I am really interested in getting a Greek Tortoise and want to buy a baby one from my local reptile store. I did a lot of research but am getting mixed info. How long can my baby go in plastic tub setup? Do they need heat pads or ceramic heater? Could i mount the uvb strip light on my wall above the tub and that be okay? I just wanna make sure i am doing this right. Basking should be 90-100 and humidity in the 60% from what i read...i hope this is right? Help! Lol
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- Thread starter Hbomb
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nicoleann2214
Well-Known Member
So i did research and made it myself. I am new to this so i want to make sure i do it right. I bought a greek tortoise (reptile store did not know the subspecies...so maybe you can help me there?). They wanted me to put her in a tank but from all i read thats not healthy for them. The tub she is in is 32 x 20 inches. I am using an 80 watt mvb and an arcadia 12% t5 and they are exactly 12 inches from substrate. Basking temp is at 100 F and humidity ranges from 40-60%.
Does this all sound right? I am really in love and would be crushed if i did this wrong and hurt her.
Does this all sound right? I am really in love and would be crushed if i did this wrong and hurt her.
WildeAxel
Member
I am no means an expert but he looks like my little Axl from that angle, a eastern hermanns.
General Mediterranean tortoise care can be found here..
www.tortoiseforum.org
and a pictorial guide to seeing what tortoise species you have, via what a baby looks like can be found here... https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/which-baby-tortoise-do-i-have-a-pictorial-guide.115333/
I hope either or both work.
General Mediterranean tortoise care can be found here..
Mediterranean Tortoises (genus Testudo)
www.tortoiseforum.org
and a pictorial guide to seeing what tortoise species you have, via what a baby looks like can be found here... https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/which-baby-tortoise-do-i-have-a-pictorial-guide.115333/
I hope either or both work.
I think you will get some pyramiding with all that UV. Its too much. I'd trade out the MVB for a standard incandescent flood. MVBs are highly desiccating as it is.
I think a closed chamber or something with taller sides would make it easier to keep the humidity a little higher for a baby. If you read something that said tanks weren't healthy for them, then you read the wrong stuff. Any other info from that source should also be suspect. That is an old and persistent myth. Glass tanks are great for starting babies.
12 inches is MUCH too close for an Arcadia 12% HO. Do you have a UV meter? Mine had to be mounted 22-24 inches when new. Three year later I've dropped them down to about 20 inches.
I think a closed chamber or something with taller sides would make it easier to keep the humidity a little higher for a baby. If you read something that said tanks weren't healthy for them, then you read the wrong stuff. Any other info from that source should also be suspect. That is an old and persistent myth. Glass tanks are great for starting babies.
12 inches is MUCH too close for an Arcadia 12% HO. Do you have a UV meter? Mine had to be mounted 22-24 inches when new. Three year later I've dropped them down to about 20 inches.
I watched TONS of youtube vids saying no tanks period. Even tortoise breeder pages. This is the first place to say its okay aside from the pet store (i don't trust what pet stores say)
This is her!I am no means an expert but he looks like my little Axl from that angle, a eastern hermanns.
General Mediterranean tortoise care can be found here..
Mediterranean Tortoises (genus Testudo)
and a pictorial guide to seeing what tortoise species you have, via what a baby looks like can be found here... https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/which-baby-tortoise-do-i-have-a-pictorial-guide.115333/
I hope either or both work.
Generally, I would trust this place above every other because many here have decades of experience with breeding, raising, etc. Youtube has a lot of inexperienced people, and also experienced people with different opinions. I could put a video up right now saying to keep tortoises dry with no soaks and some would listen. It's an opinion. You can raise one in a tank healthily, and one in something else healthily. Some just have more experience and lean towards the side that they've seen works effectively for many years. Many here can agree that a tank is great for a baby, and you can see the results of the beautiful tortoises that were raised in tanks.
I think it is a Greek, an eastern Hermanns would be way duller, and yours does look like that pic.
So am I doing this wrong then? I worked on this for hours and hours. And spent a ton of money. It would suck to have to change it all up. I switched the uvb light to a reptisun 5.0 t5, and calculated that her tub measurements are roughly a 20 gallon...so hopefully that light should be better.
Don't get ahead of yourself, you have plenty right. That tub can work, I was just saying tanks work too, and slightly better. No need to buy a whole new tank. I would just add a cover (like clear plastic wrap) on the side that isn't the one with the heat lamp. Humidity will built up there. Since you've changed the lighting, a clear cover is the only other thing I'd add. Lots of misting will help that too.
Okay that is relieving. Another thing...humidity. I read 45-65% is what you want..and that's where she has been all day. But now my girl's lights are out and i see her humidity is 98%! Is she doomed for a RI if she is like this over night or will she be okay? Should i turn the lights on to dry it a bit or wait till the morning?
I think that is fine. Maybe someone else who knows more will contradict, but I would just leave the light off overnight and she'll be fine. Just wait til morning.
I've never measured the 5.0 HO bulbs. The regular 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV.
You need a meter. That is the only way to figure this out. Solarmeter 6.5.
Most of the advice given for tortoise care is wrong. Its based on 30 year old incorrect assumptions of how they live in the wild and how to simulate that. Its been parroted for decades, and they all say the same wrong stuff. Breeders too.
You are correct about the pet stores. Another perpetrator of bad info and they sell the wrong products too.
I'd go a little higher with the humidity and dampness for a baby. I don't know how you are measuring the humidity, but I don't think that is accurate, unless that entire room is 60-80% humidity all the time. Low sided tubs and sweater boxes are the worst for holding in heat and humidity. They are bad because they do the opposite of what those people say the glass tanks do. You WANT to reduce ventilation and hold in the heat and humidity you are going to all this trouble and expense to generate. Increased ventilation is only good if the incoming air is the correct humidity and temperature. Room air usually isn't.
Its totally normal for the humidity percentage to increase when the temperature drops. Its just physics. Happens in the wild too. Dew point. You can/should leave the lights off at night.
I'm in the process of re-writing the care sheet for Testudo and DTs, but give this one a read through in the meantime. Its going to be different than what you've seen on YT. Keep in mind this was written for tropical species that need higher humidity, warm nights, and eat grass. Other than those three points, most of the info applies to your tortoise too.
The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? 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. Babies hatch during the...
tortoiseforum.org
