Derek

Timjb97

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Hello
I am Derek's owner. He (or she, but called a he!) is a 1.5 year old marginated tortoise living in the north east of England.
I got him Christmas 2014, from a place called the tortoise shop in Hull. Here's their website: www.thetortoiseshop.co.uk
He came as part of the deluxe tortoise package, which included Derek, a tortoise table, a basking light and holder, an Arcadia uv bulb and holder, cuttle fish, bowls, bedding, calcium dust, and hemp bedding - but he is now on a soil and calcium mix from Amazon.
He is bathed every other day for 20 minutes, and his temps are 30-35 degrees Celsius under his light, and 20-25 in the cooler end.
He eats a supermarket salad lead mix at the moment as we can't grow any plants and weeds at the moment due to the weather in England
In the summer moths he spends most days outside, but is still brought in at night time. He weighs 200g at the moment.
He lives in a tortoise table - 30"x16"x6" with a tile to eat his food of, as when he was little he struggled to get in and out of the bowls, so I decided a tile would be easier to eat off.
He has an Instagram account - derekthetortoise

Substrate
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pettex-Rept...4123155&sr=8-1&keywords=Tortoise+bedding+soil

Uv bulb
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arcadia-Com...upplies_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=13J2VE6A3GN85TBM2S5ZImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1424124046.981515.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1424124060.825294.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1424124079.460921.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1424124092.367132.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1424124107.563782.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1424124123.571178.jpg
 

crimson_lotus

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Welcome! You do have a very cute tortoise.

One thing I'd like to recommend is that you get a light fixture that can be placed directly overhead. A light that is tilted from my understanding decreases the longevity of the bulb and also decreases the overall UV output. Just remember you have to change the UV pretty frequently. With Arcadia I think that they can last up to a year, as opposed to only 6 months, but I'm not positive on that.
 

bouaboua

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Hello and Welcome! ! ! ! !
 

Timjb97

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Welcome! You do have a very cute tortoise.

One thing I'd like to recommend is that you get a light fixture that can be placed directly overhead. A light that is tilted from my understanding decreases the longevity of the bulb and also decreases the overall UV output. Just remember you have to change the UV pretty frequently. With Arcadia I think that they can last up to a year, as opposed to only 6 months, but I'm not positive on that.
Hi, thanks for the info. The bulb that is for basking can be freely tilted, so I will tilt this so it is directly above, and the Uv bulb is also directly overhead. I have chafed the bulb once, and it is about to be changed again. 1st one was between December getting him, and June, as the light broke so it needed replacing anyway, and it is going to be replaced some time this month
 

Timjb97

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the coil bulb will damage his eyes and the enclosure wont last him to long.

Hi, thanks for the advice. I've heard many people tell me that coil bulbs will damage his eyes, so I have avoided them - one pet shop tried selling me one but I just walked out in anger. This bulb isn't actually a coil bulb, it is more like the shape of an energy efficient bulb, and many people have used these type without any damage to their tortoises.
I was looking into getting a strip bulb, but I struggled to find a holder for one - if anyone knows where I can get a holder for a strip/tube bulb let me know
I also plan on making him a huge indoor table in the spare bedroom ready for the end of this year, and we have recently got rid of a 10 foot trampoline from the garden, so that space will be used as an outdoor pen in the summer, as before he was roaming the garden freely so he couldn't be left unsupervised, whereas with this pen it will have tall walls and a wire mesh covering the top so he can be let out more often.
 

Jacqui

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Hi! I am guessing the trampoline was round shaped? Are you going to be creative and make his enclosure the same shape?
 
M

Maggie Cummings

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The bulb you are using needs to be placed EXACTLY how you have it...horizontal with the ground. Coil bulbs have caused terrible eye problems and I had a Sulcata yearling blinded by one. But it was a defect that showed up when you hung the bulb straight down and the rays out of the end were too strong, (or something like that)
BUT, it is my understanding the way you've placed your bulb is correct. I still would change to a flood type MVB. Welcome...
HAHAHA I didn't realize you were simply showing off the equipment....silly me....anyhow, get another bulb, but in the mean time keep that one horizontal to the substrate....
 

Tom

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One thing I'd like to recommend is that you get a light fixture that can be placed directly overhead. A light that is tilted from my understanding decreases the longevity of the bulb and also decreases the overall UV output.

This only pertains to Mercury Vapor Bulbs, not cfl bulbs or incandescent bulbs.
 

Tom

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Hello and welcome Derek. I would not use any of the cfl type UV bulbs. All types have been implicated in tortoise eye problems. Its just safer to use something else. And besides the safety factor, they are not vey effective anyway. The long Arcadia tubes will serve your purpose much better and are totally safe.

I would not use that substrate either. It seems to be very popular and highly recommended in the UK, but it makes no sense to me. Tortoise will want to eat those little white bits in the substrate and they are going to ingest large amounts of substrate with it. Better to offer a cuttle bone, or a powdered calcium supplement on the food, or both. I don't want to encourage my tortoises to eat their substrate.

To be frank, that entire kit demonstrates a total lack of understanding about what is good for tortoises and what they need.

Here are a couple of care sheets for russians and one for hemanni. Care is essential the same for marginated, hermanni and horsfield tortoises. It could be argued that russians can be kept a bit drier, but the humidity levels that are good for hermanni or marginated torts does them no harm either. PLease check these out:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
 

Timjb97

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Hello and welcome Derek. I would not use any of the cfl type UV bulbs. All types have been implicated in tortoise eye problems. Its just safer to use something else. And besides the safety factor, they are not vey effective anyway. The long Arcadia tubes will serve your purpose much better and are totally safe.

I would not use that substrate either. It seems to be very popular and highly recommended in the UK, but it makes no sense to me. Tortoise will want to eat those little white bits in the substrate and they are going to ingest large amounts of substrate with it. Better to offer a cuttle bone, or a powdered calcium supplement on the food, or both. I don't want to encourage my tortoises to eat their substrate.

To be frank, that entire kit demonstrates a total lack of understanding about what is good for tortoises and what they need.

Here are a couple of care sheets for russians and one for hemanni. Care is essential the same for marginated, hermanni and horsfield tortoises. It could be argued that russians can be kept a bit drier, but the humidity levels that are good for hermanni or marginated torts does them no harm either. PLease check these out:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Thank you Tom,
He will be getting a tube light as soon as I can find somewhere to buy the holder/fittings for it
He doesn't eat the substrate, and he does have cuttle fish available and calcium sprinkled on his food, however he does not eat the cuttle fish.
Thank you.
 

Timjb97

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Hi! I am guessing the trampoline was round shaped? Are you going to be creative and make his enclosure the same shape?
It was, yes.
I plan on making it interesting, it is a large rectangle shape that I have to deal with.
I plan on making a large section of weeds etc for him To graze on, an underground hide, a built in shallow pool, and lots of different rocks partially dug into the ground so he can climb on them. This is the space I have (before I've done anything to it) ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1424424087.649310.jpg
It is the large soil area that will be Derek's.
 

Timjb97

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It was, yes.
I plan on making it interesting, it is a large rectangle shape that I have to deal with.
I plan on making a large section of weeds etc for him To graze on, an underground hide, a built in shallow pool, and lots of different rocks partially dug into the ground so he can climb on them. This is the space I have (before I've done anything to it) View attachment 119126
It is the large soil area that will be Derek's.
This is just a quick drawing I've done
The red area will be a shelter/hide
The green area will be edible plants and weeds
The blue bit going towards the hide will be a concrete path to help ware his claws down
The grey circle will be his shallow pool
The bottom half of the original fence may be covered with sheet wood to ensure he can't get out
The sides will have a small fence around it (about 1m high), and the Orange bits on the side are gates
The black circles will be stones dug into the ground to make it more interesting under his feet
The slight green line that runs through it is the washing line ;)
ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1424425132.166354.jpg
 

Tom

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I would not do the concrete, and I'd make the growing area much larger and haver several of them. I don't think you need an underground hiding area in your climate.
 

Timjb97

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I would not do the concrete, and I'd make the growing area much larger and haver several of them. I don't think you need an underground hiding area in your climate.
Thanks for your advice Tom :)
 

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