some pictures of my tortoise eddie ?

Lokkje

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Super cute!
 

Happytort27

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Eddie is very cute! :)

I don’t mean to be blunt, but there are some things that need to be fixed in regards to your care.

First, your tortoise looks dry. Make sure to soak him regularly for around 20-30 minutes in warm water. Next, you need to get your tortoise on a proper substrate. Rabbit or alfalfa pellets are not suitable for our tortoises because there aren’t any ways of dampening it, and it molds/gets dusty easily. Dampened orchid bark (known as reptibark or fir bark), cypress mulch, or coconut coir are excellent substrates and easy to find. These substrates are great because it’ll raise the humidity and help with the dryness.

Secondly, you should sink your water and food bowls into the substrate so it will be easier for your tortoise to climb in and out. It’ll also reduce the chances of your tortoise flipping. Terracotta saucers (which can usually be found at home improvement stores for a couple of bucks) are preferred over pet store bowls, but I think yours is okay.

I can’t tell what kind of bulb you are using by the pictures, but I wouldn't use a MVB for basking and UV.
There are four elements to heating and lighting complied by Tom:
  1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
  2. Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a DT, a Russian, or other Testudo species. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for Testudo species or DTs. If your house is around 70, that's perfect for a baby.
  3. Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoises room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
  4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb. Regular "T 8" type UV tubes produce hardly any UV. CFL type UV bulbs are also ineffective, and sometimes dangerous, and should not be used.
Lastly, here is the care sheet for your tortoise:

https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...ise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/

I apologize for the length of this post, but I hope you will take this advice so Eddie will be even happier. :)
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2021
Messages
87
Location (City and/or State)
northern ireland
Eddie is very cute! :)

I don’t mean to be blunt, but there are some things that need to be fixed in regards to your care.

First, your tortoise looks dry. Make sure to soak him regularly for around 20-30 minutes in warm water. Next, you need to get your tortoise on a proper substrate. Rabbit or alfalfa pellets are not suitable for our tortoises because there aren’t any ways of dampening it, and it molds/gets dusty easily. Dampened orchid bark (known as reptibark or fir bark), cypress mulch, or coconut coir are excellent substrates and easy to find. These substrates are great because it’ll raise the humidity and help with the dryness.

Secondly, you should sink your water and food bowls into the substrate so it will be easier for your tortoise to climb in and out. It’ll also reduce the chances of your tortoise flipping. Terracotta saucers (which can usually be found at home improvement stores for a couple of bucks) are preferred over pet store bowls, but I think yours is okay.

I can’t tell what kind of bulb you are using by the pictures, but I wouldn't use a MVB for basking and UV.
There are four elements to heating and lighting complied by Tom:
  1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
  2. Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a DT, a Russian, or other Testudo species. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for Testudo species or DTs. If your house is around 70, that's perfect for a baby.
  3. Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoises room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
  4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb. Regular "T 8" type UV tubes produce hardly any UV. CFL type UV bulbs are also ineffective, and sometimes dangerous, and should not be used.
Lastly, here is the care sheet for your tortoise:

https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...ise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/

I apologize for the length of this post, but I hope you will take this advice so Eddie will be even happier. :)
thank you for the info! i actually ordered new substrate last night and his food bowls usually are sunk, some of these photos are from after a few days i had just got him but i have ordered him some new food and water bowls that are easier for him to climb into, he also gets soaked every day, i will look into his bulb as i don’t know for sure which one i’m using currently but i know i put the package of it somewhere- thank you!! :)
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 1, 2021
Messages
87
Location (City and/or State)
northern ireland
Beautiful pictures!
What happened to his nails? I noticed they are missing or just cut extra short.
Your tort has so much character :) I have a Russian as well! They are Awesome!
Yes, I realised a while after we got him he had none! I was so confused as I’ve never seen it, but I haven’t cut them. And yes, he’s so funny! Russians are awesome! ?
 
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