First Post

[Zouwu]

Hi, I'm new here and haven't completely got the hang of this site yet. But my friend just gave me her tortoise. I used to watch him when she went out of town but she has too much on her plate. I've had him for a total of 10min lol

This is his enclosure as it was given to me. And that is a pic of him, his name is Donatello.

I've done enough research to know that he is pyramiding and my guess is in this case it's diet and humidity related. I'm also guessing he will be outgrowing this enclosure soon. His Humidity is 55 and his temp (by the basking lamp is 80). I'm first and foremost a hermit crab keeper so any tips are more than welcome. Based on the care sheets humidity needs to go up yeah?

 

[TriciaStringer]

Congrats on your new tort! I don’t have a leopard tortoise, so I won’t give any advice. You found the BEST place to get advice.

 

[EllieMay]

Welcome.. try and get that humidity up over 80%.... congratulations on your new tort!!!

 

[Cheryl Hills]

Welcome to the forum. Your enclosure needs a few updates. If you go to the species specific sections, look under the salcata section for the care sheet. The salcata one is the same as for a leopard tort. The substrate needs to be changed, sand can and will cause irritation and or impaction risk. Your temps under the basking light should be 95 to 100 degrees . Being to low, the tortoise can not digest his food. Do you have a uvb light? Anyway, read the care sheet and make the changes needed. Come back with any questions you may have. We are here to help.

 

[LaLaP]

Hello and welcome!

The analog temperature dials you have are notoriously inaccurate. I recommend getting a temperature gun that you point and shoot. It's great for spot checking your basking area. With the way those gauges are they aren't telling you what the basking temp is... just a nearby temp (plus they are probably wrong about that). A temp gun is about $12 in a hardware store. For measuring the ambient temp in your enclosure you should get a digital temp gauge. Accurite is a good brand. Just google accurite digital temperature gauge and be sure to get one that reads humidity also.

 

[LaLaP]

Here's another tip... I would take everything out of that enclosure and line the bottom with thick plastic like a shower curtain or pond liner and then put in a good substrate like a combination of coco coir and orchid bark. Wet the substrate before you put it in and get a good spray bottle so you can spray it down every day or so. Only do this after you get your temps sorted. A wet, warm tortoise is healthy but a wet, cold tortoise will get sick.

Also do you have a uvb light? If that one light you have is a heat/uvb combo then your tort isn't actually getting uvb because it doesn't go through glass or plexiglass.... oh I just looked again... maybe there is a hole cut in the plexiglass?

 

[Zouwu]

I haven't double checked the model number but I know one of these is uvb it's on the inside.

Do under tank heaters (being placed anywhere but underneath) go well with torts?

I use moss from the pet store to help with humidity for other pets, can I use that with my tort as well as the coco sub?

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Zouwu]

If I use a shower liner do I need to sorry about this?

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

 

[Zouwu]

Temp by the heating lamp is 90°F humidity under heating lamp is 67 but there is no way that's right. I still need to calibrate the thing. UVB is on (should I leave that on all the time?)

I decided to go without the shower liner because the smell gave me a head ache and i noticed all the corners were siliconed closed.

Assuming my humidity gets goin iv got an old tank toy in the garage for him to climb on, I'll start growing some decent food for him when there isn't snow and is the moss cool? Or is that bad for him?

Anything else? (As I skim the care sheets)

 

[LaLaP]

Looking good! That long fluorescent light might be the uvb. You can have it on during the day with the heat lamp (12-14 hours). Timers make that easy and they are cheap.

Some torts will eat the moss and it can cause them to get impacted which is bad news. Some torts don't eat it. If he has never had moss before I wouldn't take the chance.

Heat mats don't really go well with torts. There are a couple brands that are great for the really big tortoises (sulcatas) but usually only if they live outside all year. The problem with most heat mats is that they get too hot and will burn a tort. I guess they don't feel it until the damage is done. If you do need extra heat check out "ceramic heat emitters" (che) and "radiant heat panels" (rhp).

The red lights cause problems for some torts. They are meant to be night time lights but they disturb their sleep. It's better if it's totally dark. Also it causes some torts to eat the substrate because it looks red and red is yummy.

Good call on the smelly shower curtain.

You've done good work! You're a great tortoise parent!

 

[Zouwu]

Thanks! I've kept hermit crabs for 10 years so it's good practice for judgement calls.

The previous owner put petshop moss into the water bowl. Lol I won't do that but she also kept a consistent eating (and bathing) schedule. She was also a poor grocery store shopper.

I haven't seen him eat the moss yet. I'll keep my eye on him and if he starts eating it I'll take it out or make it unreachable. If I can keep his food varied he probably won't care for it. Right now he is more curious about the acurite than the moss. But thanks for the heads up.

(Looks like humidity directly under the heat lamp is around 75. Ill move the acurite but I assume the dark side is probably above 80.)

Is it common to put a simple little cat toy or something for them to play with?

 

[LaLaP]

Thanks! I've kept hermit crabs for 10 years so it's good practice for judgement calls.

The previous owner put petshop moss into the water bowl. Lol I won't do that but she also kept a consistent eating (and bathing) schedule. She was also a poor grocery store shopper.

I haven't seen him eat the moss yet. I'll keep my eye on him and if he starts eating it I'll take it out or make it unreachable. If I can keep his food varied he probably won't care for it. Right now he is more curious about the acurite than the moss. But thanks for the heads up.

(Looks like humidity directly under the heat lamp is around 75. Ill move the acurite but I assume the dark side is probably above 80.)

Is it common to put a simple little cat toy or something for them to play with?

All sounds great!

Some people do put toys in. Some torts will knock a ball around. Mine won't
Some people put statues of tortoises and say the torts love it. Some argue that they are trying to get the other tortoise to leave their territory! Haha!
There was a fun thread a few weeks ago about tortoise enrichment. You should search the forum if you wanna read about people's thoughts on entertaining their torts. It's interesting.
Both my torts love to climb and one of them loves to slide.. yes slide!
It's fun to try new things in their enclosures. They are so curious about new things as you are finding with the accurite.

How many hermit crabs do you have? I'd love to see a pic!

 

[Ray--Opo]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Zouwu]

So I have two cats, and three hermit crabs. Bagheera (black cat) Iris (tabby), both males, the biggest crab is Thing 1 and I have had him for about 10 years.

Sounds good I will play around with toys and ramps for him once I get his temp and humidity stabilized. For once i would love to acquire a desert pet, living in Utah.

 

[Ray--Opo]

Wow those crabs are cool. Do you have to put bigger shells in there as they grow?

 

[Zouwu]

Yeah we call it a shell shop because believe it or not crabs have preferences for size, shell type, shell opening, opening size, coil length, shell weight, color etc.

They also need more substrate than tortoises too funny enough. But they are fun, they climb, the dig, they run, they chirp, they swim, they bounce and sometimes try to fly.

Also my acurite is reading high 60s °F at night. Should I get a stronger ceramic bulb than the one I have now?

 

[Ray--Opo]

If your talking for Donatello anywhere in the enclosure down low where Donatello is shouldn't get below 80. A higher watt CHE might help. But if you haven't covered the top yet use some tin foil and cover and see if the temp goes up. I went with a tub at first and when I found out it needed to be covered this is what I did. Once I painted it held in the humidity great. I then added a cam so I could keep a eye on Opo all the time with my phone.

 

[TammyJ]

Welcome, love the tortoise, cats and especially the hermit crabs. I have always kept hermit or "soldier" crabs as we call them here in Jamaica. My son found one walking merrily along on a beach on the south coast whose chosen shell was a shotgun shell, bright blue. Whatever works!!! I had found one too, years and years ago using a vienna sausage tin. No kidding.
Look forward to your posts. You came to a good place. I came here in 2016 and stayed. Never been sorry.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome!