Am I doing this right? (Hermanni set up)

[CartoonCarter]

Hi, I recently got a Hemanns Tortoise and I was just wondering does this setup look fine? One thing I have noticed is that he doesn't seem to drink from his dish and only seems to drink when there is water in the dirt or on the wall?

 

[mike taylor]

Its the water dish you have . Take it back to the pet store . Go to home depot and get a terra cotta plant saucer. Sink it in the substrate . Then you'll see him drink . To tell if everything else is right we need to know your temperatures and humidity levels .

 

[leigti]

I like the little ramp up to the top of the log.

 

[CartoonCarter]

Thanks for the info Mike we have got him to drink from a bottle lid til we go and buy a saucer tomorrow. The temperature on the hot end is 100 degrees and the cold is at 70. Won't be able to find out the humidity just til tomorrow.

 

[stinax182]

Hey there! It looks good except you should hang the light from the top so he gets all the rays of light. Plus, those meal clamps can fall and cause a fire. I hang mine from the ceiling with thin link chain or they make lamp stands you can find at the pet store, which are great

 

[CartoonCarter]

Thanks, Stinax. I think I'm going to have to go out tomorrow and look for all these things suggested.

 

[Jodie]

That thermometer you have is not accurate. Buy one of the digital combo, temp and humidity. They have them at Wal-Mart or most home stores.

 

[stinax182]

The best thermometer you can get is a temp gun. They sell them on ebay for 13$ and they are so much better than anything else you can get. A probe gauge for humidity is still needed though. All you do is point and hold the trigger and you can get the temp of anything.

 

[Tom]

It looks like you are doing pretty well, and the above tips will help.

Here are some threads that might offer more help:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

I typed this on up for russians, but care for hermanni is basically the same:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[HermanniChris]

Looks good, definitely hang the light correctly and get the terra cotta saucer for a water dish instead like you've already been advised. The Hermann's care sheet is at the top of this forum which I wrote for these reasons. Follow it, it's geared directly toward their care specifically. Any questions, feel free to contact me directly through hermannihaven.com or you can PM on here although I usually miss those.