under lamp all day?

[SnugglesMuggles]

Hi, New russian owner here. My heat gun is coming and I am making the trek to get him a better home and water dish later today. My worry is for the past 2 days he only sits under the lamp. Will his shell dry out? I am going to make sure its warm enough for him today. I am not sure the gages are accurate and I ordered higher rated ones..Will his shell dry out ? He let me bathe him yesterday and lets me pet him but I am worried because he spends ALL day in the same spot. The rest of his area is about the same temp.

 

[Tom]

That is an indication that the ambient temperature in the rest of the enclosure is too cool. Warm up the whole enclosure a bit with a CHE on a thermostat, and also check the basking temp directly under the bulb by laying a digital thermometer on its back directly under the bulb and letting it cook there for an hour. Adjust the height or the wattage of the bulb as needed.

The ramped water bowl is a serious danger to a tortoise. That needs to be removed immediately. Those are fine for snakes and lizards, but tortoises flip and drown in them.

Further help: Your substrate is too dry and loose. Better to use orchid bark, but if you are going to use coir, keep it damp and hand pack it firmly. You need a flat rock or piece of slate under the basking bulb. Unfortunately, this tank is much too small for a Russian tortoise. You need something at least 4x8 feet indoors, and this time of year, outdoors is much better.

Check this out and look for the temperate species care sheet as well as the heating/lighting breakdown near the bottom.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[SnugglesMuggles]

That is an indication that the ambient temperature in the rest of the enclosure is too cool. Warm up the whole enclosure a bit with a CHE on a thermostat, and also check the basking temp directly under the bulb by laying a digital thermometer on its back directly under the bulb and letting it cook there for an hour. Adjust the height or the wattage of the bulb as needed.

The ramped water bowl is a serious danger to a tortoise. That needs to be removed immediately. Those are fine for snakes and lizards, but tortoises flip and drown in them.

Further help: Your substrate is too dry and loose. Better to use orchid bark, but if you are going to use coir, keep it damp and hand pack it firmly. You need a flat rock or piece of slate under the basking bulb. Unfortunately, this tank is much too small for a Russian tortoise. You need something at least 4x8 feet indoors, and this time of year, outdoors is much better.

Check this out and look for the temperate species care sheet as well as the heating/lighting breakdown near the bottom.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Handpacked his area, his area he is with my crappy gun was 80 but I am getting a more expensive accurate gun today. I am taking out his water and trying to get a dish but the petstore did not have many in the town I am going and like 5 people have given me different suggestions. But I will do my best. I ordered the bark it will be here friday since the one at the hardware store was nasty looking and mixed with other types of mulch /:

 

[Tom]

Handpacked his area, his area he is with my crappy gun was 80 but I am getting a more expensive accurate gun today. I am taking out his water and trying to get a dish but the petstore did not have many in the town I am going and like 5 people have given me different suggestions. But I will do my best. I ordered the bark it will be here friday since the one at the hardware store was nasty looking and mixed with other types of mulch /:

Get out of the pet store and into the hardware store for tortoise supplies. The best water and food bowls are terra cotta plant saucers. Sink them down into the substrate so the rim is nearly level with the surface.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Agreed.
Everything you'll need from now on WILL NOT be at a pet store.
Welcome to the forum

 

[Maggie3fan]

Forget everything you don't know about tort keeping and let us help you

 

[Tom]

Handpacked his area, his area he is with my crappy gun was 80 but I am getting a more expensive accurate gun today. I am taking out his water and trying to get a dish but the petstore did not have many in the town I am going and like 5 people have given me different suggestions. But I will do my best. I ordered the bark it will be here friday since the one at the hardware store was nasty looking and mixed with other types of mulch /:

I don't use temp guns at all. I use digital thermometers... from the hardware store. Actually, since prices skyrocketed due to inflation, I started getting my thermometers on Amazon instead.