Nsav
Well-Known Member
Here is a photo taken today of Desmond, my almost 1.5 yo pardalis babcocki Leopard Tortoise, who was started dry at a pet shop from where I bought him.
Like most recent tortoise owners, I relied on outdated information when I spent hundreds upon hundreds of dollars purchasing all the wrong housing for this hatchling: I had the open top tortoise table, the coiled UVB bulb, the wrong basking bulb, wrong temperature meters, etc., and knew nothing of humidity levels.
Fortunately, I happened upon this site and it was like manna from the heavens.
Although I tried to convert my open top table to a closed top enclosure by having a custom made tempered glass roof with cutouts for my bulbs, I found that too much humidity escaped through the excess gaps, through what @Tom has referred to as the “chimney effect.” So I ordered a fully enclosed tank instead which keeps in all of the humidity. I could never get the humidity over 65% even though I was dumping water in the tortoise table constantly.
So here I am today with a set up that is much better for the welfare of my tortoise and easier to maintain. It’s like those Ronco infomercial ovens, “just set it and forget it.”
I simply followed the advice from the experts on this site, special thanks to Tom, Mark, Wellington, Tammy, Kathy, Four-Toed Edward, Alex, KarenSoCal, Ink, Zola’s mum and countless others who provide excellent advice to raising a healthy tort.
My current setup, which I am working on replacing with a bigger unit, is a 6 ft length x 3 ft width x 2 ft height enclosure by Animal Plastics. I’m designing a 12 ft long indoor enclosure for later this year.
I use a standard hardware store 60 watt incandescent bulb for basking temps that reach 95-100 degrees. Under the bulb is a large flat rock that Desmond likes to sit on top of when basking. I went to a local garden center and the rock cost me 75 cents. The basking lamp is set to a timer for 8am to 8pm, as is my LED strip lights. All lighting and heating fixtures are built into the inside roof of the enclosure.
I use two Zoomed CHEs (100 watt) on each side of the enclosure and a thermostat that is set to 85 degrees constant temperature.
I also have two Arcadia Pro T5 (12%) 24 inch tubes on both sides of my enclosure that are set on 4 hours each day, 11am to 2pm.
I use a $20 temperature gun from Amazon.com that reads the temps under the basking light. I also use 2 zoomed digital thermometers that read the humidity levels which are usually between 80-85%.
I use ZooMed’s eco earth which is made of coco-coir. I pour water in the corners of the enclosure to maintain humidity. His enclosure has rocks, driftwoods, plants, lots of nooks and crannies to hide, and a huge round slate as his dining area.
I feed Desmond a mixture of African Grazer Grass and Herbal Hay (purchased from Tortoise Supply), various dried plants from Kapidolo Farms, the original Mazuri Tortoise Diet 5M21, and assorted greens from the grocery store, mainly escarole, dandelion greens, collard greens, mustard greens, spring mix, etc. I only started growing grass recently but take a lot of pride when he eats homegrown food. I’ve set up 4 trays of 16 pods so I can cycle through them as the grasses grow. I also supplement a few times per week, alternating between Zoomed’s Reptivite with D3, Rep-Cal, and Miner-All. Only a small pinch.
I keep a daily diary of Desmond’s weight and size. Right now, he’s about 667g and his carapace measures 8 inches. When I first weighed him in December of 2023 when he was a few months old, he was about 47g.
As you can see, he has pryamiding from starting out dry. I’m hoping not to make it worse by continuing to provide him with the humidity he needs.
Finally, I have some small bugs in the substrate that clean up a lot of food waste. They don’t look like springtails and don’t seem to bother Desmond. Desmond gets a daily soak for about 20-30 minutes in warm water so he’s pretty well hydrated. He also does his business in the tub which eliminates the need to clean out his tank a lot. But I keep a huge terra cotta dish in his enclosure which I see him drink regular tap water out of. I have surrounded the dish with rocks so he doesn’t drag substrate inside. He rarely goes inside and prefers just to stick his neck in and drink.
Personality wise, I would best describe Desmond as aloof. He’s not friendly such that he comes and approaches me when I open the glass doors to his enclosure. But he’s also not scared of me either and allows me to use a brush and bathe his head when he’s in the tub.
As I watch my tortoise thrive and get bigger and eat a wider variety of foods, I am thankful for all the sound advice I get from this forum on a daily basis. I learn a little more and improve his husbandry each day.
Below are a few recent photos.
Like most recent tortoise owners, I relied on outdated information when I spent hundreds upon hundreds of dollars purchasing all the wrong housing for this hatchling: I had the open top tortoise table, the coiled UVB bulb, the wrong basking bulb, wrong temperature meters, etc., and knew nothing of humidity levels.
Fortunately, I happened upon this site and it was like manna from the heavens.
Although I tried to convert my open top table to a closed top enclosure by having a custom made tempered glass roof with cutouts for my bulbs, I found that too much humidity escaped through the excess gaps, through what @Tom has referred to as the “chimney effect.” So I ordered a fully enclosed tank instead which keeps in all of the humidity. I could never get the humidity over 65% even though I was dumping water in the tortoise table constantly.
So here I am today with a set up that is much better for the welfare of my tortoise and easier to maintain. It’s like those Ronco infomercial ovens, “just set it and forget it.”
I simply followed the advice from the experts on this site, special thanks to Tom, Mark, Wellington, Tammy, Kathy, Four-Toed Edward, Alex, KarenSoCal, Ink, Zola’s mum and countless others who provide excellent advice to raising a healthy tort.
My current setup, which I am working on replacing with a bigger unit, is a 6 ft length x 3 ft width x 2 ft height enclosure by Animal Plastics. I’m designing a 12 ft long indoor enclosure for later this year.
I use a standard hardware store 60 watt incandescent bulb for basking temps that reach 95-100 degrees. Under the bulb is a large flat rock that Desmond likes to sit on top of when basking. I went to a local garden center and the rock cost me 75 cents. The basking lamp is set to a timer for 8am to 8pm, as is my LED strip lights. All lighting and heating fixtures are built into the inside roof of the enclosure.
I use two Zoomed CHEs (100 watt) on each side of the enclosure and a thermostat that is set to 85 degrees constant temperature.
I also have two Arcadia Pro T5 (12%) 24 inch tubes on both sides of my enclosure that are set on 4 hours each day, 11am to 2pm.
I use a $20 temperature gun from Amazon.com that reads the temps under the basking light. I also use 2 zoomed digital thermometers that read the humidity levels which are usually between 80-85%.
I use ZooMed’s eco earth which is made of coco-coir. I pour water in the corners of the enclosure to maintain humidity. His enclosure has rocks, driftwoods, plants, lots of nooks and crannies to hide, and a huge round slate as his dining area.
I feed Desmond a mixture of African Grazer Grass and Herbal Hay (purchased from Tortoise Supply), various dried plants from Kapidolo Farms, the original Mazuri Tortoise Diet 5M21, and assorted greens from the grocery store, mainly escarole, dandelion greens, collard greens, mustard greens, spring mix, etc. I only started growing grass recently but take a lot of pride when he eats homegrown food. I’ve set up 4 trays of 16 pods so I can cycle through them as the grasses grow. I also supplement a few times per week, alternating between Zoomed’s Reptivite with D3, Rep-Cal, and Miner-All. Only a small pinch.
I keep a daily diary of Desmond’s weight and size. Right now, he’s about 667g and his carapace measures 8 inches. When I first weighed him in December of 2023 when he was a few months old, he was about 47g.
As you can see, he has pryamiding from starting out dry. I’m hoping not to make it worse by continuing to provide him with the humidity he needs.
Finally, I have some small bugs in the substrate that clean up a lot of food waste. They don’t look like springtails and don’t seem to bother Desmond. Desmond gets a daily soak for about 20-30 minutes in warm water so he’s pretty well hydrated. He also does his business in the tub which eliminates the need to clean out his tank a lot. But I keep a huge terra cotta dish in his enclosure which I see him drink regular tap water out of. I have surrounded the dish with rocks so he doesn’t drag substrate inside. He rarely goes inside and prefers just to stick his neck in and drink.
Personality wise, I would best describe Desmond as aloof. He’s not friendly such that he comes and approaches me when I open the glass doors to his enclosure. But he’s also not scared of me either and allows me to use a brush and bathe his head when he’s in the tub.
As I watch my tortoise thrive and get bigger and eat a wider variety of foods, I am thankful for all the sound advice I get from this forum on a daily basis. I learn a little more and improve his husbandry each day.
Below are a few recent photos.
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