Pine

[George Hassard]

Hi I have had a tort for about 2 months and made my very own house and some of the parts are untreated pine wood I've heard that pine can harm a tort can I have some help?

 

[Gillian M]

Hi I have had a tort for about 2 months and made my very own house and some of the parts are untreated pine wood I've heard that pine can harm a tort can I have some help?

A very warm welcome to the forum!

Honestly speaking, I do not know if pine could harm a tort, sorry. Hopefully someone else will be able to answer your question.

Please post pics of your tort and his/her enclosure, and give him/her daily soaks in warm water.

Have you read the "Beginners Mistakes" Thread? If not, then please do. You may find an answer there.

 

[George Hassard]

 

[Gillian M]

View attachment 183656

Oh, he/she is......gorgeous!

 

[Tom]

The wood won't harm your tortoise, but if he flips in that food/water bowl or falls off the top shelf because those sides are too low, it might.

Looks like you are using a coil type bulb and a red bulb.

Check these out:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

 

[George Hassard]

I moved the food and water down due to your advice thanks

 

[Tom]

I moved the food and water down due to your advice thanks

Those type of bowls aren't suitable for tortoises. The sides are too tall and too steep. Terra cotta plant saucers sunk into the substrate work best.

I hope you'll also reconsider your bulb choices and enclosure size. Its all explained in the care sheet linked above.

 

[BrianWI]

I use the coil bulbs myself. So do millions of others. I see no issue there. But those dishes do suck and I would ad some sides to the ramp, at least on the side not against the glass.

Pine shavings are what you heard bad about. Using the wood will be fine.

 

[leigti]

I To me it's just not worth the risk.

 

[leigti]

Sorry, hit the wrong button. I started out with a small enclosure and a coil bald also. It takes a little time to figure out how to get the enclosures right. You can go to Home Depot and find a 54 gallon been that would work great, you can buy two of them and connect them and make a decent sized enclosure. And they're pretty cheap. Then you can use a mercury vapor bulb or a long fluorescent bulb for UVB.
I like the ramp but it does need some sides on it and maybe some little boards across it to give him traction. And if he's anything like my Russian he will probably take a nosedive off the edge of the platform. I don't know why they do that but they do. Mine does it on purpose, does not just fall off but looks both ways and jumps if you soak your tortoise then you don't necessarily need a saucer big enough for them to get into, you can use those bowls for them to drink out of. They could eat much easier out of a lower sided plant saucer or something similar.
Check out the care sheet, check out the enclosure section. Keep asking questions. Welcome to the forum.

 

[BrianWI]

I like the ramp but it does need some sides on it and maybe some little boards across it to give him traction. And if he's anything like my Russian he will probably take a nosedive off the edge of the platform. I don't know why they do that but they do. Mine does it on purpose, does not just fall off but looks both ways and jumps

They could have an Olympic Tortoise Diving event.

 

[George Hassard]

i actually have 2 more things for water that one is just for humidity and looks cool but he can drink out of it the other 2 are much lower