First Tortoise Enclose RF TORT

[captain]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and have been getting some great help. Todays day #2 with my lil guy named Captain...I love him already. We are from Canada and he is just 6 months old...


So today I built him his habitat and just wanted to make sure I was doing everything alright...

So I got a rubbermaid container (under the bed long ones) and used cypress mulch (lots on bottom and sphagnum moss (little bits on top) as a substrate...is this ok?? I just recently read again that there could be mites and now I'm nervous I don't want bugs crawling around, are they harmful to captain or me?? What can I do to rid of them and should i just be using a lot of the moss as the substrate next time around??? (I'm worried of doing that because a small bag is pricy...)

I bought the mulch from our local reptile store who claim to be experts so I hope it is ok...

Another thing about the mulch, Captain seems to be putting the mulch and moss in his mouth i can't tell if he ingested it or not, is this ok?? is he just tasting it???? is it harmful if he does and how do i make it stop??


Besides that, I got a reptile lamp stand to secure my overhead uvb lamp, just need to secure my heat lamp (thinking of extending the stand or getting another stand, they are really handy)

I got a plastic plant for decor and he hasn't tried the eat that (SUCCESS!)
And a water dish (with ramp) and a food dish for him, with the food dish should i be putting it on a tile so i can somewhat avoid him eating the mulch???

and of course he has a cork bark hide that he loves to snuggle into...


What your opinions? Is this an ok beginner set up for my new baby RF??

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm sorry that you bought that water dish. Because the inside walls are straight up and down, some tortoises tip over backwards into the water when they're climbing out. A plant saucer works better.

You're not using a red bulb during the day are you? Occasionally tortoises see substrate as something to eat when under a red bulb. If not, then hopefully the tortoise will stop eating it once it settles in and realizes there's better stuff to eat. Just be sure there is always something to eat at the feeding station, and yes, you can use a tile or rough stone for a feeding station. And while the tortoise is in the substrate-eating mode, keep it hydrated and the substrate should pass right on through.

I love those lamp stands too. Makes it so much easier to hang your lights.

A few brands of those under-the-bed-storage container have low sides, so be careful that your tortoise isn't able to climb out of the one you bought.

I'd love to see pictures. Most of us use photobucket.com for pictures. You sign up for a free download, then put your pictures into your photobucket account. Choose the picture you want to put on the Forum, and over on the right side, click on the

 

[captain]

I'm sorry that you bought that water dish. Because the inside walls are straight up and down, some tortoises tip over backwards into the water when they're climbing out. A plant saucer works better.

You're not using a red bulb during the day are you? Occasionally tortoises see substrate as something to eat when under a red bulb. If not, then hopefully the tortoise will stop eating it once it settles in and realizes there's better stuff to eat. Just be sure there is always something to eat at the feeding station, and yes, you can use a tile or rough stone for a feeding station. And while the tortoise is in the substrate-eating mode, keep it hydrated and the substrate should pass right on through.

I love those lamp stands too. Makes it so much easier to hang your lights.

A few brands of those under-the-bed-storage container have low sides, so be careful that your tortoise isn't able to climb out of the one you bought.

I'd love to see pictures. Most of us use photobucket.com for pictures. You sign up for a free download, then put your pictures into your photobucket account. Choose the picture you want to put on the Forum, and over on the right side, click on the code. You'll notice a little yellow "copied". then you come to your Forum post and right click "paste" and all the numbers telling the computer what picture to load up show up in your post. When you click on "post reply" then the actual picture shows up.
[/quote]

Thank you so much!! I will post some pictures when I've got completely everything set up, just waiting on the second stand I think its safest if I just get another...The lamp I have is blue but shines white so I think he will be ok.

His container is perfect height, he's way far from climbing out, good thought though for future buying!

He seem to have nibbled a bit at his plastic plant but now realizes its not food and loves to hide it in instead...and for the last hour or so he hasn't been even tasting the substrate so hopefully all is well and he just wanted to find out what everything is...

Thanks again, this site is really the best help I can find anywhere :)