Egyptians care & tips

[aj87]

Hi All

I am a keeper of kleinmanni in the UK. I have kept kleinmanni for quite a few years but am always keen to learn from other keepers. My main questions is what temps (background, basking & night & seasonal changes) do you aim for and what tips/gems would you give for successful keeping and breeding of this species.

Thanks for your help

 

[Lou]

Hi,

Im not a Egyptian owner, but billskleins recently shared a pretty cool site about them. Covering everything from husbandry to its natural environment. In case you havent ready it before:

home.earthlink.net/~fridjian/

Thanks

 

[GBtortoises]

I kept wild caught Kleinmanni years ago. I have for the past 4 years been keeping captive born Kleinmanni. They have done extremely well for me under the following conditions:

Overall daytime temperatures: 74-82, I've found that they go into a state of inactivity when temperatures begin to rise above 84 degrees.
Basking temperatures: 100-110 degrees at it's peak an hour or so after the lights come on in the morning.
Night time temperatures: 62-68 degrees.
Humidity: daytime-50-60%, nightime-70-75% (this is very important and often overlooked. Most Egyptians are kept far too dry).
Lighting intensity: a standard incandescent basking light (flood light), a tubular flourecent UV that covers 2/3 of the enclosure.
Lighting duration: The lights are on timers and for about half the year (late spring throughout summer) they are on from 5:15 am to 8:15 pm. During the fall and winter they are on from 5:30 am to 7:00 pm.
They are kept on a substrate of crushed coral (chicken grit) with several flat stones and hiding areas consisting of wood shelters and cut in half clay flower pots. They are sprayed twice daily with water, have a water dish available for drinking 24/7 and are "soaked" twice a week. They are fed a variety of greens and weeds daily. About 95% with the other 5% being a variety of vegetables. About once a week I sprinkle dried, crushed up timothy & alfalfa hay on their food for additional fiber. Calcium carbonate is never put on their food but they have a small, shallow container with powdered calcium available at all times to consume as needed (and they do). I do not use any supplemental vitamins.
On the warmest of summer days they do go outdoors here to get some natural sunlight, air and graze.

 

[aj87]

Many thanks for the responses. Very useful