Smith.Tyler
New Member
Thanks so much for all the advice, yea the greenhouse will be inside, using the exact UVB you said right now, and right now im using a single 35w halogen bulb for heat, what kind of bulbs/heat would you recommend.Not to be captain obvious but make sure you don't use that greenhouse outside, it will heat up like a car in the sun and roast him. You are going to need to get a tube UV bulb like an Arcadia Desert 12% T5 bulb and you will probably need several heat sources and thermostats for an enclosure that large.
As far as food sources go, You have to go outside and find it as well as grow some yourself. Plant hibiscus everywhere you can around the house. We have ripped out almost all of our hedges and replaced them with hibiscus. Ask your friends and family to grow it too and have them save the trimmings. I would suggest planting the variegated leaf variety if you can find it, it tends to produce much more foliage than flowers which is what you want.
Weeds are easy too, we can feed anything we find around our property with the exception of Lantana. Use the Picture This app on your phone to see what is growing around you. You can look up the plants on tortoise table or ask here. Usually you can look on the internet and find someone asking if their horse can it it, if it is safe for a horse we usually feed it.
Vines are everywhere. Grapevine and Virginia Creeper smother everything around here.
Spineless Opuntia Cactus pads can be found at your local Mexican/Latin market. You can and should grow them yourself too. Keep an eye out for it when you are driving around, you can always stop and ask if you can have some. Most people are happy to get rid of it and are thrilled to find out you are feeding it to a tortoise. We actually printed flyers that we put in the mailbox of houses that have tons of cactus, we also check Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for people that want to get rid of it. We need a lot of it though so that is a bit extreme. It is a fantastic food because it lasts for weeks or months.
The pellets can be ordered off Chewy, make sure you get the Mazuri LS type.