Beginners tortoise

lixxy990

Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2016
Messages
41
I’m only young myself, and this is my first tortoise, I’ve joined the forum for help... I don’t want to be judged on my decisions I’d rather be advised. Currently my tortoise is just under one year old.... he’s in a tortoise table with his heat lamp and play sand, however I’m changing the sand to soil as I have been advised to do this... I give him a bath every evening and feed him a variety of food with calcium dust on. Then I let him Rome the house for half an hour he goes back to his table then when I go to bed I turn the lamp on.

Is this all correct. I do not mist?
 

Melis

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2017
Messages
509
Location (City and/or State)
Maryland
I’m only young myself, and this is my first tortoise, I’ve joined the forum for help... I don’t want to be judged on my decisions I’d rather be advised. Currently my tortoise is just under one year old.... he’s in a tortoise table with his heat lamp and play sand, however I’m changing the sand to soil as I have been advised to do this... I give him a bath every evening and feed him a variety of food with calcium dust on. Then I let him Rome the house for half an hour he goes back to his table then when I go to bed I turn the lamp on.

Is this all correct. I do not mist?
What type of food are you feeding? How often are you adding calcium powder? What is the lamp you turn on at night? What are the enclosure temps? Roaming the house is frowned upon due to many factors including other pets, your tort possibly ingesting something on the floor, and improper temperatures, especially if you're letting him roam after his bath when he is wet and can get too cold. Taking pictures of your tort and enclosure will also be helpful to the other members to help determine if any adjustments should be made.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
I’m only young myself, and this is my first tortoise, I’ve joined the forum for help... I don’t want to be judged on my decisions I’d rather be advised. Currently my tortoise is just under one year old.... he’s in a tortoise table with his heat lamp and play sand, however I’m changing the sand to soil as I have been advised to do this... I give him a bath every evening and feed him a variety of food with calcium dust on. Then I let him Rome the house for half an hour he goes back to his table then when I go to bed I turn the lamp on.

Is this all correct. I do not mist?
Hello and welcome, but it looks like you've been here longer than a year?

  • Sand is dangerous to use as a substrate, so it is good that you are changing it. However soil is risky too. For one thing it gets messy when you dampen it, but the main issue for me is that you can't know what it is made of and it usually has undesirable additives.
  • The tortoise should never roam loose on the floor.
  • It is difficult to maintain the correct humidity and temperatures in an open table type of enclosure. A closed chamber enclosure would work much better for you.
  • Heat lamp should be off at night unless your house drops below 65ish. If your house does get colder than that, you will need a ceramic heating element with a thermostat to maintain the correct temperature and still keep it dark at night.
  • Where are you?
  • What are you using for UV?
  • How often are you putting calcium on the food?
The title says russian tortoise, but care is the same. Read these:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
 

lixxy990

Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2016
Messages
41
Hello and welcome, but it looks like you've been here longer than a year?

  • Sand is dangerous to use as a substrate, so it is good that you are changing it. However soil is risky too. For one thing it gets messy when you dampen it, but the main issue for me is that you can't know what it is made of and it usually has undesirable additives.
  • The tortoise should never roam loose on the floor.
  • It is difficult to maintain the correct humidity and temperatures in an open table type of enclosure. A closed chamber enclosure would work much better for you.
  • Heat lamp should be off at night unless your house drops below 65ish. If your house does get colder than that, you will need a ceramic heating element with a thermostat to maintain the correct temperature and still keep it dark at night.
  • Where are you?
  • What are you using for UV?
  • How often are you putting calcium on the food?
The title says russian tortoise, but care is the same. Read these:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Yes I got this before I even got a tortoise to just learn a bit, I live in England and put calcium dust on the food daily, I just have a heat lamp as that’s what the man I got my tortoise from said to do
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Yes I got this before I even got a tortoise to just learn a bit, I live in England and put calcium dust on the food daily, I just have a heat lamp as that’s what the man I got my tortoise from said to do
Calcium should only be added to the food a couple of times a week. Using it every day can cause problems with other minerals and trace elements.

There are many types of "heat lamps". Spot bulbs and colored bulbs should not be used. Regular or flood bulbs should be used and they should be "white" light for day time.

Its all explained in those threads.
 

lixxy990

Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2016
Messages
41
U all have ur different opinions and thought and u tell me different things on what’s right on wrong. So I’ve taken it on board and read about it and will go with what I thinks best
 

TechnoCheese

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Feb 20, 2016
Messages
4,505
Location (City and/or State)
Lewisville, Texas
May we see a picture of your enclosure an tortoise to critique it further? You have gotten some very good advice from the people above, and if you follow all of it, you will have a happy, healthy tort.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,265
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
U all have ur different opinions and thought and u tell me different things on what’s right on wrong. So I’ve taken it on board and read about it and will go with what I thinks best

I understand your dilemma. We see this here frequently. There is a lot of old, out-dated, incorrect info circulating around out there in the world, and how is somebody that is new to this supposed to know what to believe?

All I can do is tell you what I've learned over 30+ years of trial and many errors, and hopefully help you to avoid some of the errors I have made. In time, with experience, clarity will come. In the mean time, please feel free to ask lots of questions, and make us explain why we say the things we say. For example: Why shouldn't you use sand as a substrate? If you were to ask me that, I would explain that I work with a lot of vets, and they see sand impaction cases far too often. I've also seen lots of instances of skin and eye irritation from sand.

What I've seen over the years is that conversation and questions will help the new person figure out the best way to go.
 
Top