Beginner redfoot tortoise care

[turtlelover2495]

I bought a Juvenile redfoot tortoise about 3-4 inches.

i will describe how my enclosure is setup:
it is a 50gallon storage container. Reason for this is because it is cheaper and they wont try to run thru the glass and hurt themselves by accident.

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( Swim pool-------------------------------- Hay stack)
( --------------------------------------------------- )
(----------------------------------------------------)
(----------------------------------------------------)
(----------------------Hideout-----------------------)
( ---------------------------------------------------)
(----------------------------------------------------)
(----------------------------------------------------)
(Food bowl--------------------------------tablet bowl)
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and im using a a infrared 150W heat lamp and its hanging over the hay stack and tablet bowl. And then i have a vitamin D fluorescent lamp that goes over the container.


The store i bought the tortoise from told me to use a 150W infrared heat bulb for night time and a regular day time 150W heat bulb. And then i went to another pet store and was talking to the guy because i bought the tortoises hideout there and he told me to use a vitamin D flurscent so that it gets the vitamins from the sunlight and the infrared 150W heatbulb and i will be perfectly fine. But to only have the Vitamin D light on for only 8-10 hours a day.

so if the lights are wrong i apologize im just going by what the pets stores suggested because its my first tortoise.

But i want to make sure the light/heating setup is correct and that there not playing me off to make sales.

Im allset as far as what foods to feed it though i did my research before i bought it but i want to double check and make sure my lighting is good to go.

And tips would be greatly appreciated since im a beginner =D, i say you can never learn enough information theres always room for more!

 

[ascott]

I can not see pics...

However, yes an infrared bulb along with a uvb long tube is aok...I would suggest he get some outside natural sun time as many days a week as possible for at least 30 minutes if not more.....

 

[turtlelover2495]

I can not see pics...

However, yes an infrared bulb along with a uvb long tube is aok...I would suggest he get some outside natural sun time as many days a week as possible for at least 30 minutes if not more.....

ok i will make sure i post a pic for you to see tonight before i go to bed so you can see it by tommorow or the nextime your on

 

[Madkins007]

Lighting sort of depends on your situation, so let's work through a checklist.

1. Can it go outside for roughly an hour a week, spread over a few days at least? If so, we don't need the UVB bulb (and make absolutely the bulb mentions UVB on it- plain UV and UVA bulbs offer some benefit but not the vitamin D that is so important.)

2. What is the temp of the room at night? If the night temp is 70 or higher, you really don't need additional night heating. If it is a bit cool, a ceramic heat emitter or other light-less heat source is all you need, and can offer additional heating during the day as well.

3. What is the daytime temp? If the habitat will usually be 82-85ish, you don't need more heat, otherwise you'll need some sort of supplemental heat.

4. It is helpful to offer about 12 hours of a nicely balanced white light for vision and eye development, food recognition, etc. It does NOT need to be real bright- only about 50-75watts in a 50 gallon tub.

So, what do you need? Here is my 'dream' set-up for a 50 gallon container in Omaha where the tortoise room is coolish and outdoors is not possible:
- 40w plain incandescent bulb hanging high over the tank for white light, on a timer for 12 hours a day.
- Long tube-type low-level output UVB bulb, about 24" long, running about 6 hours in the middle of the day.
- Ceramic heat emitters (CHEs)- either two medium-sized ones set so one turns off at night and both are on a thermostatic heat control, or one CHE and some waterproof heat rope in the substrate

Many people love and swear by Mercury Vapor UVB bulbs (MVBs), but in my experience it is hard to get the right balance of not-too-bright light, good heat control, and the right level of UVB from one bulb, especially in smaller containers (and 50gal. is a small container compared to what the adult will prefer.)

 

[tyrs4u]

I can not see pics...

However, yes an infrared bulb along with a uvb long tube is aok...I would suggest he get some outside natural sun time as many days a week as possible for at least 30 minutes if not more.....

I agree. I have a morning regiment. I turn on the "day" light. I Remove "Lilith" (russian tortoise) from Her atrium; and as it wakes her, I have water prepared for her twenty to thirty minute soak. I use descaling is she's having a hard time letting old skin fall off. After her bath I return her home, where I already have her food sprayed with calcium supplements etc. She usually goes to the bathroom at the end of her soak/bath. So I now she's going regularly. and she usually chomps down right away because she's warmed up from the bath. Without the bath she usually eats at noon. But I avoid non-soaked days.