What temperature should a 1 year old Russian torts enclosure be?
What level of humidity?
Also, does this change as they get older?
What level of humidity?
Also, does this change as they get older?
How much humidity and heat for a 1 year old Russian tort?
- Thread starter ElisTortoise
- Start date
There are four temperatures to be concerned with. Warm side, cool side, basking and night. My preferred way to achieve all of them is to hang a basking lamp over a flat rock on one end of the enclosure. Adjust the height of your bulb to get a basking temperature of around 37. The rest of the enclosure can gradually cool to room temp. The tortoise will move further or closer to the heat source to regulate its own temp. They don't need night heat unless you live inside a refrigerator, so set your bulb on a timer for 12-14 hours. If your tortoise gets regular sunshine all year, use a regular incandescent flood bulb. If it doesn't, use a mercury vapor bulb. If you need additional lighting, I like to use florescent tubes.
Moderate ambient humidity of 40-60% is fine for them, BUT, you ought to have a damp substrate deep enough for them to burrow into, and also offer a humid hide, so that they can choose a more humid micro-climate if they wish. Of course a shallow water dish is a must too.
As they get older and their shell is growing less, humidity becomes less important. Adults can survive periods of drought and dryness, but the above listed parameters would be considered closer to "optimal" for any age russian. An adult tortoise simply has a larger body mass, and so can hold more stored water, and so in theory could survive longer periods of drought than a baby with less body mass. I see no reason to present them with conditions that are "survivable", instead of conditions that are optimal.
Here are some threads that might help you:
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-80698.html
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-45180.html
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-22635.html
Moderate ambient humidity of 40-60% is fine for them, BUT, you ought to have a damp substrate deep enough for them to burrow into, and also offer a humid hide, so that they can choose a more humid micro-climate if they wish. Of course a shallow water dish is a must too.
As they get older and their shell is growing less, humidity becomes less important. Adults can survive periods of drought and dryness, but the above listed parameters would be considered closer to "optimal" for any age russian. An adult tortoise simply has a larger body mass, and so can hold more stored water, and so in theory could survive longer periods of drought than a baby with less body mass. I see no reason to present them with conditions that are "survivable", instead of conditions that are optimal.
Here are some threads that might help you:
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-80698.html
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-45180.html
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-22635.html
Thanks!
