Newbie looking for some good

[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.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome!

Your photos haven’t attached, but just to check, they are housed separately? Definitely don’t mix species.

No moss either, 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.

What ages are we talking too? Babies or adults?

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head😊 Care advice for these guys is painfully behind, fb pages, YouTube, pet stores, they’re all repeating the same outdated advice, this forum is made of...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

This is the one if they’re an adult

Housing older red foot/cherryhead

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to go over an example of an appropriate indoor red foot/cherryhead enclosure. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure(especially the size these guys get!) I understand being from the uk myself, that some climate’s make it...

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...

tortoiseforum.org

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