Russian Tortoise breeding

[lucas9brady]

So I live in Southwest Florida and my 2 Russians have a great home outside. 12/4 Bertha laid 4 eggs and 1/7 she laid 3 more. I made a "cooler incubator " and my temps are 88-90 F with 70%-80% humidity. The substrate is currently Vermiculite. We have read this can be dangerous for hatchlings. Advice needed on wether to use Coconut fiber substrate as we will be using that for the nursery. Recomendations on heat source and UV lighting and starter foods. Thanks Andrew

 

[Tony the Tort42]

Coco coir is fine, just messy. I use it, and my tortoise tracks it in his water dish, his food rock, everywhere. There are other options, but coco coir is good. Very cool by the way, and congrats! I hope to breed torts someday. For lighting, I would get a CHE and thermostat to keep a good ambient temp. A 65 watt incandescent light bulb works for light, as you dont actually need a uvb bulb. Instead, you can take your little ones outside for short periods of time to get natural uvb. If you do get uvb lights, I believe strips are best as coils can hurt the little ones eyes. Im inexperienced, so someone with more experience may have different opinions than me, so believe them.
Good luck!

 

[lucas9brady]

Coco coir is fine, just messy. I use it, and my tortoise tracks it in his water dish, his food rock, everywhere. There are other options, but coco coir is good. Very cool by the way, and congrats! I hope to breed torts someday. For lighting, I would get a CHE and thermostat to keep a good ambient temp. A 65 watt incandescent light bulb works for light, as you dont actually need a uvb bulb. Instead, you can take your little ones outside for short periods of time to get natural uvb. If you do get uvb lights, I believe strips are best as coils can hurt the little ones eyes. Im inexperienced, so someone with more experience may have different opinions than me, so believe them.
Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. I was surprised when i saw Bertha laying eggs. Good luck as well.