New Greek Tortoise

[wellington]

Romaine is fine. Just for a main diet, which is a lot of what misinformed do, feed just romaine, then it's bad. Some suggest pulling out the spinach, I don't know about your species, I have a leopard and I don't pull mine out. There's not a lot of it in my mix. Some of the stuff you mentioned, I have never heard of. Most likely if he eats it, it's fine. Most will say they won't eat what they shouldn't.

 

[Spn785]

Update: He's doing better today, moving around a bit more, and he ate more food today then yesterday.

Also I forgot to mention his tank size is 40 gallons, its about three feet long and he has plenty of room to walk around and everything.

Just so you know, a 40 gallaon tank is NOT big enough for an adult Greek, and s/he looks too big to be a young tortoise. You probably need a much larger container, and if not now then soon. You can find all kinds of very cheap large containers that will work. I found a 7' by 4' bookcase for $35, and all you'd have to do is remove the shelves and put in a liner of some sort. Yours doesn't have to be that big, but I would suggest somewhere around a 4' by 4' container.

 

[Laurie]

You need to fix your temperatures also, a tank temp of 82-86 is not good. Your tortoise needs a basking spot of about 95F , this is needed for proper digestion. He is also going to need a cooler spot to cool off when he needs to, around 75F. You need to create this temperature gradient for him to be healthy.

 

[DoctorLouie]

Would the substrate cause the temperature to not get any warmer?
And I don't really have money to buy a bigger tank at the moment and probably not for a few months being a poor college student.

 

[Spn785]

Would the substrate cause the temperature to not get any warmer?
And I don't really have money to buy a bigger tank at the moment and probably not for a few months being a poor college student.

One thing you can look at is a storage container that goes under your bed, they can be very cheap and some people suggest a 50 gallon long rubber made container that would work and is Usually around $20. Also the substrate will not cause the temp not to get warmer. From what I understand, for Greek Tortoise it is best not to use an aquarium style tank anyway, because they can see through the sides and will run into the sides trying to escape. You are probably okay for now, but as soon as you can I would suggest getting a bigger enclosure.

 

[DoctorLouie]

He's never tried to escape, it seems more like he enjoys to look out the tank to see what my other animals are doing. But I'll look into it when I have the money.
And how could I get the temperature to get warmer because the package for the bulb says it can go up to 100 degrees.

 

[Laurie]

Do you have a thermometer or are you guessing what the temperatures are? You can adjust how hot the "spot" gets under the light by either changing the bulb wattage or raising/lowering the light to get the desired temperature. You are going to need a way to measure this, you cannot just guess. You can pick up a temp gun pretty cheap at walmart or home depot. You also need to know what the temp is on the opposite side of the tank, if its not cool enough, you are overheating your tortoise. Not having the right temperatures can cause your tortoise to become sick.

 

[DoctorLouie]

I do have a thermometer that sits on the heated side but I didn't think about getting one for the cooler side, but I'll definitely get one because I don't want him to get hurt.

I did get the coconut fiber substrate today and something to soak him in, but I'm not sure how I'm going to get the sand out sense I'm sure a vacuum would scare him.

 

[safari_lass1]

Welcome