Is my tortoise beginning to get sick?

[TammyJ]

Right. With any tortoise, the larger the enclosure, the better, with everything else being right in terms of temperatures and humidity. They need to walk, and they will walk a lot if they feel like they are going somewhere, at the same time as feeling secure in the habitat.

 

[paemaker]

Yes, they are hard to find here too. They are discontinuing them. But they can still be found. The Arcadia, because they are for reptiles, are easier to find and I don't think are being eliminated, but more expensive. So if you can find them, that are not the Arcadia, buy a few of them. Also, when it is warm enough to get him outside, do that so you can preserve the life of all the bulbs.
It all can be confusing. I have gotten confused myself over the years since I joined this forum in 2011, because even more is discovered, usually by Tom and then gets changed, for the good and some of us have to learn some stuff over again. That's why though, this is the best place for information. Information and care is always updated if it needs to be and a lot of people will help.
Never be afraid to ask, most of us have been there.

I'm glad I found a great community to discuss about tortoises. Although I've been in the forum for almost a month, I have yet to find some items people were talking about, lighting of course! This is probably the hardest part of building up the enclosure so far. But don't worry, I'll get the best one I can find for my tort and hopefully, those items you guys were talking about, I'll be able to find it ASAP.

Oh, LOL! I'm sorry for laughing, but it just struck me funny. Your vet meant the TORTOISE needs to do more walking, not you! A tortoise's digestive tract depends upon him doing a lot of walking in order to keep things moving along in the digestive tract. Maybe the vet felt the enclosure was too small for the tortoise to walk around in.

Don't be sorry for anything, It was all me. Neither did you find it funny, also I found it funny. My vet did not say anything about the enclosure. I believe their biggest concern was my tort's health because it was bad at the time. After joining the forum, I saw somebody else's enclosure, then I started asking my first question and I've got tons of very useful information coming in. As I kept seeing the enclosure, I realized mine was the smallest enclosure.

Right. With any tortoise, the larger the enclosure, the better, with everything else being right in terms of temperatures and humidity. They need to walk, and they will walk a lot if they feel like they are going somewhere, at the same time as feeling secure in the habitat.

You're right. I'm trying to learn some details to get a better enclosure.
I'm getting his new enclosure and it'll be bigger than his current one. After getting a new enclosure, I believe he'll enjoy it.

 

[paemaker]

Yes, you got it with the regular incandescent bulb too. Just for more light and if more day heat is needed.

Hi, it's me again. I just have a couple more questions about the flood bulb. I just searched for the incandescent flood bulbs, but it turned out to be different. The results showed me the LED flood lights which are not what you recommend. Regular incandescent flood bulbs were the only thing I found. In fact, I don't know what "flood" is called in Thai, although I already searched on the internet. The thing is if I use a regular incandescent bulb instead of a flood bulb. Is that okay?
Another question came to my mind when I searched for the flood light bulb. I'm getting more curious because some reptile lighting websites I went to, call it heating bulbs, not UVA light bulbs. So, are the UVA light bulbs heating bulbs, and do these incandescent bulbs, both regular and flood bulbs contain a UVA?

 

[wellington]

Regular incandescent bulb is fine for basking. You likely will need 60 possible 100 watt
The uvb bulb will handle what is needed as far as uvb/uva.

 

[paemaker]

Yes, I'm considering a 60 watts. The basking spot bulb I have right now is 100 watts and I think it's way too high for my tort.
So you mean the UVB bulb contains all UVA and UVB, and the regular incandescent bulb doesn't contain UVA?

 

[paemaker]

Regular incandescent bulb is fine for basking. You likely will need 60 possible 100 watt
The uvb bulb will handle what is needed as far as uvb/uva.

I've been trying to search for the fact that regular incandescent bulbs emit UV. The basking spot I have is not my concern since it's designed for reptiles and I believe it emits UVA. The regular incandescent is my concern. it's not designed for reptiles, but for humans to use in households, so I don't know if it can emit UVA or not. I only know it generates heat like the basking spot bulb since both bulbs are the same type. Now, it's left me with just one question for the regular incandescent bulb, does it emit UVA or not?

I hope you get why I'm asking this question.

 

[wellington]

The basking bulb does not need to be uvb or uva as long as you have a tube florescent uvb it will also give uva.
The human flood bulb yes, is manufactured for human house use, but is the best basking bulb as it's not so intense and decimating to the shell causing pyramiding even with the highest humidity.

 

[paemaker]

The basking bulb does not need to be uvb or uva as long as you have a tube florescent uvb it will also give uva.
The human flood bulb yes, is manufactured for human house use, but is the best basking bulb as it's not so intense and decimating to the shell causing pyramiding even with the highest humidity.

You're right. Maybe I overthink about these lighting things. I just wanna make sure I understand, so I can choose what's good for my tort. Thank you for being so kind and answering all my questions. 🙏