Heating

Bridie

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Joined
Apr 20, 2014
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England
Hello everyone,

I have a concern about the heating in my enclosure. I have 2 Hermanns tortoises which live in the same vivarium. One is 4 years old and the other is 6 months old. I have a heater at one end of the vivarium which is set to about 30 degrees. The older tortoise climbs on top of her hollow log to get closer to the heat to the point it must be scorching. The baby tortoise spends almost all of the day (apart from when she is eating) buried inside her hut.

Neither of them are particularly active and will sleep almost all day or just sit under the heat and very rarely get up to move around. However, the older one will get up and move about if I give her attention and loves to come out of the vivarium and stomp around the garden.

Is the heat to low causing them to be inactive? I thought 30 was the maximum a Hermanns would want.
They both get all the right nutrients in the diet and are bathed regularly so they aren't dehydrated.
 

Yvonne G

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Yes. When they're young, they need to be kept warm all the time. As they get older/bigger, then you can have a hot side and a cool side. If it were me and my tortoises, I would keep them in separate habitat so I could keep the baby warmer.
 

Bridie

New Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
16
Location (City and/or State)
England
And I think I might look into another vivarium, the older one seems to get to hot and has started sitting at cooler end of the cage since I've been keeping it warmer for the younger.
 

MeiMable

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Oct 18, 2018
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NJ
Yes. When they're young, they need to be kept warm all the time. As they get older/bigger, then you can have a hot side and a cool side. If it were me and my tortoises, I would keep them in separate habitat so I could keep the baby warmer.
What temperature range do you recommend?
 

TechnoCheese

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They definitely need to be separated. Tortoises are solitary animals and should never be kept in pairs, especially with the size/age difference you have.
 
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