New Horsfield Owner ☺

[JaymeFrances]

Thankyou!

 

[Greta16]

It doesn't say that it does I hope not! It just says it's a dirt and sand mix. Another question, she spent the night in her water dish last night... is this okay? Or a sign that she's too hot?

I'm not sure about the sleeping in water thing, I'm a new tort mommy too, since March 16. Stick around here and you'll learn tons. I would change the substrate. Sand is bad. I know from experience that until you get that temp gun your temps may be a little off. I had one of those cheap thermometers for reptiles that you stick on the side of the enclosure. That was reading 100 F in her basking spot. I got me heat gun and lo and behold it as 107F! I've got the temps figured out now and Hermie isn't sleeping all the time now. Good luck and congrats again!

 

[JaymeFrances]

I'm not sure about the sleeping in water thing, I'm a new tort mommy too, since March 16. Stick around here and you'll learn tons. I would change the substrate. Sand is bad. I know from experience that until you get that temp gun your temps may be a little off. I had one of those cheap thermometers for reptiles that you stick on the side of the enclosure. That was reading 100 F in her basking spot. I got me heat gun and lo and behold it as 107F! I've got the temps figured out now and Hermie isn't sleeping all the time now. Good luck and congrats again!

Thankyou Greta! She seems to be doing okay now I've cooled it off a bit, my temp gun is on it's way! I'm so grateful for everyone's help already and I'm pretty sure I'll have hundreds more questions to ask... most importantly, she's eating and drinking!! If there's any top tips you've learned while you've had your baby, I'd definitely be grateful!

 

[Greta16]

That's great! Read, read , and read some more. I've been on here everyday and learned so much and talked with some really great people.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi Jayme and welcome.
Are you in the UK?
There is a lot to learn and this is the best place for up to date advice that pet shops don't know about or tell you.
Their priority is profit so they often sell unsafe or unsuitable equipment to new owners. Always check her before spending your hard earned cash in them as the forum could save you a lot of money.
Torts like to eat small white stones which could cause problems and sand could cause the gut to become impacted if ingested with food so I would change it for a substrate the caresheet recommends.
Does your bulb emit uvb as well as heat? Your tort needs uvb to digest food and absorb minerals etc .
For the day I have always used a mercury vapour bulb (MVB) which gives heat light and uvb in one bulb. There are very easy to use.
You could add some pots of plants in your enclosure which will make it a bit more interesting for your tort and help with the humidity. Spider plants are popular and tort safe if nibbled, but if shop bought report in chemical free soil and allow time for any fertilisers or sprays that may have been used on them to grow out. if you bury the pots in the substrate they are easy to swap in and out if destroyed by your little bulldozer. www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is a good guide to tort safe plants for food and enclosures.

 

[JaymeFrances]

Hi Jayme and welcome.
Are you in the UK?
There is a lot to learn and this is the best place for up to date advice that pet shops don't know about or tell you.
Their priority is profit so they often sell unsafe or unsuitable equipment to new owners. Always check her before spending your hard earned cash in them as the forum could save you a lot of money.
Torts like to eat small white stones which could cause problems and sand could cause the gut to become impacted if ingested with food so I would change it for a substrate the caresheet recommends.
Does your bulb emit uvb as well as heat? Your tort needs uvb to digest food and absorb minerals etc .
For the day I have always used a mercury vapour bulb (MVB) which gives heat light and uvb in one bulb. There are very easy to use.
You could add some pots of plants in your enclosure which will make it a bit more interesting for your tort and help with the humidity. Spider plants are popular and tort safe if nibbled, but if shop bought report in chemical free soil and allow time for any fertilisers or sprays that may have been used on them to grow out. if you bury the pots in the substrate they are easy to swap in and out if destroyed by your little bulldozer. www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is a good guide to tort safe plants for food and enclosures.

The bulb does heat, light and uvb ☺ I'm going to have a look at ordering some new substrate tomorrow and some more of it! She seems super keen on burying and digging haha could I grow a seed mix straight into the substrate?

 

[JaymeFrances]

Yes I'm in the uk, near to oxford... sorry I missed that bit!

 

[Lyn W]

The bulb does heat, light and uvb ☺ I'm going to have a look at ordering some new substrate tomorrow and some more of it! She seems super keen on burying and digging haha could I grow a seed mix straight into the substrate?

I think I've read that Russians/horsefields like to dig and shouldn't have substrate that is too dry - but the caresheet will help you with that. I have a leopard and he has different needs.
I believe Russians are great climbers too and successful escape artists so if you have an outdoor enclosure for warmer weather make sure he can't burrow or climb out (as well as being safe from gulls or birds that may see him as packed lunch!)
You could try growing seeds in the enclosure but my guess is they would get trampled before growing, but growing them in trays and sinking them into the substrate may work - you can swap them in when they are used up then. I grow dandies in my outside enclosure using the seed heads from wild ones and have tried the tort seed mix out there this year but they seem slow to grow.

 

[JaymeFrances]

I think I've read that Russians/horsefields like to dig and shouldn't have substrate that is too dry - but the caresheet will help you with that. I have a leopard and he has different needs.
I believe Russians are great climbers too and successful escape artists so if you have an outdoor enclosure for warmer weather make sure he can't burrow or climb out (as well as being safe from gulls or birds that may see him as packed lunch!)
You could try growing seeds in the enclosure but my guess is they would get trampled before growing, but growing them in trays and sinking them into the substrate may work - you can swap them in when they are used up then. I grow dandies in my outside enclosure using the seed heads from wild ones and have tried the tort seed mix out there this year but they seem slow to grow.

Collecting dandelion seed heads is a really good idea! I've got an artificial lawn but I have a big trough planter growing lots of tortoise friendly plants to feed! It's too cold to get her outside at the moment and she's still quite young for the cold so I'm working on the outdoor enclosure, I've only had her for two days I'm sure with all this help we'll be sorted in no time!!

 

[JaymeFrances]

Do any of you work with just a heat lamp and a long bulb? My thermostat keeps turning the basking lamp off... is this okay? I feel I may have to get some more electrical fitted it's taking me a while to sort this out! My cool end is 22 warm end 28 and basking spot around 35-37 (all Celsius) how far out am I?! More silly questions sorry guys!! Terra is doing fine with all my tinkering though ☺

 

[JoesMum]

The basking lamp should not be on a thermostat.

Basking must be available throughout the day period.

Control the heat under the basking lamp by raising or lowering it.

A thermostat only gets used with a Ceramic Heat Emitter which makes sure the ambient heat doesn't drop too low

 

[JaymeFrances]

Pretty much what I thought, I need to somehow disconnect the thermostat! I'll get that sorted... are the temperatures okay?

 

[JoesMum]

The temperatures sound about right

 

[JaymeFrances]

Thankyou, now just to keep them that way!!