Do I need to put my tortoises to bed?

[bertthetortoisedad]

Hello just have a question new to this I have one year old horsefields and just got them not long ago I'm just wondering do I need to put them in the sleeping area or are they okay to just sleep anywhere once I turn off the heat lamp?

 

[Sarah2020]

Tortoise tend to slow down around 16.00. Around this time provide fresh water and remove food. They will find their own abode to sleep this will vary according to their choice... inc heat, security and comfort. Ensure lights are off at this time. They are very self contained as long as you prove the correct conditions inc heat, light, food and water.

 

[bertthetortoisedad]

Tortoise tend to slow down around 16.00. Around this time provide fresh water and remove food. They will find their own abode to sleep this will vary according to their choice... inc heat, security and comfort. Ensure lights are off at this time. They are very self contained as long as you prove the correct conditions inc heat, light, food and water.

They are meant to sleep in the right part or so I thought haha but they are currently on the left side under the wooden bridges is that okay? For me to leave them there and go to bed?

 

[Sarah2020]

Let it sleep where it does . You will play a relentless game if move and move again = disturbance. I am hand-off from 17.00 to around 07.00 when he is up and alert ready to go outside or have food etc.

I check where it is and move away. FYI Speedy has just crashed under the heat lamp which is off. Tomorrow he will sleep elsewhere in the hide or burrowed.

 

[bertthetortoisedad]

Let it sleep where it does . You will play a relentless game if move and move again = disturbance. I am hand-off from 17.00 to around 07.00 when he is up and alert ready to go outside or have food etc.

I check where it is and move away. FYI Speedy has just crashed under the heat lamp which is off. Tomorrow he will sleep elsewhere in the hide or burrowed.

Ahhh okay thanks I will.follow your advice I'm new but have been reading a fair bit just wasn't sure about that part past few nights I moved them in and back in morning I usually leave light on from 7 to 7 or 8 to 8 depending on when I'm up but I'm very grateful for the response

 

[wellington]

You say them? If you have two, they should not be living together, you need to separate them. If you have one or a group then that's fine. However a group would be crowded in that enclosure.
They should also be in a closed chamber with 80% humidity. That is too dry and environment and they will surely pyramid.
Once tortoises start to live outside, then you should make sure they go to bed in a hide that you lock them in at night and let them out in the morning.

 

[zolasmum]

I've just noticed that your substrate has a lot of small white gravel bits in the pile against the wooden divider in the middle. Tortoises like to eat small white stones , which then may cause a serious impaction over time, as they will not be digested. Please sort all the smallest light-coloured bits out and remove them.
Sorry - I should have first said - Welcome - I am in Devon, by the way, with a 23-year-old Hermanns tortoise.
Best wishes from Angie

 

[Maggie3fan]

I have about a 10 year old Sulcata that I make sure she is in her shed/bed every night. If I have gotten in bed with out checking and making sure she is in the shed, I get up and go out into the dark of night. Possibly you don't have any predators to cause harm, but I live in a semi rural area with cougars, raccoons, foxes, hawks and a group of others. I make sure every body is in 'bed' and safe. I pick up the smaller torts and put them away myself

 

[Cathie G]

Hello and welcome. I have a little Russian about 20 (give or take) years old. I always to this day carry him inside and outside everyday that he can be outside. He has an outdoor enclosure and an enclosure in his own room inside. He's allowed to sleep anywhere he wants to in the indoor enclosure but he almost always goes to his hide. Or beside it. You've said you have babies ( plural) though. Their care is way different. You are at the right place to get that advice though.🤗 I can't because I've not raised babies.

 

[bertthetortoisedad]

Let it sleep where it does . You will play a relentless game if move and move again = disturbance. I am hand-off from 17.00 to around 07.00 when he is up and alert ready to go outside or have food etc.

I check where it is and move away. FYI Speedy has just crashed under the heat lamp which is off. Tomorrow he will sleep elsewhere in the hide or burrowed.

Ahhh okay thanks I will.follow your advice I'm new but have been reading a fair bit just wasn't sure about that part past few nights I moved them in and back in morning I usually leave light on from 7 to 7 or 8 to 8 depending on when I'm up

I've just noticed that your substrate has a lot of small white gravel bits in the pile against the wooden divider in the middle. Tortoises like to eat small white stones , which then may cause a serious impaction over time, as they will not be digested. Please sort all the smallest light-coloured bits out and remove them.
Sorry - I should have first said - Welcome - I am in Devon, by the way, with a 23-year-old Hermanns tortoise.
Best wishes from Angie

I've been using

Prorep - Tortoise Life Substrate 10L​

Apparently it's one of the best things to use never noticed them try to eat the substrate yet they seem fine and happy was recommended across a few platforms and by the reptile shop owner who I got them from I guess it's just trial and error and I will have to pick things up along the way

 

[bertthetortoisedad]

Hello and welcome. I have a little Russian about 20 (give or take) years old. I always to this day carry him inside and outside everyday that he can be outside. He has an outdoor enclosure and an enclosure in his own room inside. He's allowed to sleep anywhere he wants to in the indoor enclosure but he almost always goes to his hide. Or beside it. You've said you have babies ( plural) though. Their care is way different. You are at the right place to get that advice though.🤗 I can't because I've not raised babies.

They are apparently a year old so still small but I do plan to make them like a dog house but outside for summer next year and have them out there mostly permanently I don't have a fully sealed up garden yet and a pond for wildlife so I'm worried about them going near that and falling in I'll be blocking parts off and letting them out though as much as I can

 

[zolasmum]

Ahhh okay thanks I will.follow your advice I'm new but have been reading a fair bit just wasn't sure about that part past few nights I moved them in and back in morning I usually leave light on from 7 to 7 or 8 to 8 depending on when I'm up

I've been using

Prorep - Tortoise Life Substrate 10L​

Apparently it's one of the best things to use never noticed them try to eat the substrate yet they seem fine and happy was recommended across a few platforms and by the reptile shop owner who I got them from I guess it's just trial and error and I will have to pick things up along the way

I'm sorry I didn't make what I said clear, but I was referring to the pile of mixed gravel up against the wooden divider in the middle of the enclosure - not the stuff on the floor in general. I don't know enough about that to comment on it.
Angie

 

[bertthetortoisedad]

I'm sorry I didn't make what I said clear, but I was referring to the pile of mixed gravel up against the wooden divider in the middle of the enclosure - not the stuff on the floor in general. I don't know enough about that to comment on it.
Angie

Ohh yeah they're big ish pebbles but I will be taking them out at some point wasn't sure what to put in originally 🤣 they're big enough so they can't eat them ATM so will take them out soon

 

[Tom]

Hello just have a question new to this I have one year old horsefields and just got them not long ago I'm just wondering do I need to put them in the sleeping area or are they okay to just sleep anywhere once I turn off the heat lamp?

In an indoor enclosure, the tortoises can sleep where they want. Your heat lamp needs to be on a timer, you need ambient heat, ambient light, and a HO UV tube. If you are using a mercury vapor bulb that gives off heat and light all-in-one bulb, those will cause pyramiding and should not be used. They are also unreliable with their UV output.

The gravel and that substrate both need to go ASAP. Please read this and look for the temperate species care sheet at the bottom:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[zolasmum]

One more query - how many tortoises have you got? You refer to 'them" - does this mean you have more than one, or is it because you don't know if it is a male or female ? Sorry if I'm being dim about this !
Angie

 

[bertthetortoisedad]

One more query - how many tortoises have you got? You refer to 'them" - does this mean you have more than one, or is it because you don't know if it is a male or female ? Sorry if I'm being dim about this !
Angie

I have one year olds ATM so I don't really have a clue about sex yet but the plan eventually will be to put them in separate tables after a few years

 

[bertthetortoisedad]

In an indoor enclosure, the tortoises can sleep where they want. Your heat lamp needs to be on a timer, you need ambient heat, ambient light, and a HO UV tube. If you are using a mercury vapor bulb that gives off heat and light all-in-one bulb, those will cause pyramiding and should not be used. They are also unreliable with their UV output.

The gravel and that substrate both need to go ASAP. Please read this and look for the temperate species care sheet at the bottom:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Gravel has been moved today and the bulbs are fine all over the internet people use them and say they are fine more good reviews then bad and the substrate is used for tortoises and also had decent reviews and not many complaints showed the man at the reptile shop and he said that's okay stuff to use I will have a look at other things and change it eventually as I am still new to this they seem happy enough

 

[bertthetortoisedad]

In an indoor enclosure, the tortoises can sleep where they want. Your heat lamp needs to be on a timer, you need ambient heat, ambient light, and a HO UV tube. If you are using a mercury vapor bulb that gives off heat and light all-in-one bulb, those will cause pyramiding and should not be used. They are also unreliable with their UV output.

The gravel and that substrate both need to go ASAP. Please read this and look for the temperate species care sheet at the bottom:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

I will buy some Coco coir stuff if that's the name and use that instead after a few weeks or combine are you meant to lightly spray water onto the soil in the enclosure daily or not?

 

[Cathie G]

They are apparently a year old so still small but I do plan to make them like a dog house but outside for summer next year and have them out there mostly permanently I don't have a fully sealed up garden yet and a pond for wildlife so I'm worried about them going near that and falling in I'll be blocking parts off and letting them out though as much as I can

Since they are so young they can't be outside all the time anyway so you have time to really plan a permanent outdoor enclosure. Where I live gets pretty cold in the winter so I'd rather just have an indoor room with a tortoise table and an outside enclosure for my Russian .

 

[Tom]

Gravel has been moved today and the bulbs are fine all over the internet people use them and say they are fine more good reviews then bad and the substrate is used for tortoises and also had decent reviews and not many complaints showed the man at the reptile shop and he said that's okay stuff to use I will have a look at other things and change it eventually as I am still new to this they seem happy enough

I think you have probably realized that the bulbs are not fine. Popularity on the internet does not make them suitable or safe. Same thing with that substrate. Many websites still recommend soil or sand because they simply do not realize the risks they pose and have not seen impaction or poisoning from those items first hand... yet. The idea in sharing this info with the tortoise keeping public is to help you avoid learning the hard way that MVBs can burn your tortoises eyes with too much UVB, cause pyramiding, or not provide any UVB at all, which you would eventually figure out once your tortoise started showing symptoms of metabolic bone disease. Or that sandy substrate can cause impaction. Whoever thought it was a good idea to encourage tortoises to eat sandy substrate to satisfy their calcium craving by putting little bits of limestone in it is a complete moron. People who use this substrate just have not thought this through. Just because it says tortoise on the bag and the pet store guy wants your money does not make it safe or even sensible. That stuff should never have been invented and it should not be sold. Should we all sprinkle sand on our cuttlebones and mix sand into our powdered calcium supplements too? Of course not! That substrate makes no sense.

Likewise, I have seen lots of tortoise X-rays with gravel like that obstructing the GI tract. Just don't use it. Use something known to be safe and effective.

Let's talk about tone. The written word just doesn't show voice inflection, enthusiasm or tone. My tone here is intended to be helpful. I'm just enthusiastically explaining what I've learned over the years and know to be true in an effort to help your tortoise and the tortoises of other people reading. I am in no way insulting you, or anyone else that buys the "wrong" tortoise products. Most of the people buying and selling these products have no idea that items labeled and sold for tortoises at pet shops are useless, overpriced, and often dangerous for tortoises, like this substrate and the MVB bulbs. Many people get offended when I, or we, tell them these things. Don't get mad at me! I'm trying to save your tortoise's life! Get mad at the people that sold you the substrate that will literally kill your tortoise in a slow painful way.