Just a quick question

Vanrose66

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Morning,
I have 2 spur thighed 7 month old tortoises that I brought home on Saturday.
They are spending most of their time in the covered end of their table.
I am bathing them every morning at the same time and place them under the basking lamp. They will stay there for 20 mins or so. They may have a little food and then they trundle off to they covered area and thats where they stay. I know that it can take time for them to settle but I am worried that if they are there all the time they are getting no light or uvb. I use a combination bulb and there is a heat mat attached to the side wall in the covered area.
Temps have been 101-105° under basking and 71-75° away from it, night time its about 66-68°
Thanks in advance for any replies

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queen koopa

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Are they Sulcatas? If so any temperature below 80F is deadly, especially babies. Seriously. They must have minimum 80F to digest food. Remember tortoise don’t create their own heat. They also require high humidity. Put a grow tent over their enclosure. And you will need to watch for bullying 24/7 as they will compete for everything. They will need to be separated unless you have several hundred sq ft enclosure. 2 is not a good number for tortoise, groups can work with the right ratios and adequate space. I will link the care sheet for you. I currently keep an 8 yr old Sulcata. She is outdoors year round with a heated shed and a large enclosure.
 

queen koopa

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101 is too hot and 70 is too cold. Read Toms post in the above. Good luck on your tortoise journey!! And always ask questions... I’ve spent hours upon hours on this forum learning.
 
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Yossarian

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Are they Sulcatas? If so any temperature below 80F is deadly, especially babies. Seriously. They must have minimum 80F to digest food. Remember tortoise don’t create their own heat. They also require high humidity. Put a grow tent over their enclosure. And you will need to watch for bullying 24/7 as they will compete for everything. They will need to be separated unless you have several hundred sq ft enclosure. 2 is not a good number for tortoise, groups can work with the right ratios and adequate space. I will link the care sheet for you. I currently keep an 8 yr old Sulcata. She is outdoors year round with a heated shed and a large enclosure.

They are not likely to be Sulcata, OP is referring to Greek Spur Thighed torts or Testudo Graeca.
 

Yossarian

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Morning,
I have 2 spur thighed 7 month old tortoises that I brought home on Saturday.
They are spending most of their time in the covered end of their table.
I am bathing them every morning at the same time and place them under the basking lamp. They will stay there for 20 mins or so. They may have a little food and then they trundle off to they covered area and thats where they stay. I know that it can take time for them to settle but I am worried that if they are there all the time they are getting no light or uvb. I use a combination bulb and there is a heat mat attached to the side wall in the covered area.
Temps have been 101-105° under basking and 71-75° away from it, night time its about 66-68°
Thanks in advance for any replies


Here is the care sheet for your species - The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise | Tortoise Forum

Unfortunately you appear to have been sold the "tortoise package". The open table is not ideal, especially for young torts, it is hard to provide the correct temps and humidity that way. The enclosure is too small for a single tort as well, and you will need to keep the two torts in separate enclosures, they cannot cohabitate unfortunately.

Pls read the care sheet, disregard everything you have been told before this and come back with questions.

Babies sleep and hide a lot, especially when they are new to their surroundings, they wouldnt spend hours in the open sun in the wild and it wont hurt them if they are not spending hours under your lamps.

Some additional reading about keeping two, or just search bullying, there are literally 100s of threads about it, and new ones weekly.

Why not to keep 2 tortoises together - a lesson learned the hard way | Tortoise Forum

Odd tortoise situation - bullying | Tortoise Forum
 

Vanrose66

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Are they Sulcatas? If so any temperature below 80F is deadly, especially babies. Seriously. They must have minimum 80F to digest food. Remember tortoise don’t create their own heat. They also require high humidity. Put a grow tent over their enclosure. And you will need to watch for bullying 24/7 as they will compete for everything. They will need to be separated unless you have several hundred sq ft enclosure. 2 is not a good number for tortoise, groups can work with the right ratios and adequate space. I will link the care sheet for you. I currently keep an 8 yr old Sulcata. She is outdoors year round with a heated shed and a large enclosure.
They are spur thighed as in my post - they will have separate enclosures once older and bigger as we have plenty of space and outbuildings.
 

Vanrose66

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Sorry previous reply was sent before I finished - sausage fingers -
I bought them from a breeder not a pet shop, the table is homemade from advise at the tortoise shop online, it is 125cm by 60cm so larger than the normal starter set up.
I spray the subtrate couple of times a day and there is always a water bowl in there too. I have one plant at the moment and more on their way.
Toms advise sheet is great and I read this many times before purchasing the tortoises. They will be separated when required and my husband will extend enclosures as necessary.
All I was really asking was about the fact they seem to spend alot of time in the covered part of the enclosure.
I really haven't gone into this lightly and have spent almost a year researching and planning.
Thanks for your replies
 
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They are spur thighed as in my post - they will have separate enclosures once older and bigger as we have plenty of space and outbuildings.
I would definitely recommend separating them sooner rather than later if you have the space - signs of bullying between Tortoises can be really subtle but can ultimately cause real issues in the less dominate torts growth and health. Of course this is up to you, but I wouldn't take the risk personally! :)
 

Yossarian

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They are spur thighed as in my post - they will have separate enclosures once older and bigger as we have plenty of space and outbuildings.

They shouldnt be kept in pairs, ever. They can hurt each other as juveniles and stress caused by each others presence and constant competition is detrimental. What normally happens is one grows more slowly and gets ill. Some times we get posts like https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-with-injured-eye.189541/ where youngsters have seriously injured one another.

Im not trying to give you a hard time, but despite the research you did, there are a number of problems with the setup you have chosen. If you are open to hearing that, then we can help you avoid common mistakes, if not then I will leave you be.
 

Vanrose66

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They shouldnt be kept in pairs, ever. They can hurt each other as juveniles and stress caused by each others presence and constant competition is detrimental. What normally happens is one grows more slowly and gets ill. Some times we get posts like https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-with-injured-eye.189541/ where youngsters have seriously injured one another.

Im not trying to give you a hard time, but despite the research you did, there are a number of problems with the setup you have chosen. If you are open to hearing that, then we can help you avoid common mistakes, if not then I will leave you be.
Obviously I'm open to advise otherwise I wouldn't have joined the forum. I just feel a few people come across as rude.
There is lots of information out there from a variety of sources and not everyone can be right or wrong
 

Relic

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Rude? Americans? Perish the thought. Your last sentence is the best, and absolutely spot-on. As a general rule-of-thumb, older sources of information (books & articles written 20-30 years ago) are more likely to be in error. Advice dispensed on Facebook is often wildly incorrect. Advice provided on this forum may not always be 100% perfect (neither is the advice of your family physician) but by combining the experience of hundreds of keepers/breeders/researchers into one web site, you will gain the most - and importantly, most likely to be true - information here. When someone posts questionable or wrong advice, there are folks here who will quickly make corrections to the errant post. Try not to feel you are being treated rudely - instead, just think that somebody has taken time out of their busy day to advise you on what's best for your tortoises. And isn't that what we all want?
 

ZenHerper

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Obviously I'm open to advise otherwise I wouldn't have joined the forum. I just feel a few people come across as rude.
There is lots of information out there from a variety of sources and not everyone can be right or wrong

Welcome! There are a number of reliable ways to raise and maintain tortoises. The "regulars" who hang out and volunteer their time and knowledge here have micro-examined and refined their techniques over years to decades of keeping. They should express their views with a fair degree of certainty since their success rates for health and longevity are quite high.

It is very hard to judge "tone" in 2-d online writing. If someone posts, it's because they care and want you to enjoy a long, satisfying tort experience.

(Bit of confusion early-on since Sulcata used to be known as African Spur-Thighed. Sorted.)

Exotic pet keeping is in large part a never-ending engineering project. lol Couple of things to trouble-shoot when things aren't going as planned:

*The animals are new and need some time. Tortoises are very territorial and suffer psychological shock when moved. As long as they drink when you soak them and eat when placed with healthful food, give them some time to settle in.

*The main "outside" enclosure does not have enough cover for new, young animals to hide/camouflage and feel safe. Add more bushy plantings (pothos, ferns) or some big plastic vines to the set up.

*The light/heat/radiation equipment is not acceptable to the residents. Combination bulbs are known to cause avoidance. Try a plain incandescent flood bulb for heat. If that helps, then you will need a separate uvb fixture (the long tubes are safest and most effective - coiled bulbs concentrate too much radiation in a narrow beam and are an eye health hazard).

*The open side of the enclosure is too dry. Ambient humidity has been badly underestimated for all terrestrial reptiles for a very long time. Give the open side a humidity boost by pouring a cup of water into the substrate directly under the heat bulb. It will slowly evaporate...replenish it as needed. There is an artful balance between too-damp and way-too-dry, but the effect of added humidity cannot be overstated.
 

Lyn W

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Hi and welcome,

There is still a lot of old and unsafe advice circulating on FB and the web, but this is the best website there is for up to date advice from very experienced keepers, some of whom have been involved in research and thankfully share their findings with us. We have all made mistakes but with the help of the forum members it is easy to correct them.
I'm sorry you think some people have been rude, but it's often difficult to interrupt the tone of text. Everyone here is passionate about torts only have their best interests at heart so if they see ways that tort lives can be improved they'll tell us and help us to get it right.

Torts don't like change so they could just be getting used to their new home but it could be they aren't happy sharing their space.
Tort bullying will start young, they are solitary creatures and can be easily stressed by the presence of another in their space which can lead to illness and after the staring, following nudging and hogging basking spaces etc it will become more physical when there can be injuries and even death.
I'm really pleased you have lots of space they will obviously be very happy with that as they grow.

You'll find www.thetortoisetable.org.uk a good guide to tort safe plants for food and enclosures.
 

Yossarian

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Pretty sure we lost this one. Sorry! Think it was my fault....

I figured I was the rude one, not for the first time. The two tortoise thing really sets some people off, it’s hard to come to terms with I suppose.
 
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