Best habitat for baby horsefield

sanshia

New Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2014
Messages
2
Hi
I'm new to keeping tortoises and am worried about my baby horsefield
I've had him for 6 months and was told he was a year old when I got him
He started squeeking last month so I took him too a vet who told me to change his substrate from soil to newspaper and add a red heat bulb to keep on all night
She also told me he is very small for his age
He is eating ok but quite fussy mainly salad leafs and corn
He goes in the garden most days for an hour or so when it's warm and eats the weeds etc
I bathe him daily
Am I doing everything right?
Would really appreciate any help.
 

Jabuticaba

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2013
Messages
1,744
Location (City and/or State)
Winnipeg, MB
Hello and welcome! :)


May
THBs: Darwin & Merlin
Aussies: Dax, Vegas, & Cricket
IG: @AUSSOMEAUSSIES
 

russian/sulcata/tortoise

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2014
Messages
8,458
Location (City and/or State)
Northern California, bay area

Gillian M

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Messages
15,417
Location (City and/or State)
Jordan
Welcome to the forum! Your tort is really cute.Take good care of it especially if you haven't dealt with them before, like myself. I've had a tort for about 3 years but I've never had a pet before so I had to do A LOT of research after which I joined the forum.
Good lluck!
 

sanshia

New Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2014
Messages
2
Thank you for your replies,
I've had a quick read on the links, Tom,
I'm in the uk and it gets very cold in the night so if I take out the red heat lamp at night how will he keep warm enough? I have left a quarter of his box with soil and aspen which he digs into sometimes, he has some flat rocks too which he like to climb,
He is nearly always basking under the lamps and it's not even that cold yet? Is that normal?
Thank you
 

Maro2Bear

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 29, 2014
Messages
14,712
Location (City and/or State)
Glenn Dale, Maryland, USA
I believe you will want to get a ceramic heating element ( CHE) which comes in various wattages depending on the size of your enclosure (75, 100, 150w, etc). These emit no light, but put off nice warm heat thst is maintained day and night. There is a lot of info on this forum about CHEs and other lighting and heating methods.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Thank you for your replies,
I've had a quick read on the links, Tom,
I'm in the uk and it gets very cold in the night so if I take out the red heat lamp at night how will he keep warm enough? I have left a quarter of his box with soil and aspen which he digs into sometimes, he has some flat rocks too which he like to climb,
He is nearly always basking under the lamps and it's not even that cold yet? Is that normal?
Thank you

They need it cold at night. Its good for them. They are not a tropical species that need it warm all the time. Unless your house is dropping below 14-15 C at night, your tortoise will be fine as long as it can warm up properly during the day. If you feel you need night heat, then it is best provided by a ceramic heating element set on a thermostat. I would not set the thermostat any higher than 18-20 C for night time. This also means that your enclosure will need to be brightly lit and have a basking area on one end of around 37 C during the day. You should be using a long florescent UV tube and check your UV levels with a light meter to insure you've got it right.
 

New Posts

Top