Any advice or suggestions?

[slaz]

Hi all,

First post on here, this was originally posted on reddit before I knew this forum existed, the community looks great!

We brought our 10 month old Hermann home on Thursday. Brand new to Tortoise ownership but did as much reasearch as I could.

Our setup is as follows:

• Aivituvin tortoise enclosure 100% coco coir substrate with Sphagnum moss in and around hide
• 100W mercury bulb for temp and basking.
• Spider plant and fern in enclosure
• Diet of dandelions, curly kale, banana and dandelion pellets, calcium with magnesium once a week.
• Bath once a day, tort seems to be hungry after the bath too which is great.
• Getting enclosure temp of 25 and 32 under basking lamp. With humidity at 65%.
• UK so we won’t be letting them outside until we see consistent temps in 20s.

Tortoise seems happy but wondered if I’m doing anything glaringly obvious wrong or if there is anything you would add? Also any general advice you would give?

 

[Tort25]

@Tom will help alot

 

[TheTortoiseKing]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hi all,

First post on here, this was originally posted on reddit before I knew this forum existed, the community looks great!

We brought our 10 month old Hermann home on Thursday. Brand new to Tortoise ownership but did as much reasearch as I could.

Our setup is as follows:

• Aivituvin tortoise enclosure 100% coco coir substrate with Sphagnum moss in and around hide
• 100W mercury bulb for temp and basking.
• Spider plant and fern in enclosure
• Diet of dandelions, curly kale, banana and dandelion pellets, calcium with magnesium once a week.
• Bath once a day, tort seems to be hungry after the bath too which is great.
• Getting enclosure temp of 25 and 32 under basking lamp. With humidity at 65%.
• UK so we won’t be letting them outside until we see consistent temps in 20s.

Tortoise seems happy but wondered if I’m doing anything glaringly obvious wrong or if there is anything you would add? Also any general advice you would give?

Hello and welcome from a fellow uk member! SO glad you’ve made your way here! Unfortunately you’ve been sold a lot of the typical incorrect starter, it’s so common unfortunately, you’re not alone, but fear not! You’ve found the perfect place to get on the best track!

Some initial off the bat advice, remove the moss, it poses an impaction risk.

Mercury vapours aren’t the best choice lighting wise for a variety of reasons, having combined heat and uv, means when adjusting your height to create the desired basking temperature, you’re messing with your UVI zone, they are much more desiccating on the shell and their uv output often very unreliable.
The most recommended up to date indoor uv option is t5 tube fluorescent bulbs, they disperse the uv light over a much wider area. Recommended brands are Arcadia proT5 kit 12% or zoo med reptisun t5 10.0(hood usually sold separate).

For a basking bulb you want an incandescent reptile floodlight.

Skip fruit all together diet wise, even as a treat, this species doesn’t eat fruit, they can’t digest the sugars properly.

Great soak routine

Directly under the basking bulb should be reaching around 35c(95-100f) the middle 80f, cooler end 75f. Babies benefit from a higher humidity to aid in smoother growth, this can only be achieved and maintained in a closed chamber set up.

Baby can definitely soak up some outdoor sun when weather warms up, but I’d only let them have time in an outdoor set up for just a few hours, babies mainly need to stay in their closed set up.

Feel free to go over these threads, take all the time you need to do so, it’ll hopefully answer some further questions.

A great one for new comers;

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

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 I’ll add some more ideas below for closed chambers

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

Another great care guide;

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

This includes some more closed chamber options, vivs do work best

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

This idea in particular might work for your current set up


Lastly, this one here 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 this all helps! I know it’s a lot to go over sorrybut take all the time you need! They’ll always be folks to help with any further questions! We can break things down bit by bit and help tweak the current set up step by step

 

[EppsDynasty]

Patience, and the understanding of 1 thing at a time will be your successful plan of attack. You wouldn't expect to be a professional Mechanic without lots of time spent reading and learning, tort life is no different. NONE of us started knowing everything, we all learned one thing at a time.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Tom]

Hi all,

First post on here, this was originally posted on reddit before I knew this forum existed, the community looks great!

We brought our 10 month old Hermann home on Thursday. Brand new to Tortoise ownership but did as much reasearch as I could.

Our setup is as follows:

• Aivituvin tortoise enclosure 100% coco coir substrate with Sphagnum moss in and around hide
• 100W mercury bulb for temp and basking.
• Spider plant and fern in enclosure
• Diet of dandelions, curly kale, banana and dandelion pellets, calcium with magnesium once a week.
• Bath once a day, tort seems to be hungry after the bath too which is great.
• Getting enclosure temp of 25 and 32 under basking lamp. With humidity at 65%.
• UK so we won’t be letting them outside until we see consistent temps in 20s.

Tortoise seems happy but wondered if I’m doing anything glaringly obvious wrong or if there is anything you would add? Also any general advice you would give?

Hello and welcome. You have found and followed a lot of the usual wrong pet store advice. Previous posters have spelled it all out nicely for you. Here are the threads I made to explain it all:

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

 

[slaz]

Thanks for the advice all. I’m switching to a larger table and will put a greenhouse cover over it. I’m ordering UVB, heat lamp and basking separately and ditching the mercury.

The table I’ve got has a chicken wire top and is roughly 35cm deep. Should I be installing the UVB strip inside the enclosure to avoid the wire blocking it or buy a stronger UVB strip?

 

[slaz]

Thanks for the advice all. I’m switching to a larger table and will put a greenhouse cover over it. I’m ordering UVB, heat lamp and basking separately and ditching the mercury.

The table I’ve got has a chicken wire top and is roughly 35cm deep. Should I be installing the UVB strip inside the enclosure to avoid the wire blocking it or buy a stronger UVB strip?

Following on from this. I have a wifi operated electric radiator right behind the table. With a good thermometer and monitoring. Would this be sufficient for a hermann for night time heating?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thanks for the advice all. I’m switching to a larger table and will put a greenhouse cover over it. I’m ordering UVB, heat lamp and basking separately and ditching the mercury.

The table I’ve got has a chicken wire top and is roughly 35cm deep. Should I be installing the UVB strip inside the enclosure to avoid the wire blocking it or buy a stronger UVB strip?

35cm will be too close, you want the uvb mounted at least 18-20inches from the substrate, the mesh can block some of the output so might be worth taking that off altogether and making a stand to mount the uv

Following on from this. I have a wifi operated electric radiator right behind the table. With a good thermometer and monitoring. Would this be sufficient for a hermann for night time heating?

they rarely need night heating anyway unless your house gets really cold or it’s winter, check your night temps without and go from there

 

[slaz]

35cm will be too close, you want the uvb mounted at least 18-20inches from the substrate, the mesh can block some of the output so might be worth taking that off altogether and making a stand to mount the uv

they rarely need night heating anyway unless your house gets really cold or it’s winter, check your night temps without and go from there

Thank you for this. This is the table I’m picking up. So would you suggest putting the UVB on the arm that’s there currently and just taking the mesh off when in use in the day? I have a swinging mount for the basking lamp too.

Sorry for the barrage of questions but what are the recommendations for light placements. Should basking and uvb be on the same side/end of the enclosure?

 

[slaz]

Sorry I’m now confusing myself…

I was going to buy a UVB strip and a basking bulb only….but I’m now reading that the UVB only needs to be on for 3-4 hours a day.

Does that then mean tort relies on the basking bulb for the rest of day or that I need to buy another light too?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
Tortoise enclosure lightning has three main components, working together to mimic natural sunlight:
1. Basking lamp - not very bright, yellowish light and heat (much like sunrise and sunset light). It stays on for 12-14 hours a day.

2. Ambient LED lights - bright, neutral white light (typical daylight, stays on for 11-12 hours a day). I have two sets of LEDs for gradual brightness increase but with smart LED lamps or something fancy like Arcadia LumenIZE you can ramp up brightness according to schedule.

3. UVB lamp provides additional brightness, UVB and UVA light (midday sun when UV index is high, stays on for 4-6 hours a day).

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Sorry I’m now confusing myself…

I was going to buy a UVB strip and a basking bulb only….but I’m now reading that the UVB only needs to be on for 3-4 hours a day.

Does that then mean tort relies on the basking bulb for the rest of day or that I need to buy another light too?

Hopefully Alex’s response helped, the uvb strip doesn’t produce heat, that’s just for your uv light mid afternoon, basking is for heat and stays on all day, ambient lighting stays on all day too to keep things well lit.

Placement wise, mount the uv strip and basking bulb as close together as possible further one end, then mount ambient lighting in the middle

I will warn, the table looks to be made of a stripped wood, which won’t last long with the humidity needed, I don’t suppose you’ve had any luck looking up vivs on facebook marketplace? A 4x2x2 should last the first year or two until he’s ready for an upgrade