uv must coexist the same amount of hours. Fact is, uv rays only peak for a few hours a day, anyone with a uv meter will confirm this. No tortoise is blasted with 12 hours of uv in the wild, therefore it’s not necessary in captivity.
The right uv bulbs are much more expensive to replace once their uv strength diminishes, so it’s definitely best having it on a 4 hour timer that provides them with all the uv they need, saving your bulb life.
Then some cheaper led lighting for your ambient 12 hour light cycle as well as the basking light on the same 12hrs, if you need ceramic bulbs to raise ambient heat or provide night heat(usually not needed for this species, but I know our uk winters can be bitter) **edit, actually I see your not uk my bad lol** will run 24/7 on a thermostat, hopefully this will make sense once you look over some care threads
I won’t personally advise on adjusting uv timings for a 5% t8 bulb though.

Russians don’t tend to get shell rot so I wouldn’t worry too much in that regard, but a less blurry picture of his plastron might be good for Yvonne to look at, she can see if it generally looks healthy