Help us figure out age and health?

[Alex and the Redfoot]

There is nothing really special about living plants Use shallow pots and dense clumps, so tortoise see the plant as an obstacle and walk around (works with hostas, carex, boston ferns, coleus and spider plants). Shady plants with long stems or vines like pothos, "wandering jew", prayer plant, boston fern can be hanged from the ceiling or from the walls (I use kitchen railing on the wall and hanging pockets to keep pots on the wall, example photo attached).

Any live plants need good ambient light (quality, "full-spectrum", non-colored grow lights) or to be swapped for "sun therapy" from time to time.

For watering it's better to use drippers otherwise you can get mold on the top soil layer. When preparing plant pots - try to avoid perlite or at least put a layer of clean soil on top. Eaten perlite is really dangerous for tortoises.

 

[theodorejr]

I’m going to include some information below on how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for this guy until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give you some ideas! You may get away with the base you have, but I’ll paste it all anyway🙂

Basking light should be an incandescent floodlight(example attached) on a 12 hour timer.

Basking temperature directly under the floodlight should be 95-100f. The rest of the enclosure should be ranging 80-85, not dropping lower than 80 at night all over.

You may also wish to add ambient lighting on the same timer as the basking light, providing shady areas with hides and such.

If the floodlight isn’t enough to bump up the over enclosure temperature, you could add a CHE(ceramic heat emitter)or two depending on the size you go for, they’re a non light emitting heat bulb that people use to help make heat up/night heat. Again if it’s dropping below the 80’s at night, a CHE is a good idea. Always run any ceramic bulbs on a thermostat, you’ll set the thermostat for around 80, plug the ceramic(s) into the thermostat and plug the thermostat into the mains, it’ll be on 24/7, but the thermostat will only turn on the ceramic(s) if the temperature drops below 80, and will keep them off if the temperature is fine.
As you’re from a warm climate, I’d do temperature gun checks with the floodlight running and do checks at night to see if you need the ceramics, if you have ac you might need them to help control the temperature for an indoor enclosure.

Dome fittings do help in projecting the heat down, just make sure to never solely rely on the clamp fittings that can come with them, they can fail, so it’s always best to hang them securely👍

Uv should be a t5 fluorescent tube, avoid the compact and coil uv bulbs, they don’t give out enough uv and can hurt the tortoises eyes. The uv can be on a 4 hour timer from noon.

With lighting always avoid anything labelled halogen or mercury vapour.

For substrates, either coco coir, dampened and packed down by hand as a base, with a layer of orchid(fir not pine) bark or forest floor on top, or just the orchid bark/forest floor. Never use anything with sand mixed in, no top soils and no kinds of moss. The trouble with top soil is you don’t know what kind of plants have gone into it, they could be toxic.

You want to aim to have the bottom layer of substrate damp, to do this pour lukewarm water into the corners, not loads but enough to dampen the entire bottom layer. To stop that top layer getting too dry/dusty, mix the substrate now n then, which also helps boosting humidity or give the top a spray. Check your monitors and substrate to do the pours as and when needed. I don’t recommend misters or foggers, they get the air too wet and cause respiratory problems.

Humidity for young growing tortoises benefits when maintained around 80%, 24/7, you’ll find that difficult to achieve with an open top, for the set up I’m recommending I’d get a greenhouse cover.

To maintain humidity whilst the tortoise is younger a greenhouse style set up works well and provides more space, the bigger you go the better, it’s ideal if you can build your own base to go as big as you can for the room you have for now. I’d personally go for at least roughly a 8x4 foot to last you up till they can live outside.

If you can’t find an exact fit for your base with the cover, then place it over like the one with the white base in the photo, I’d put lining down under the base and cover though to stop condensate getting on your floor. Bear in mind the ones pictured I don’t think are personally big enough to house this tortoise, they’re just to give you an idea.

When making your base, just make sure the material is safe, some use flower beds or just make their own, for both these options I’d line with cheap pond liner to protect the base, making sure the liner goes up the sides too and make sure those sides are deep enough to prevent escapes.

Some people even hang their lighting from the greenhouse frame! Simply wrap the wire round so it’s at the height you need(check with temp gun/put thermostat in, 18-21 inches for uv I recommend) then secure with cable ties&chains.
I’ve also included examples of stands people make/buy.

I think for the size you’ll need to go, you may struggle to find a topper, in that case you could maybe throw some pvc covering over the stands if you can’t find one, but again if you do that, I’d put lining down under the base to stop condensate.

For a water dish a shallow terracotta saucer large enough for the tortoise to soak in, is considered safest, they have grip in the event your tortoise flips themselves, most pet store options are a known hazard.

Ignore whatever else is in these enclosures in the photos, they’re just to give you an idea, and again these particular ones look too small for your tortoise imo, but hopefully they help inspire an idea👍

Give it up to a week for all the materials to off gas, running the lights and all, once there no odour it’s safe for use😊

I’d also always recommend getting your hands on a temp gun, they’re SO handy when setting up a new environment or for checking your monitors are correct🙂

Wishing you all the best from the uk🥰

Hi!

i j checked the bulb u attached, and i wanted to ask if the exo terra is the same kind? or is this the wrong one?

Thanks in advance!

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

This is not the kind of bulb you want. It has both the UVB and heat together, these bulbs usually don't do neither well. You want to buy the heat lamp and UVB lamp separate like @wellington and @Littleredfootbigredheart adviced.

Here is @Tom s breakdown on the heating and lighting:

"

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day."

Look at this thread more and always ask before buying! ☺️

 

[theodorejr]

This is not the kind of bulb you want. It has both the UVB and heat together, these bulbs usually don't do neither well. You want to buy the heat lamp and UVB lamp separate like @wellington and @Littleredfootbigredheart adviced.

Here is @Tom s breakdown on the heating and lighting:

"

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day."

Look at this thread more and always ask before buying! ☺️

Thanks for the answer! No i already have the arcadia one that littleredfootbigredheart advised, i only saw this bulb on the internet but couldnt figure out if it's a similar one or total opposite, but thank you very much!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Sorry for the delay! Glad folks on here have helped and I look forward to following your progress🥰

 

[GeckoEcko]

Thank you everybody for all the great advice. I promised I would check in once I had gotten the appropriate set up… so here’s is me checking in.

I’ve made TPs living space double the size, enclosed it with a tarp on the bottom and a greenhouse cover on top. I’ve swapped out the substrate in favor of coco coir topped with a latte of forest floor/ orchard fir bark bedding. Got new lights… the Arcadia floodlight for eat, Phillips natural light bulbs for light and the tube reptisun hi output uvb light. Terra cotta water dish. I have purchased more plants that hang for the habitat but haven’t found pots that I can use yet. I will be adding some plants and we also grow a lot of his food so we “plant” it in his habitat. The humidity level is good he had a log hide and a log tunnel that I soak in water and then I got the coco substrate wet before adding the bark on top of it his sleeping quarters are both at 99% and the rest of the habitat varies from 65% in the hot spot to 85% elsewhere. (Is the 99% too humid? Or the 65% too low?)

I also set up the ceramic heater with a thermostat for nights so he doesn’t get too cold. Is there anything that I’m missing?

He really enjoys climbing so I was going to add more safe climbing ramps so he doesn’t try to climb anything that isn’t safe

 

[GeckoEcko]

One more thing he gets very dirty because he likes to dig to the bottom of every hid he has, is it ok to attempt to clean him when he’s soaking and if so how do I do this? I tried using. A q-tip but he freaks out n hides. It looks like he had dirt on the top of his head and his front claws.

 

[theodorejr]

One more thing he gets very dirty because he likes to dig to the bottom of every hid he has, is it ok to attempt to clean him when he’s soaking and if so how do I do this? I tried using. A q-tip but he freaks out n hides. It looks like he had dirt on the top of his head and his front claws.

I use a baby toothbrush and brush them softly with it! next to the baby toothbrush i also use a watering can with lukewarm water in it and when i hold them above the soaking dish i carefully put water over them to get the other dirt of them without to having to brush on their head and or feet works well for me! ~~

 

[theodorejr]

I use a baby toothbrush and brush them softly with it! next to the baby toothbrush i also use a watering can with lukewarm water in it and when i hold them above the soaking dish i carefully put water over them to get the other dirt of them without to having to brush on their head and or feet works well for me! ~~

also!! after soaking i use a seperate dish towel to dry them off before putting them back into the enclosure, that way the bedding wont stick too much on them when they walk around )

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thank you everybody for all the great advice. I promised I would check in once I had gotten the appropriate set up… so here’s is me checking in.

I’ve made TPs living space double the size, enclosed it with a tarp on the bottom and a greenhouse cover on top. I’ve swapped out the substrate in favor of coco coir topped with a latte of forest floor/ orchard fir bark bedding. Got new lights… the Arcadia floodlight for eat, Phillips natural light bulbs for light and the tube reptisun hi output uvb light. Terra cotta water dish. I have purchased more plants that hang for the habitat but haven’t found pots that I can use yet. I will be adding some plants and we also grow a lot of his food so we “plant” it in his habitat. The humidity level is good he had a log hide and a log tunnel that I soak in water and then I got the coco substrate wet before adding the bark on top of it his sleeping quarters are both at 99% and the rest of the habitat varies from 65% in the hot spot to 85% elsewhere. (Is the 99% too humid? Or the 65% too low?)

I also set up the ceramic heater with a thermostat for nights so he doesn’t get too cold. Is there anything that I’m missing?

He really enjoys climbing so I was going to add more safe climbing ramps so he doesn’t try to climb anything that isn’t safe

Yay thank you so much for the update!!

Changes are sounding great! Well done!😁

Just a few heads up, I’d make sure the plastic cover isn’t resting directly on the domes(might just be the photo perspective?) if you could fix it so the plastic isn’t touching the domes that’d be good, kind of how the stand is lifting the plastic on the one side if that makes sense?

The base you’ve gone for will last for you a reasonable amount of time by looks of it😊the only thing I’ll say about those tortoise houses is, the wood they’re made of might not be ideal for the high humidity needed for babies, but having some lining down in there(like cheap pond liner)will go a long way in protecting the base, is there a way you can add some under the substrate? I can see you’ve got some lining under the base itself which is good to protect your flooring👍

Humidity sounds loads better! I wouldn’t worry about the 99% areas being too high when there’s a gradient in there elsewhere🙂
65 is on the lower side, but it’s always bound to be lower in the basking area, out of interest how are your temperatures reading now for both day and night? If they’re all good, I’d be pretty happy with the levels you’ve achieved😊

Good for you making the changes! This is a lovely update🙌💕