confused now, please help

[Liquidpoop]

Hey, a month ago a bought my 1st horsfield i thought i had all the equipment i need but since coming on this site im hearing about humid hides and other things ive never heard of. i thought that the enclosures were meant to be quite dry. but anyway ive got a 2x3x2 wooden viv with one vent(with 2 more vents that need fitting) i use repti-turf i dont know if anybody else uses it its like a compressed bark litter which has a tortoise on the bag which suggests its adequate. i have a 60W basking lamp and a 100W ceramic heater which is on a thermostat set at 30 in the centre of the viv 2 thermometers either end one is 23 degrees and the other is 33. he has a hide which i fill with his bedding for him to burrow and i leave a dish with about 1-1.5cm of water. The humidity gauge in there is always between 50 - 60 and it isnt damp at all in his cage, but after reading about people using soil based substrates mixed with water to provide moisture its really thrown me off.

what else do i need!!

ive read somewhere that you can buy edible plants and grasses which can be put in the viv which provide some moisture. i wanted to put half and half so he can please himself.

thanks guys

Lp

 

[jpeck425]

Hey, a month ago a bought my 1st horsfield i thought i had all the equipment i need but since coming on this site im hearing about humid hides and other things ive never heard of. i thought that the enclosures were meant to be quite dry. but anyway ive got a 2x3x2 wooden viv with one vent(with 2 more vents that need fitting) i use repti-turf i dont know if anybody else uses it its like a compressed bark litter which has a tortoise on the bag which suggests its adequate. i have a 60W basking lamp and a 100W ceramic heater which is on a thermostat set at 30 in the centre of the viv 2 thermometers either end one is 23 degrees and the other is 33. he has a hide which i fill with his bedding for him to burrow and i leave a dish with about 1-1.5cm of water. The humidity gauge in there is always between 50 - 60 and it isnt damp at all in his cage, but after reading about people using soil based substrates mixed with water to provide moisture its really thrown me off.

what else do i need!!

ive read somewhere that you can buy edible plants and grasses which can be put in the viv which provide some moisture. i wanted to put half and half so he can please himself.

thanks guys

Lp

Hi Lp,

In the wild, grassland and desert tortoises do live in dry habitats, but to escape the heat many retreat to burrows. The atmosphere in these burrows maintains a bit of humidity. It has recently been realized that much of the pyramiding problems in captive raised tortoises is caused by keeping them to dry and not solely from diet. Pyramiding tends to manifest more dramatically in tortoises under 2 years. By providing a hide that has a slightly moistened substrate, the tortoises can gain access to humidity without losing the required dry habitat. The humidity in this hide allows the membranes between the scutes to remain pliable and grow normally.

Hope this helps
Be well

 

[Liquidpoop]

right. ive seen the substrate you mean i think, like a soil block that you mix with a bit of water and it expands. if i got half a plastic tray and filled that with moist substrate and put his hide on that rather than just piling up the dry repti-turf for a burrow do you think that is ok or should i give him somewhere dry he can burrow aswell. i dont want him to get shell rot.
he seems quite happy/healthy at the minute, is just over a month ok in the wrong conditions, how long before it will start to affect his health. i am going to correct everything i am doing wrong as soon as humanly possible i just hope it hasnt done any damage already.

again ive heard about different types of plants and grasses that you can put in there which he can graze on and would provide some humidity, BUT ive been to every garden centre and reptile and aquatics shop in the surrounding area i can find and none seem to know what im talking about the shop i bought him from tell me everything im doing is more than enough but to be honest he doesnt seem like torts are his speciallity. does anybody else use anything like this with there russians if they do could you shed some light on it, names and where would be best to find them. i am in the midlands uk but more than willing to travel around to get stuff. i just want him to grow and be healthy hes only about 2.5'' at the min and im looking forward to him growing loads bigger

 

[Crazy1]

The block is coconut fiber often called bed a beast or coco choir. People often use sphargunm(sp?) moss as this does not mold an can easitly be kept moist by spritzing with water. Or you can afix a sponge (hot glue or drill a hole in his hide an place a screw and nut to hold on the sponge). Then just keep the sponge damp and you will have a moist hide.

 

[Kristina]

I know of two websites that sell seeds that you can grow for your tort to graze on... You could just plant some in a seed flat and place in the enclosure. Make sure the soil that you use is plain soil with NO fertilizer or enhancers (little white balls or other foreign material.)

Try http://www.turtlestuff.com and http://www.turtlecafe.com for seed mixes. They should have a broadleaf mix of some sort that would be suitable for a Russian. On the first site they also have some examples of beautiful outdoor gardens.

Kristina

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Here's a link to a reptile supply that is seriously tortoise friendly, plus I know him and you can get your seeds here and you can actually ask him what kind of seeds is needed specifically for your particular tortoise...His name is Joe...

http://www.carolinapetsupply.com/catalog/index.php

 

[shelber10]

how to set up a sulcata habitat

how can i set up a indoor habitat for my adult sulcata

 

[Yvonne G]

RE: how to set up a sulcata habitat

how can i set up a indoor habitat for my adult sulcata

That's a pretty hard thing to do because an adult sulcata requires so much room. If its used to living outside its even harder because he'll keep trying to climb the walls and digging at the walls, and bumping the walls, etc. Even if you have a big enough house that you can devote a whole room for him to roam, its still not big enough and he won't be happy. Did you read all the posts under the Sulcata section?

Yvonne

 

[Maggie Cummings]

RE: how to set up a sulcata habitat

how can i set up a indoor habitat for my adult sulcata

How big are they? You have 2 Sulcata? I simply cannot imagine having 2 adult Sulcata in the house...please let me know how big they are and I'd be glad to help you with the information you need...