Introduction and question about hiding

[Brandi0509]

I doubt he's going to eat those pellets I see in the food dish. Russian tortoises eat dark, leafy greens, weeds and plants. If you want to feed the pellets, you'll need to moisten them so they fall apart then mix them in with the greens.

He definitely hasn’t eaten them so far but he also doesn’t walk around the cage yet. Lol. We give him leafy greens daily after his soak and he eats those. We aren’t too concerned about the pellets. We just gave them to him because his previous home gave them to him.

 

[Brandi0509]

Hi Brandi and warm welcome from Texas to you and your cutie! It looks like you have invested some time/money into creating your tort enclosure. Looks very nice! Now just some adjustments here and there and you are off to long happy years of tortoise keeping! I will not be able to offer much advise as my 3 yrs of experience is in the Redfooted species, the only thing I could throw out there is perhaps adding some live plants around the enclosure? Like some plants that are safe for torts in case they get munched on or straight up tort food type plants. Just don’t use anything straight from garden stores bcs those may have been treated with chemicals

Thank you!

 

[drew54]

That’s where I’m hoping to get him, where he just burrows at night and is more active during the day. We are attaching his new lights now. What is the proper height for the UVA/UVB bulb? Is it 12 inches? Or can it be higher?

On the box it should say recommended height. 12 is usually good, but check the box.

 

[Lyn W]

That’s where I’m hoping to get him, where he just burrows at night and is more active during the day. We are attaching his new lights now. What is the proper height for the UVA/UVB bulb? Is it 12 inches? Or can it be higher?

Hi and welcome.
A digital temp gun is great for spot checking temps at tort level and if you hang the lamps they can be raised or lowered to adjust the temps as recommended in the care sheet.

 

[Tom]

That’s where I’m hoping to get him, where he just burrows at night and is more active during the day. We are attaching his new lights now. What is the proper height for the UVA/UVB bulb? Is it 12 inches? Or can it be higher?

What type of bulb? There are many types of UV bulbs.