best places to buy decorations? (UK)

[elizabeth_jasmine]

Hi all, this is my first ever post!
We have a 16 year old herman's tort and are looking to get her a bigger tortoise table this Christmas. In her current one, she only has a food bowl and water bowl, but when she gets more space I'd love to add some extra decor. I've read that decor should be minimal as torts like plenty of room to walk, but she's very curious and likes climbing over things in the house and garden so I'd like to get her a few things. Can anyone recommend places to get decor in the UK? So far I've only looked at Swell Reptiles, where her water bowl came from, but their decor seems to be mostly for lizards and smaller reptiles.
Additionally, could anyone give suggestions of the kinds of things we could get? I like the look of fake plants but I'm worried she'd just try to eat them?

 

[wellington]

I can't help with what you are asking for. However, I can suggest items. A hide box and lots of plants and a proper sized 4x8 foot minimum or larger enclosure.
Think about what they would come across in the wild. Sticks, plants, rocks.

 

[Gillian M]

Hermanns tortoises

tortoiseforum.org

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Please read the care sheet.

 

[Sarah2020]

I recommend a garden center for a terracotta food dish which helps trim the beak similar to a nail file. Tortouse friendly live spider plant.
Fish aquatic shop for rocks and fake colourful plants if you wish. I use swell for my orchid bark substrate which is great.

Enjoy.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome,
At 16 she is going to need very large table now to enable the activity essential for good digestion and bone and muscle health.(as Wellington said 4 x 8 feet is the minimum). Some people make 2 storey enclosures with ramps; or maybe have corner fitting tables - if you look in the Enclosures thread you'll get some good ideas.

Avoid small gravel or decorative stones that can be swallowed. Things like slate can be attractive and hold the heat. They like places they can hide in but not that she can climb on to make sure there aren't tipping hazards. My leopard likes to stomp through his Ikea kiddies play tunnel in his adapted room but you won't need anything that big in an enclosure near lamps.

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk can tell you about safe plants for food and which will give cover and provide sight barriers. However if they are shop bought they need to be removed from the pot, have roots washed and the be re potted in chemical free soil. It is recommended that you wait at least a year for any pesticides, fertilisers etc that have been absorbed by the plants to grow out. So if you can get cuttings from safe sources then that would be much quicker. If you leave the plants in a pot and sink them into the substrate they are easier to swap in and out if they get nibbled or trampled.

Have you had her since she was a baby or just adopted her? If the latter this up to date caresheet will give you some ideas of what she needs for substrate, light and heating etc

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

 

[Lyn W]

PS The Range used to do reptile supplies but I think they've stopped now - at least in my local store. You may find things in Pets at Home too, but bear in mind that a lot of what shops and online websites sell is sold for profit and maybe OK for some reptiles but not necessarily suitable or safe for torts. This includes water dishes, dial thermometers and heating and lighting products so if you want to check here before buying you could save some money.

 

[elizabeth_jasmine]

Hi and welcome,
At 16 she is going to need very large table now to enable the activity essential for good digestion and bone and muscle health.(as Wellington said 4 x 8 feet is the minimum). Some people make 2 storey enclosures with ramps; or maybe have corner fitting tables - if you look in the Enclosures thread you'll get some good ideas.

Avoid small gravel or decorative stones that can be swallowed. Things like slate can be attractive and hold the heat. They like places they can hide in but not that she can climb on to make sure there aren't tipping hazards. My leopard likes to stomp through his Ikea kiddies play tunnel in his adapted room but you won't need anything that big in an enclosure near lamps.

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk can tell you about safe plants for food and which will give cover and provide sight barriers. However if they are shop bought they need to be removed from the pot, have roots washed and the be re potted in chemical free soil. It is recommended that you wait at least a year for any pesticides, fertilisers etc that have been absorbed by the plants to grow out. So if you can get cuttings from safe sources then that would be much quicker. If you leave the plants in a pot and sink them into the substrate they are easier to swap in and out if they get nibbled or trampled.

Have you had her since she was a baby or just adopted her? If the latter this up to date caresheet will give you some ideas of what she needs for substrate, light and heating etc

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

Hi, and thank you for the response!
We have had her since she was a baby, but admittedly been a bit ignorant about proper care until recent years. She hasn't had bad care by any means but there are definitely improvements to be made. Fortunately we have a big garden and she gets plenty of exercise outside, but ideally she should have had a bigger indoor enclosure some years ago. Thank you for all the suggestions!

 

[BB123]

Hi Elizabeth,

https://www.allthingstortoise.com/ this website has some different decorations like river rocks, flat pieces of cork bark and some fun stickers too. They also sell tortoise safe live plants and seeds it has a pretty wide range of items plus the option of free delivery on every order at checkout depending on how quickly you need items and I think the prices are quite good also. Might not have what your looking for but hopefully it helps.

 

[elizabeth_jasmine]

Hi Elizabeth,

https://www.allthingstortoise.com/ this website has some different decorations like river rocks, flat pieces of cork bark and some fun stickers too. They also sell tortoise safe live plants and seeds it has a pretty wide range of items plus the option of free delivery on every order at checkout depending on how quickly you need items and I think the prices are quite good also. Might not have what your looking for but hopefully it helps.

Thanks so much, it sounds really good, I'll take a look!

 

[BB123]

I'm glad I could help.

Thanks so much, it sounds really good, I'll take a look!