Meet Donatello

[TheGingerbreadMan]

This is Donatello. He/she’s been with us for two weeks now and is our first tortoise. I’m not sure exactly how old. Please let me know what we are doing wrong as I’m sure we’ve made some mistakes.

Donnie’s bedding is a mix of cypress mulch and reptibark. We added a few plants this week which he seems to like. I did search the succulents to make sure they were safe. We got a great deal on this tortoise table before understanding that it was less than ideal. I cut a piece of plexiglass to fit the opening which keeps the humidity at or around 80% with one or two sprays of water per day. Under the basking light is 100 degrees and the rest of the enclosure is 85-90 during the day. The night time bulb lets it drop to about 80. We are soaking one or two times a day (we soak twice on days off when we are home). My main question is about the depth of the substrate. It is about two inches now and he seems to like burrowing a bit. Should I double the depth so he can bury himself?

There were some clear problems where we got him from that we understand better after bringing him home. He was in a dry open enclosure and was eating only mixed salad greens hence the pyramiding. Not really knowing much about it I didn’t think it looked too bad but now that I see more perfectly smooth babies on this forum I wonder how bad it is. At first he would only eat the mixed greens from the store. He is now eating a mix of escarole, endive and dandelion greens with a soaked pellet or two and a little flukers’s tortoise treats mixed in. She mostly eats the greens and not much of the pellets or treats. We also just got some “herbal tortoise hay” from tortoise supply to sprinkle on top.

Please let us know any recommendations on what we could do to take better care of our baby.

Thanks a bunch
Andy

 

[Yvonne G]

Add more water to the substrate and change out that waterer for a clay plant saucer (sloping sides make it easier for a baby to climb in and out).

 

[wellington]

Unfortunately the lighting looks to be wrong. He needs a tube florescent for uvb and a incandescent flood bulb for basking and ceramic heat emitter(s) for night heat and any added day heat needed. The bulb you are using, looks like a mercury vapor bulb and they will still cause pyramiding in the best condition. All heat and lights need to hang inside as the uvb does not go thru plastic.
Get a pop up portable greenhouse to put over the box you have or build some kind of tent over the box so humidity will hold and all proper lighting and heat can hang inside. Then dampen the substrate not spraying it to keep humidity up. Spraying it only works for a very short time as it just dries up.

 

[wellington]

Now I see the light that likely is the tube fluorescent. So hopefully the basking bulb is not the mercury vapor. I would keep an eye on the bulb melting the plastic covering.
Just be sure the temps at night does not drop below 80
If this is holding everything then you shouldn't need the tent.
Be sure to use a digital thermometer and I see what looks like a temp gun, they work great too.

 

[TheGingerbreadMan]

Now I see the light that likely is the tube fluorescent. So hopefully the basking bulb is not the mercury vapor. I would keep an eye on the bulb melting the plastic covering.
Just be sure the temps at night does not drop below 80
If this is holding everything then you shouldn't need the tent.
Be sure to use a digital thermometer and I see what looks like a temp gun, they work great too.

This is the basking bulb https://www.countrymax.com/flukers-basking-spotlight-bulb-150-watts/

I’m pretty sure this is the uv bulb https://www.countrymax.com/zoo-med-reptisun-10-0-compact-fluorescent/

And this is the nighttime bulb https://www.countrymax.com/zoo-med-nightlight-red-reptile-bulb-60-watt/

The uv and red bulbs are in a fixture that is fitted into the plexiglas so that it’s not filtered (the plexiglass is cut around it). I made sure the plexiglass was heat resistant to much higher than it could possible reach.

What about the substrate? Should I make it deeper. I’m going to add more cypress mulch I think. Would adding a little coco coir help retain more moisture?

 

[wellington]

Okay night bulb needs to be a ceramic heat emitter no light just heat. Red bulbs can make tortoises eat things they shouldn't and it should be dark at night anyway
The uvb isn't the best. The coil can cause eye problems, however it looks like you have it installed right, Horizontal not vertical. However, it doesn't give off good amount of UV so you would do better and safer to get a straight tube florescent not a coil type like you have.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

That uvb bulbs is a coiled/spiral compact. This forum collectively says that these are not well suited for tortoises.

 

[TheGingerbreadMan]

Okay night bulb needs to be a ceramic heat emitter no light just heat. Red bulbs can make tortoises eat things they shouldn't and it should be dark at night anyway
The uvb isn't the best. The coil can cause eye problems, however it looks like you have it installed right, Horizontal not vertical. However, it doesn't give off good amount of UV so you would do better and safer to get a straight tube florescent not a coil type like you have.

Ok. Thanks for the tips. We’ll look into better lighting

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
3-4 inches of substrate would be perfect. Both Reptibark and cypress mulch hold humidity fine, coco coir is not really much better (and it gets dusty when dries out). Reptibark (or any other fine grade fir bark, e.g. from plant nursery) - is a great substrate and makes less mess out of all three mentioned.

On heating and lightning, I just want to add a couple of points to the advice given above:
1. Ceramic heat emitters surface heats up to 570-750F, make sure plexiglass handles such temps. Also, there might be not space on the meshed top for a wide dome.
2. UVB sources of any type must be mounted at correct height. Usually it's around 14-16 inches (depends on lamp type and tortoise specie) over the substrate. I might be wrong, but this enclosure has walls height around 13 inches, so it might require some effort to make a proper setup.

You can look at portable greenhouse tops to overcome the mentioned issues. Or even use portable greenhouse or grow tent as a larger indoors enclosure. Donnie definitely will need one soon, before going outdoors for the full time.

 

[Raquel1978]

Congratulations on your new little baby... I can't add anything as I am a new owner with a little baby myself.. A quick question about the substrate is Cyprus mulch also knows as forest floor?. I'm looking to change my little ones Coco coir as its hard to stop it from getting dry and dusty and everytime I look for Cyprus mulch it brings up forest floor..

 

[Pák]

Hi!

You have a really handsome baby
Watch out for those succulents they dont tolerate high humidity and can die quickly.
According to my experiences babys dont bother with plants in the enclosure, i prefer to decorate with tropical plants, they look cool and also loves the high temp high humidity conditions.
My baby also started to dig on the first days

 

[Maggie3fan]

He does not have pyramiding...he is just very slightly bumpy and he never will get pyramided because you will prevent it...I am hopinh you would get something like this...see the humidity???
better for that baby

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Congratulations on your new little baby... I can't add anything as I am a new owner with a little baby myself.. A quick question about the substrate is Cyprus mulch also knows as forest floor?. I'm looking to change my little ones Coco coir as its hard to stop it from getting dry and dusty and everytime I look for Cyprus mulch it brings up forest floor..

Yes, ZooMed Forest Floor is just a cypress mulch and Reptibark is a just fir bark. With some luck you might find both cypress mulch and fir bark in plant nurseries or garden stores way more cheaper than "pet branded" bags.