Greek tortoises trying to do it right ...

[AndreaWC]

Tons of great knowledgeable folks on here, I see ... I have had a few turtles for some years and took care of tortoises at work off and on, but this is the first time I had my own. I have a hatchling and a juvenile, no idea the age of the juvy, pretty sure it is a she (flat plastron ..?). Been feeding the juvenile mostly dandelion greens, a tiny bit of kale, a bit of carrot ... strawberry leaves/flowers ... assuming the hatchling will eat the same stuff? The juvy (Yasso) is in a 40 gallon long tank until I can get a table set up (next month), has a mix of eco-earth dirt and bark, about 3 - 5 inches, a hide w spaghnum moss on the cool side (which she never goes into), a basking lamp, a general heat lamp w UVA, and a UVB light. Also a dish of water buried in the bark so it is flush with the substrate, she does go in and drink and soak. The water is on the lamp side; it is about 80 - 90 on that side esp under the basking lamp and about 50 - 70 humidity depending on time of day. The cool side is around 65 - 70 F and about 50 humidity though I assume it is more humid in the hide (which I need to improve, I don't think she likes it, lol). At night my house is around 70; I haven't left any heat on at night having read somewhere it is important for it to cool a bit at night - true?? Yasso gets about 3 - 4 zoomed grassland tortoise pellets and a small handful of greens every day, all doused in water, a couple times a week sprinkled w Reptical powder. She eats greedily then goes back to her burrow spot under the basking lamp. I want to change the bark out for more dirt and plant some weeds or other suitable things in the table when I get it set up. Reading tons of stuff and looking at pix of peoples' setups. I can't have them outside much because my dogs would torment them ... but I plan on taking them out in the front yard for sun if I can. Here are my questions to experts:

1) any stupid mistakes I have made in Yasso's setup so far?
2) can the hatchling live in the same habitat? He/she is about 2 inches long (plastron). Same food? Same heat source etcetera?
3) mist or don't mist? soak or don't soak?
4) wasn't planning on hibernating them ... do I need to???
5) read that nutrobal was best for hatchlings as a daily supplement - can't find any that isn't sold from UK??
Oh, the hatchling is named Koopa.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Andrea, and welcome to the Forum!

For the safety of the baby it would be best set up in his own habitat. You can feed him the same.

Can you possibly set up an outdoor habitat for the tortoises? They do much better out in the real world with real sunshine.

There is no need to place a tortoise into hibernation as long as you keep them warm and eating they'll do fine.

When you talk "supplement" what are you supplementing? Vitamins? Minerals? Real greens with a pinch of calcium powder over the top and a daily soak in warm water to which a couple drops of liquid bird vitamins has been added is all the supplementation I do.

 

[AndreaWC]

I want to set them up some outdoor space, but it will be a while before I can afford it - I'll need to build a pen that my dogs can't get into. I am looking at some options for building something they could hang out in temporarily when I am able to be outside and keep an eye on them (e.g. a hardware cloth 'box' to go over a raised garden bed setup (boards) where I can plant various edibles for them, keep a hide, etc. - they could be out in there during the weekdays when I am at work and the dogs are inside or in their outdoor runs).

What liquid bird vitamin do you use? I have been soaking Yasso a few times a week in warm water and adding a pinch of Reptical powder a few times a week to her greens.