New baby in the family!

[Kardia22]

So I am a mom to a 5 year old male Greek Tortoise. Today… he got a baby brother lol Finley is a 2 month old African Sulcata. They have not met yet, I am letting Finn settle in. But I would love tips on introduction of different species of tortoise. The goal is for them to eventually cohabitate but would love some suggestions before I start the journey.

 

[wellington]

They can not live together ever and never any two in pairs.
They have different requirements and the sulcata would eventually hurt or kill the other one.
You need to get the sulcata set up in a enclosure chamber enclosure with 80% humidity ASAP as he already has pyramiding for so young.
Incandescent FLOOD bulb for basking one for each.
Tube fluorescent for uvb one for each
And ceramic heat emitters can be used for any needed added day heat and night heat.
Temps for the sulcata never below 80 day and night.
The Greek can be in low 70's and it's day temps can range from 75-80.
Please read the carsheets on this forum for both and prepare to separate enclosures for them for life.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

As wellington has said, these two can never meet, mixing species is a recipe for disaster and tortoise of any species should NEVER be housed in pairs under any circumstances, they’re incredibly territorial, behaviours that look cute to us really aren’t, following one another and sleeping huddled up is all bullying the the tortoise world, you’ll eventually see more extreme signs of aggression. Anyone who tells you pairs are fine, have no idea what they’re talking about.

Small groups are ok when there’s lots of land and the correct male to female ratio. But again that’s for the same species of similar age and size.

As you could do with some advice on an enclosed chamber set up for your baby sulcata, I’m going to include some information below you’ll hopefully find helpful!😊

This is how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for this guy until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give you some ideas!

Basking light should be an incandescent floodlight(example attached) on a 12 hour timer.

Basking temperature directly under the floodlight should be 95-100f. The rest of the enclosure should be ranging 80-85, not dropping lower than 80 at night all over.

You may also wish to add ambient lighting on the same timer as the basking light, providing shady areas with hides and such.

If the floodlight isn’t enough to bump up the over enclosure temperature, you could add a CHE(ceramic heat emitter)or two depending on the size you go for, they’re a non light emitting heat bulb that people use to help make heat up/night heat. Again if it’s dropping below the 80’s at night, a CHE is a must. Always run any ceramic bulbs on a thermostat, you’ll set the thermostat for around 80, plug the ceramic(s) into the thermostat and plug the thermostat into the mains, it’ll be on 24/7, but the thermostat will only turn on the ceramic(s) if the temperature drops below 80, and will keep them off if the temperature is fine.

Dome fittings do help in projecting the heat down, just make sure to never solely rely on the clamp fittings that can come with them, they can fail, so it’s always best to hang them securely👍make sure they’re the large wide kind, not deep.

Indoor Uv should be a t5 fluorescent tube, avoid the compact and coil uv bulbs, they don’t give out enough uv and can hurt the tortoises eyes. The uv can be on a 4 hour timer from noon. I’ve attached the two brands to go for and how you can mount them. The Arcadia comes with the reflector fitting, the reptisun needs it buying separate.

With lighting always avoid anything labelled halogen or mercury vapour.

For substrates, either coco coir, dampened and packed down by hand as a base, with a layer of orchid(fir not pine) bark or forest floor on top, or just the orchid bark/forest floor. Never use anything with sand mixed in, no top soils and no kinds of moss. The trouble with top soil is you don’t know what kind of plants have gone into it, they could be toxic. Sand and moss are impaction risks.

You want to aim to have the bottom layer of substrate damp, to do this pour lukewarm water into the corners, not loads but enough to dampen the entire bottom layer. To stop that top layer getting too dry/dusty, mix the substrate now n then, which also helps boosting humidity or give the top a spray. Check your monitors and substrate to do the pours as and when needed. I don’t recommend misters or foggers, they get the air too wet and cause respiratory problems.

Humidity for young growing tortoises benefits when maintained around 80%, 24/7, you’ll find that difficult to achieve with an open top, for the set up I’m recommending I’d get a greenhouse cover. This will hopefully help stop your guy from pyramiding further.

To maintain humidity whilst the tortoise is younger a greenhouse style set up works well and provides more space, the bigger you go the better, it’s ideal if you can build your own base to go as big as you can for the room you have for now.

If you can’t find an exact fit for your base with the cover, then place it over like the one with the white base in the photo, I’d put lining down under the base and cover though to stop condensate getting on your floor. Bear in mind the ones pictured I don’t think are personally big enough to house this tortoise, they’re just to give you an idea.

When making your base, just make sure the material is safe, some use flower beds or just make their own, for both these options I’d line with cheap pond liner to protect the base, making sure the liner goes up the sides too and make sure those sides are deep enough to prevent escapes.

Some people even hang their lighting from the greenhouse frame!(if sturdy enough)Simply wrap the wire round so it’s at the height you need(check with temp gun/put thermostat in, 18-21 inches for uv I recommend) then secure with cable ties and chains.

I’ve also included examples of stands people make/buy.

I think for the size you’ll need to go, you may struggle to find a topper, in that case you could maybe throw some pvc covering over the stands if you can’t find one, but again if you do that, I’d put lining down under the base to stop condensate.

For a water dish a shallow terracotta saucer large enough for the tortoise to soak in, is considered safest, they have grip in the event your tortoise flips themselves, most pet store options are a known hazard.

Ignore whatever else is in these enclosures in the photos, they’re just to give you an idea, and again these particular ones look to small for the species imo to last long, but hopefully they help inspire an idea👍

I’d also always recommend getting your hands on a temp gun, they’re SO handy when setting up a new environment or for checking your monitors are correct🙂

As this is a closed chamber set up, I’d recommend letting the materials off gas for about a week or until there is no odour

For your new adult Greek, you’ll need a similar set up& equipment, but temps and humidity differ, another reason they absolutely cannot be housed together.

Wishing you all the best from the uk🥰