i got my hatchling russian tortoise 4 weeks ago he has never been very active he only spends at the most 1hr out of a burrow to eat some food and then goes back to a burrow for the rest of the day. is he sick what should i do?
Hello! his burrow is located right next to the basking spot the temp there is probably 100f 50-60⁒ humidity.1. Where is the "burrow" located and the temperature and humidity level of that particular spot?
2. How many times do you feed your tortoise per day?
3. What are the temperature and humidity levels of the four different zones? Basking, warm side, cool side, and overnight low.
yes he poops every day, okay the fixture says it goes on screen lids?Does your tortoise regularly poop? Do you see it during soakings and or during spot cleanings?
I saw a picture of your enclosure. Mesh screens can filter a good portion of the UVB away from tortoises. You may need to cut sections of the mesh out so that the UVB light can properly do it's job.
I see two lamp fixtures and one small tube fixture. Which of the lamp fixtures is for basking and which is the additional UVB? A single long strip uvb fixture (3-4 ft) will cover more area than what you're currently using now and it will do so at a lower wattage requirement. You might want to also consider building a top for that table so you can reach higher warm and cool side heat and humidity levels.
How are you measuring the temperature and humidity levels? The small liquid gauge reader you have in the picture may not be as accurate as ones that are used to monitor indoor and outdoor weather changes.
Fix the mesh/UVB issue. Lower basking temp to 95-105F, that's more than enough. Raise cool (80F) and warm side (85-90F) temperatures by 5. Try to reach 70-80% humidity level by regularly pouring water and mixing the substrate. Be sure to keep up with daily soakings.
Your baby needs humidity. You cannot achieve this without a solid roof of some sort that creates a closed chamber.thank you so much! so if i got everything right i should do the following? : drop basking spot temps to 95-105, buy 4ft UVB/UVA, remove the lid for the enclosure, raise humidity to 70-80⁒
thank you so much! so if i got everything right i should do the following? : drop basking spot temps to 95-105, buy 4ft UVB/UVA, remove the lid for the enclosure, raise humidity to 70-80⁒
okay! so basically i put the foil on cut out wholes for the lights and cut out a whole of the mesh for the uvb/uva light? also what is plastic filmYou can continue to use the mesh lid. Just cover the sections that aren't being occupied by the lighting fixtures with aluminum foil or plastic film. You'll need to switch to a lower wattage basking bulb for a closed chamber setup. A 40-45 watt incandescent flood bulb should be enough for a 5 x 3 ft enclosure. Play around with the lighting positions to obtain the best result.
Here is a good example of someone using plastic film:
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/tweaks-on-my-closed-chamber.70057/
also i kinda want to get a tank so when i put the foil on i can still see him because is the tortoise table i have i wont be able to see him yes i know they dont understand glass but i will put something around the bottom so would the exo terra 24x24x18 be good?
oh okay! thank youNo, that’s much too small. Assuming your tort is a hatchling, that enclosure would only last a few months.
Definitely don’t waste your money on another tank. Just oily glass or plexiglass on a portion of the table.
oh okay! thank you