How to know if you need to limit food?

["W" Family]

How do we know if we need to limit food? Sometimes I am concerned that my little guy looks a little puffy out of his shell. I think his growth is looking good as the white I assume is the growth. We got him in October and he has gained 2.5 ounces and almost an inch in width and length since getting him. So he is approximately 7 months old. He has been shedding under his neck and front legs lately so I guess that is another sign of growth. In his enclosure he has the UV light that comes on 3 hours a day, LED Strip lights for daylight, and CHE for heat on a thermostat. I spray his cage daily to keep substrate moist and he get a 30 minute bath in the morning daily. He eats spring mix, romaine, collard greens and matsuri (2 pellets daily). He has cat grass, pathos and rattlesnake plant that he munches on too growing in his enclosure. I think I finally have it down but please let me know if I need to adjust something or suggestions in any way.

 

[Yvonne G]

What a beautiful specimen! As long as he gets plenty of exercise I wouldn't worry about him getting fat.

 

["W" Family]

What a beautiful specimen! As long as he gets plenty of exercise I wouldn't worry about him getting fat.

Ok, no more worrying about that. Thank you! He is a friendly little one with great personality. We are really enjoying him.

 

[Sarah2020]

Cute pics. I like it when they cave and burrow. I think he could be a she but time will tell. Enjoy.

 

["W" Family]

Cute pics. I like it when they cave and burrow. I think he could be a she but time will tell. Enjoy.

At what age can you usually tell if it is a boy or girl?

 

[Tom]

View attachment 341877View attachment 341878
How do we know if we need to limit food? Sometimes I am concerned that my little guy looks a little puffy out of his shell. I think his growth is looking good as the white I assume is the growth. We got him in October and he has gained 2.5 ounces and almost an inch in width and length since getting him. So he is approximately 7 months old. He has been shedding under his neck and front legs lately so I guess that is another sign of growth. In his enclosure he has the UV light that comes on 3 hours a day, LED Strip lights for daylight, and CHE for heat on a thermostat. I spray his cage daily to keep substrate moist and he get a 30 minute bath in the morning daily. He eats spring mix, romaine, collard greens and matsuri (2 pellets daily). He has cat grass, pathos and rattlesnake plant that he munches on too growing in his enclosure. I think I finally have it down but please let me know if I need to adjust something or suggestions in any way.

You don't need to limit the foods if you are feeding the right foods and your tortoise has the right conditions.

The CHE on a thermostat is good for maintaining ambient temperature if your house is too cold, but I doubt you need that in Florida. What you do need is a basking bulb for 12 hours a day where the tortoise can warm up above ambient temperature. CHEs don't work for this since they emit no light.

What size is the enclosure? Tortoises need huge enclosures, and the exercise they get from marching around all day prevents obesity. Too much grocery store produce while housed in a small enclosure very well could make them fat. The right foods in the right enclosure, and they can't get fat.

You need more leaves, weeds and flowers of the right types, and less grocery store greens. Spring mix and romaine lack fiber and calcium. Collards are okay once in a while but not every day. If you must use grocery store greens, favor curly endive and escarole, and add in arugula, cilantro, kale, collards, turnip and mustard greens, and more for occasional variety. Grocery store foods also need to be supplemented to add fiber, calcium and variety.

Its best to learn your local weeds and feed them mostly that instead. There so many plants growing in FL... You just need to take some time to learn to ID which ones are okay.

The food thing is explained I more detail here:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Mazuri is fine but should only be offered twice a week.

 

[Tom]

At what age can you usually tell if it is a boy or girl?

Usually by 3 or 4 years. Sometimes they show you sooner. They all look female as juveniles.

 

["W" Family]

Usually by 3 or 4 years. Sometimes they show you sooner. They all look female as juveniles.

Ok

 

["W" Family]

You don't need to limit the foods if you are feeding the right foods and your tortoise has the right conditions.

The CHE on a thermostat is good for maintaining ambient temperature if your house is too cold, but I doubt you need that in Florida. What you do need is a basking bulb for 12 hours a day where the tortoise can warm up above ambient temperature. CHEs don't work for this since they emit no light.

What size is the enclosure? Tortoises need huge enclosures, and the exercise they get from marching around all day prevents obesity. Too much grocery store produce while housed in a small enclosure very well could make them fat. The right foods in the right enclosure, and they can't get fat.

You need more leaves, weeds and flowers of the right types, and less grocery store greens. Spring mix and romaine lack fiber and calcium. Collards are okay once in a while but not every day. If you must use grocery store greens, favor curly endive and escarole, and add in arugula, cilantro, kale, collards, turnip and mustard greens, and more for occasional variety. Grocery store foods also need to be supplemented to add fiber, calcium and variety.

Its best to learn your local weeds and feed them mostly that instead. There so many plants growing in FL... You just need to take some time to learn to ID which ones are okay.

The food thing is explained I more detail here:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Mazuri is fine but should only be offered twice a week.

The enclosure is a 3x5. I know the CHE does not give light but that is where he likes to hang out a lot is under that. The LED lights are on 6-6 so I was thinking that was enough along with the UV light on 3 hours a day. Do I still need a basking bulb?

 

["W" Family]

This picture shows the strip LED lights (6-6) that cannot be seen from front outside of enclosure, the Arcadia UV 12% with daylight bulb (12-3), dome with CHE on thermostat 24/7.

 

["W" Family]

Should I take CHE and put in floodlight? If so, what should I set thermostat? Or just timer?

 

["W" Family]

I will work on better food. As far as finding weeds I will try however it is very difficult to find places that are not sprayed with pesticides and weed control around me. I have found dandelions and escarole only once in the grocery store. Unfortunately my kale he ate long ago. I will do better on finding other options and only giving Mazuri 2x per week.

 

[Tom]

View attachment 341890
This picture shows the strip LED lights (6-6) that cannot be seen from front outside of enclosure, the Arcadia UV 12% with daylight bulb (12-3), dome with CHE on thermostat 24/7.

In the case of a temperate species, I don't think you need night heat or ambient heat where you live. Does your house stay above 65 ish in winter? If yes, then you can eliminate the CHE and replace it with a basking bulb.

Basking bulbs should be set on timer for about 12 hours a day. In a closed chamber you will probably need a pretty low wattage bulb, but only your thermometer in your enclosure can tell us this answer. If there is enough ventilation and the room stays cool enough, a 65 watt might be just right. If the room gets warm during the day or if ventilation is restricted you might need a lower wattage bulb. I use 25 watt basking bulbs in my closed chambers in my heated reptile room. In summer my reptile room gets into the 90s so I run my basking bulb through a thermostat AND a timer. The bulbs stay on all day unless ambient temp in the enclosure gets to 96, in which case the LEDs stay on, but the heat producing basking bulb shuts off.

This may help:
There are four elements to 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.
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.

 

["W" Family]

In the case of a temperate species, I don't think you need night heat or ambient heat where you live. Does your house stay above 65 ish in winter? If yes, then you can eliminate the CHE and replace it with a basking bulb.

Basking bulbs should be set on timer for about 12 hours a day. In a closed chamber you will probably need a pretty low wattage bulb, but only your thermometer in your enclosure can tell us this answer. If there is enough ventilation and the room stays cool enough, a 65 watt might be just right. If the room gets warm during the day or if ventilation is restricted you might need a lower wattage bulb. I use 25 watt basking bulbs in my closed chambers in my heated reptile room. In summer my reptile room gets into the 90s so I run my basking bulb through a thermostat AND a timer. The bulbs stay on all day unless ambient temp in the enclosure gets to 96, in which case the LEDs stay on, but the heat producing basking bulb shuts off.

This may help:
There are four elements to 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.
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.

Great thank you! Yes, in winter my house gets around 63-65 at night but now it is spring I will use the basking bulb. I will take your recommendations about the bulb, thermostat and timer. Now to find the correct basking bulb.