HELP!!!! Hatchling habitat

[DDrivera]

I use a MVB during the day and Che at night for my Redfoots. You can do the same thing too but know that your going to dry your stuff out quickly so you'll be adding moisture a lot. I would save your money and buy a $10 timer at Home Depot or lowes, not the plug strip you have listed. You can get basic mechanical timers that allow you to plug one light into for $5 and once with two outlets for $10. That plug strip has several outlets but your MVB and or tube UVB and basking lamp are all that you need plugged into a timer for 8-12 hrs a day. I'll post a link to a timer too rule #2 about tort raising is that pet stores don't carry very much stuff for us and what they do carry is expensive and not as good as what you can find at a hardware store.

Your CHE needs to be on a reptile thermostat. I think I paid $50 for mine at a pet store because I didn't want to wait for shipping from Amazon where they are closer to $40. I'll see if I can find a link to that too.

If you do go MVB I would go with a small one.

Also, let's be very clear on something. In an earlier post you said I was the expert. I'm still a intermediate level tort owner just trying to help you out. @Tom is the actual expert. He has decades of experience with this species and you can take whatever he says as gospel. The older members post this info over and over again so I feel that it's the responsibility of new members (once they've got there sets up complete and correct) to help other new members so the older ones aren't repeating the same stuff over and over again.

Thank you!!! You don't know how much I appreciate the support. My husband laughed at me and did not take me serious when I said I was on a tortoise forum, its an amazing place of resources and knowledge. Thank you for taking the time out of your life to help me. Have a great holiday.

 

[DDrivera]

Your's is a dilemma faced by every new person. You have vets, books, breeders, and internet "experts" all telling you to do different and conflicting things. Plus the pet store trying to sell what is on their shelves. What to do? How do you know which one is right?

I find it helpful to determine two things. What "stake" does someone have in this, and what results can these various people show you. What is to be gained by each of these various people? What do they want from you, and what is their driving motivation to try and ell you what to do? I think there is an element of wanting to do the right thing in most people. Pet store folks want your money though. So do vets. Breeders might want to make a sale. Internet nerds might have some sort of ego thing going on. I don't think anyone wants to harm your tortoise, and there are always going to be differing opinions. Tortoise husbandry techniques and understanding has grown tremendously in the last few years. Leaps and bounds over the growth of the previous two decades. Many have not caught on to the mistakes of the past or the new understanding of how things work that some of us now have.

This leads me to the second of the two things to determine that I mentioned above. Results. What do people from each of the above mentioned groups have to offer you in the way of proof that their methods and philosophies should be followed by new hobbyists? Vets often have nothing to offer. Most of them don't even keep torts and are reading out of a vet handbook in the back area. If you find a good one with actual hands on experience, treat him/her right and give them your business. Breeders have their adults and they have new hatchlings which are sold off ASAP. They are not in the business of raising tortoises in various ways to see which methods produce the best results over 6, 12 or 24 months. They need to get the burden of baby care off their shoulders as fast as they can. Pet stores? These are usually staffed by kids who like animals, but have little practical knowledge. I know. That used to be me. I've got 8 years in the retail pet market, plus a year of wholesale... That leaves us with this group of internet nerds you have stumbled upon. There are hundreds of pics of my tortoises on this site showing my results. My "End of Pyramiding" thread is now 35 pages long and shows my hatchlings from hatching until now at 4 and half years old. There are also hundreds of other tortoise keeper all over the world use my methods or something similar and getting the same positive results. I don't stand to gain anything from you. I'm not selling anything. My interest is in helping people avoid the same mistakes that I have made in the past and have healthy happy tortoises.

You will have to choose whose advice to follow. Good luck.

Tom, thank you again. You and Tortdad have been great to me and my new additions.

 

[tortdad]

@Cowboy_Ken

Ken is selling a Bulb you may want

 

[DDrivera]

I actually purchased this bulb and now I'm stuck trying to figure out night bulb! Should I have kept CHE?

 

[DDrivera]

@Cowboy_Ken

Ken is selling a Bulb you may want

Should I buy a CHE bulb for night again lol and use my new MVB for 8-12 in day?

 

[DDrivera]

I actually purchased this bulb and now I'm stuck trying to figure out night bulb! Should I have kept CHE? View attachment 106473View attachment 106473View attachment 106473

Just realized no UVB AHHHHHHH

 

[tortdad]

Yes CHE is good. Maybe a smaller one then the 100watt you had.

 

[DDrivera]

Well it's been a crazy 3 days and I think I almost got it but now I realized this is too small lol however, this will have to do until the new year lol Here is what I have.. I wasn't sure where to place the humid hide; under the CHE or MVB? I ordered a humid temp thermameter on Amazon because every Home Depot and Lowe's could not find them in stock due to the Christmas items taking their location in the store (irritating). I also ordered a little fake plant to throw in the mix.

I plan to keep both my sulcata's but I'm worried for the stress level I read in the thread. Would they be ok until January? I plan to have my husband and dad Build me a home for them to be together but seperated. Any suggestions on that? I'd hate to rehome them

 

[DDrivera]

Yes CHE is good. Maybe a smaller one then the 100watt you had.

What do U think of the changes?

 

[DDrivera]

Your's is a dilemma faced by every new person. You have vets, books, breeders, and internet "experts" all telling you to do different and conflicting things. Plus the pet store trying to sell what is on their shelves. What to do? How do you know which one is right?

I find it helpful to determine two things. What "stake" does someone have in this, and what results can these various people show you. What is to be gained by each of these various people? What do they want from you, and what is their driving motivation to try and ell you what to do? I think there is an element of wanting to do the right thing in most people. Pet store folks want your money though. So do vets. Breeders might want to make a sale. Internet nerds might have some sort of ego thing going on. I don't think anyone wants to harm your tortoise, and there are always going to be differing opinions. Tortoise husbandry techniques and understanding has grown tremendously in the last few years. Leaps and bounds over the growth of the previous two decades. Many have not caught on to the mistakes of the past or the new understanding of how things work that some of us now have.

This leads me to the second of the two things to determine that I mentioned above. Results. What do people from each of the above mentioned groups have to offer you in the way of proof that their methods and philosophies should be followed by new hobbyists? Vets often have nothing to offer. Most of them don't even keep torts and are reading out of a vet handbook in the back area. If you find a good one with actual hands on experience, treat him/her right and give them your business. Breeders have their adults and they have new hatchlings which are sold off ASAP. They are not in the business of raising tortoises in various ways to see which methods produce the best results over 6, 12 or 24 months. They need to get the burden of baby care off their shoulders as fast as they can. Pet stores? These are usually staffed by kids who like animals, but have little practical knowledge. I know. That used to be me. I've got 8 years in the retail pet market, plus a year of wholesale... That leaves us with this group of internet nerds you have stumbled upon. There are hundreds of pics of my tortoises on this site showing my results. My "End of Pyramiding" thread is now 35 pages long and shows my hatchlings from hatching until now at 4 and half years old. There are also hundreds of other tortoise keeper all over the world use my methods or something similar and getting the same positive results. I don't stand to gain anything from you. I'm not selling anything. My interest is in helping people avoid the same mistakes that I have made in the past and have healthy happy tortoises.

You will have to choose whose advice to follow. Good luck.

Tom can you look at my latest post please, I value your input

 

[tortdad]

Plants help hold humidity, offer them additional hiding spots and give them more things to explore. This is why we say large enclosures. You need room for the furniture, plants and still have room to roam around.

 

[tortdad]

The gauges would have been moved to the outside garden area next to the pool chemicals.... At Home Depot anyways.

 

[Tom]

Tom can you look at my latest post please, I value your input

Looking good.

I suggest something like this for future housing:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
You could divide it in the middle and make it a 4x4' for each one. That will last a little while. Eventually you could take out the divider and build a second one so they'd each have a 4x8'. This will last them until they reach 10" or so, at which point you could move them outside full time with a heated night box. Will get in to examples of that later...

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Just realized no UVB AHHHHHHH

No, you're wrong. I just got exactly the same bulbs and in the small print on the side with 125W at the top. Under the "English" label the third line reads..."it provides the proper balance of ultraviolet light including UVA and UVB"...
I realize that you are taking in an incredible amount of information, but remember, take what fits for you and leave the rest. I use a couple of CHE's, I personally don't care for them. I mostly use 60 watt black light bulbs. They are $3.49 at Kmart, put out consistent heat that is not too much and doesn't need fancy rheostats to control them. Tom doesn't like them because they put out a pale bluish light, but none of the animals I have raised has ever complained about the light to me. They all either sleep in a hide or with their face in a corner, they don't even know a light is there.. But that's just my opinion, I have never actually had a tortoise tell me it was not annoying. My sis who has had a turtle and tortoise rescue for about 30 years also uses black light bulbs. Just giving you an option, and showing you there are different ways of keeping . You do need a deeper substrate and a humid hide. That will help the pyramiding. The shy one is being bullied whether you see it or not. A lot of bullying is mental. I'm not sure who decided that's possible, but I've seen it and I believe it. So you really do kinda have to separate the two as bullying can be fatal.
I see you are in the great sunny state of Southern California...You wouldn't need a UVB light at all if you could put those guys outside for a couple of hours a day. Or even 1 hour. And you don't have to get another expensive aquarium...get a 50 gallon plastic bin at Walmart or Kmart or some mart...cheap and will work good for you.
I have to say you are trying harder then any newbie ever on this forum...