As usual, you got it right Tom. I was going to say something about the substrate too. I hope your advice is heeded, this is such a nice little tortoise.We know what it is and we're telling you its a problem. Like most people you've gotten bad advice and the wrong products from the pet shop. Seems like most UK members that come here have all been sold that stuff. Its dangerous. It is a bad idea to encourage a tortoise to eat dry sandy substrate to satisfy its calcium cravings. Think about that for a minute. And there are not little bits of limestone in the sandy areas in the wild, and your enclosure is not the wild. We are trying to save you from some serious heartbreak and guilt, and literally save your tortoise's life.
Most of the tortoise care info you find out in the world is wrong. We've been doing it wrong for decades, but some of us have been doing some study and experimentation to figure out what works best and why. Your tortoise is being raised too dry and irreparable damage is being done. It needs the correct dampened substrate, moderate humidity, daily soaks, and the ability to find or create little humid microclimates like what it would find and utilize in the wild. It appears that you also have the wrong bulb over your tortoise. You don't show the bulb in the pictures, so how could I know that?
Here is the correct care info, including substrate and lighting info:
The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...tortoiseforum.org
Good thing he is so smart that he knows not to eat anything that's not on his feeding dish! Wish mine were so smart. But they are not, so I am careful what I put in their enclosure...why take the chance?So I believe I am using the correct lighting and heating including basking heat as my young tortoise is active eats every day drinks by him self and has a solid poo I feed him on terracotta plants saucers not directly on substrate
They desiccate the carapace and the evidence is your tortoises carapace.Is there any evidence that it’s bad for the tortoise I’m only asking becouse it’s mimicking the sun which gives ir A and it B?
It sucks man. We do this here all the time. People do hours, days, months of research trying to sort through the contradictions and then do their very best to give their tortoise an excellent enclosure and an excellent life. The problem is that most of what you find is wrong. Old. Outdated.Ok I’m sorry if I came across funny I didn’t mean too this little means a lot to me already and there so many different opinions like I said I’m sorry and u have put the fear of god in me now so what would u recommend? I was just looking at hemp is that ok?
Liar is a harsh word and does not apply here. A liar is someone saying things they know is not true. Big difference from someone saying something as opinion when they don't have all the knowledge as perhaps the latest research has shown. You can talk to hundreds of "experts" including the scientists at Arcadia. But that doesn't mean they are up to the most reliable findings on tortoise husbandry. To wade through all the opinions, I always just ask how many smooth, non-pyramided tortoises have you raised? And how many pyramided tortoises have you raised. Can you now raise smooth tortoises at will? Look through the examples and pictures here of the folks following what you are being told here - or their tortoises raised they way our care sheets outline. Then look at pictures of the tortoises raised the way most of the experts saying contrary things look. That is your evidence.I appreciate it thanks I’m not calling u or anyone a lier I just find it hard to believe that a dhp would do that that’s and I’m always a believer in a lot of evidence of this so I have contacted Arcadia John on this as if this is true then it would be on there website stating not to use on tortoises I have looked every where for the evidence but nothing like I said that I’m not calling you or anyone a lier I am grateful for the help provided as I took in advice and changed the substrate
I’m not offended at all. I do not feel like you were calling anyone a liar. I think your reaction is totally normal and your request for more evidence and explanation is totally reasonable. The reaction that you are having is the same reaction I have seen on this tortoise forum 1000 times over the last 10 years.I appreciate it thanks I’m not calling u or anyone a lier I just find it hard to believe that a dhp would do that that’s and I’m always a believer in a lot of evidence of this so I have contacted Arcadia John on this as if this is true then it would be on there website stating not to use on tortoises I have looked every where for the evidence but nothing like I said that I’m not calling you or anyone a lier I am grateful for the help provided as I took in advice and changed the substrate