Recent content by Markw84

I have some available, and live farily close (1 hr+ away) from you.

Incubated at 88°, they will take about 85 days to hatch. Warmer will be shorter. Cooler takes longer.

baby turtles need lots of hiding areas to feel secure. In the wild they would be found hiding in water plants, never in the open where they become an easy meal for a bass or bullfrog or heron, etc. Yours is most likely staying near the filter as it is the only plants in the tank where it feels...

85° is not too hot for a sulcata at night. I do let mine stay at 80° at night. You mention a heat lamp. What are you using? If it gives off any light at all, it is not suitable and your tortoise would then be trying to find a dark place to sleep. A Ceramic Heat Emitter or a Radiant Heat...

Liar is a harsh word and does not apply here. A liar is someone saying things they know is not true. Big difference from someone saying something as opinion when they don't have all the knowledge as perhaps the latest research has shown. You can talk to hundreds of "experts" including the...

In addition to what @Tom is trying to tell you, I will tell you that the deep heat projector is bad for a tortoise. It is primarily near IR and extremely desiccating on the shell. It will Contribute greatly to pyramiding. The website you are referring to says its great for reptiles, and it is...

Those fixtues are pretty useless for most any buld we would use. Those deep dome fixtures seem to be the most popular fixture sold by pet stores. But they are too deep and too narrow for most bulbs except very low wattage indancescent or fluorescent compact bulbs. Too much heat is bad for a...

Baby turtles live the bulk of their days hidden in water plants close to the edge of streams or ponds. The need that security. I fill my tanks with plenty of fake, plastic plant garlands I cut to 2 ft lengths and then anchor to the bottom so the rest floats to the surface. this give the...

You simply do not have enough light in the enclosure for your tortoise to act normally. I believer you are confused. If you look at @Tom s post above (post #9) he lists the four elements of proper heat and light. Your enclosures is set up with only 2 of them - heat and UVB. And the UVB from...

It is my uinderstanding that these laws being referred to are state laws. It is a California state law that forbids breeding, etc. I know the same applies to Actinemys, and those are sold legally on the east coast. Similar laws (without the stupid no breeding) exists with spotted turtles on...

I will add that I believe cool body temperatures contributes to the formation of stones and harder urates. There is a very big difference in the solubility of uric acid at 80° vs 65°. Although you are in Arizona, you do let him sleep in a burrow where ground temperatures are much lower than a...

Sorry I didn't see this until now as I'd like to reply. I would not dim the output to a fluorescent bulb. There is very specific electrical current needed to vaporize the mercury to the right temp and generate the wavelengths of light. It will definitely affect the UVB output % and shorten...

It is quite normal to not see any visible white urates with a tortoise kept warm at all times and well hydrated with a good diet. They will expel their normal uric acid concentrate in the water they release before it concentrates into more solid urates. This is also especially true when the...

While pines and firs are in the same family, they are divided into separate subfamilies as they are so different from each other. If you a familiar with working with wood, you will know there are big differences in the wood alone. Fir is a much more stable wood with tighter grain, while pine...

Just do a search for "BR30 incandescent light bulb" Some will pop up and you have to look through to check they are incandescent, not replacement LED. I get few choices and they are marked that they cannot be shipped to me in California. Like this one...