Newbie looking for some good recommendations

[Raaron3087]

Newbie here asking for alittle direction on how to setup my tortoise table. What’s the best substrate to use, better UV light to showcase the enclosure l, better heating lamp and also what other decorations and things to add to their space. Pictures below of how it’s setup now.

Briefly these tortoises and table were a rehome I got a few hours ago. One is a high white leopard tortoise and the other is a red head red foot I believe. The substrate is moss and it has a cheap 10” uv bulb and a ceramic 100w heat bulb that hardly put out heat.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello and welcome!

A few things should be addressed first:
1. Redfooted and leopard tortoises should be housed in separate enclosures. They have different requirements (humidity, temperatures, diet, lightning/heating). Also, tortoises generally don't do well in pairs.
2. You can use fine grade orchid bark for both species. Or coco coir (coco peat). Plain moss is an unsuitable tortoise substrate, also some tortoises eat it to extent of getting lethal impaction.
3. Both tortoises need high humidity (80%+) environment at the moment (adult leopard won't need high humidity). This can be achieved by placing sterlite container or greenhouse top over the table you have, wrapping the mesh in tin foil and so on.

This post is a good introduction to tortoise care (lightning, diet, enclosures and so on):

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

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Ask questions, brainstorm ideas, raise concerns - we'll try to help.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Here is the housing info for the redfoot

Young red foot/ cherryhead set up

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information on an effective example of a starter enclosure for a red foot/cherry head😊 Care advice for these guys is painfully behind, fb pages, YouTube, pet stores, they’re all repeating the same outdated advice, this forum is made of...

tortoiseforum.org

and here for the leopard

Leopard/sulcata starter

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information below on how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for this guy until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give you some ideas! I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[TammyJ]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Lovely little leopard tortoise. Can we see the Redfoot too?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hopefully the responses here and the one I left on your other thread help!
They definitely both need separating into their own closed chamber set ups asap with the right lighting&heating

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Just in case you other gets deleted for being a duplicate here’s my other response;

No moss, it can cause impaction if eaten.

For the red foot you’ll find it easier relying on ceramic heat emitters as your heat source. They don’t really need a basking bulb as they aren’t really a basking species.

For the leopard, the basking bulb you need is an incandescent floodlight.

For the uv for both, you want a t5 tube fluorescent bulbs, zoo med and Arcadia are the brands to go for.

I can see they are quite young now.

This thread below will be super useful for you to go through for a baby red foot, it covers absolutely everything from appropriate equipment, levels, maintaining humidity and there’s a good diet list

Young red foot/ cherryhead set up

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information on an effective example of a starter enclosure for a red foot/cherry head😊 Care advice for these guys is painfully behind, fb pages, YouTube, pet stores, they’re all repeating the same outdated advice, this forum is made of...

tortoiseforum.org

Here’s one for the leopard

Leopard/sulcata starter

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information below on how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for this guy until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give you some ideas! I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to...

tortoiseforum.org

Lastly, this thread is handy to go through to avoid incorrect equipment(which is easily done) and materials etc

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

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Hope this all helps! Give them a read and come back with any questions you may have