Is this table okay?

[tortoiseforthewin]

I'm looking to buy a horsfield in the near future and I'm making sure I have everything right first will this table be appropriate? And what food should I feed him? I was told growing my own weeds etc from a kit would be best? Are the lights okay? Many thanks!!

 

[wellington]

I wouldn't waist my money on it. Unless you get a hatchling it will be too smaller. Even a hatchling will out grow it quite quickly. Also the bulb is bad, causes eye problems and the substrate, not sure what it is, but I don't like the looks of it. Coconut coir, cypress mulch or plain dirt are all find.

 

[tortoiseforthewin]

Thank you! Could you recommend a table? I'm looking for something preferably with a lid as I have other pets! Any bulb recommendations either? Thank you for the help!!

 

[Yvonne G]

First of all, let me say that I'm happy that you are gathering together what you need prior to getting the tortoise. It's always a good idea to get it up and running - temperatures all set, etc. - prior to getting the tortoise.

But...

I don't mean to shoot you down, but quite a bit of what you have amassed in just not good enough for a Russian tortoise. Let's start with the enclosure. Russian tortoises are wanderers. They need an awful lot of space to roam, and if you try to keep them in a small habitat, such as that one, he's going to be very unhappy...climbing the walls, scratching at the corners and trying to escape all day long. Go to a home improvement store and buy the largest plastic bin you can afford. By 'largest' I mean the most floor space, tall sides don't buy you anything.

Going from left to right...the light fixture. You need to buy a reflector that is at least 10". The one you have is too small and will get too hot very quickly. I can't see the base (where the light screws in), but I'm guessing it is a Bakelite base, and not a ceramic base. You want a ceramic base. You also want to be able to hang the light from above, so it hangs straight down, not clamp it on the side. The clamps sometimes fail, and hanging straight down provides the heat/light more on the bottom of the enclosure.

It's hard to tell what type light is in the yellow box, but I'm thinking this would be your basking bulb? If you buy a Mercury Vapor Bulb (MVB) you will get heat plus UVB all in one fixture.

Your next item is your compact fluorescent bulb which you got in order to have the UVB for your tortoise. This bulb is ok AS LONG AS YOU MOUNT IT HORIZONTALLY, AND NOT VERTICALLY. The compact bulbs concentrate the UV rays out the end of the bulb and have been known to damage baby tortoise's eyes. It would be better to just use the MVB for UV.

Care booklet is good. Cuttlebone is good. Plant saucer for water is good.

The bag of shavings, though, is not good. You want something that you can moisten. So your choices are coco coir, sphagnum moss, orchid bark, cypress mulch.

If these things haven't been opened, and if you kept your receipt, you should be able to return them and get your money back. A little hint: Buy some of the items at home improvement stores. They sell the fixtures a lot cheaper than the pet store does. And the substrate can probably be found at a plant nursery.

If you have to keep your new tortoise in the house, you can feed him packaged lettuces like spring mix, rocket salad, endive & escarole, etc. Then you can pick edible weeds from outdoors to add to this. Some people do grow foods for their tortoises. You can either plant the seeds directly in the substrate, or in a kitty litter tray.

 

[stinax182]

hey! welcome to the forum! it's great that you're researching first, there are so many things to learn!

here is a great caresheet for your tortoise
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-80698.html

this should answer a lot of your questions.
if you live somewhere warm all year round, the most ideal place for your tort to live is outside. this is not always possible (like in my case) so the next best thing would be a tortoise table my first one was an old 3x5 bookcase that i took the shelves out of and put on it's back. i lined it with thick plastic and tossed some clean dirt, live and fake plants, a water dish, some places to hide and the lights. the next one i built with plywood, 4x7 with 16" sides because Russian tortoises can climb anything if they want to!

 

[tortoiseforthewin]

Thanks so much for this information it has really helped and I will take all into consideration! Unfortunately I cannot make my own table or attempt to so I'm going to have to buy a table, so I think I just need to keep looking for a big enough one and I definitely should buy separate lamps and substrate (I had no idea how wrong this 'starter kit' was, luckily I haven't bought it!) thank you very much again!

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I will definitely look for a big box or and old bookcase because that's a really good idea! Thanks so much! X