Need advice (temperature)

[Calzona89]

Is this the correct temp for Mty horsefield ( it is within the orange margins)

 

[wellington]

First, those type gauges are not reliable. That said, is this one placed at tort level and what section of the enclosure is it located?
For a basking spot it's too low. For a cooler spot it's too high. Is it for an adult or hatchling?

 

[TechnoCheese]

It looks like you’re also using the wrong substrate.
Please give these a read and make changes accordingly
Russian Tortoise Care Sheet
https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Russian-Tortoise-Care-Sheet.80698/
Beginner Mistakes
https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Beginner-Mistakes.45180/

 

[Calzona89]

She's 2yo and it's in basking area, I have moved it to her level now and in the bed area I have a digital thermometer and recently installed ceramic infrared bulb

 

[Calzona89]

I have been told to use tortoise life substrate

 

[Calzona89]

Sometimes I use organic top soil mixed with play sand

 

[Calzona89]

Thank you for the advice the temp is now in the 90f region

 

[Pearly]

Sometimes I use organic top soil mixed with play sand

Sand is not being advised in any amounts due to high risk of gut impaction/obstruction

 

[Pearly]

I also see that familiar pet store thermometer, I got 2 of those fir each side of the tank...[emoji849] once I had found this Forum I replaced those with the digital ones and the best thing ever - TEMP GUN!!!! Love that thing! You can check temps at ground level on everything, bath water temps and even your tort’s carapace! Love it! I got mine at Home depot of lowes, paid 29.99$ i think, but if you want to wait few days, you can get one for as little as 9.99-12.99$ or something like that.

 

[DARKFIRE007]

My eyes aren't spectacular anymore, so I may be wrong...but that looks to be 85 max? Basking spot should be between 95-105. Two suggestions, get RID of any sand, no matter the ratio. And pick up a Zoo Med digital thermometer, they are reasonable at 10 bucks and are sold online and in most pet stores. Far more accurate and reliable. The next step up would be what I call the heat gun...just point it and it tells you how hot a surface is.

 

[Pearly]

My eyes aren't spectacular anymore, so I may be wrong...but that looks to be 85 max? Basking spot should be between 95-105. Two suggestions, get RID of any sand, no matter the ratio. And pick up a Zoo Med digital thermometer, they are reasonable at 10 bucks and are sold online and in most pet stores. Far more accurate and reliable. The next step up would be what I call the heat gun...just point it and it tells you how hot a surface is.

Doesn’t even have to be zoomed, can get digital hygrometer fir 9.99$ at walmart. Those give you temp reading as well. You can probably find much cheaper versions on line. At my beginning stages when babies were tiny I had 4 of those sitting in 4 different corners of my 40 gal tank, then hed the probe therm/hygrometer from petstore which i was moving the probes between the different hides until I got a good feel of things there. Those pet store ones are pricey the probe one was like 39$, you can get them much cheaper from home improvement stores or on line. The BEST yet to me has been my temp gun! Get one of those as soon as you can, and couple of those cheap digital hygrometers and you’ll be set