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Shoot--I think that is my mistake, I had the light hanging low. I just moved it up, and feel terrible. Hopefully it won't cause too many problems. Tortoises seem to be such a tough pet in some ways because they live so long. If it were a hamster, in two years I could try again having learned...

Hi everyone, Reading this forum has been a huge help for me with my son's tortoise. We really love him as a pet, but I'm always worried that I'm screwing him up. Because we live somewhere that has cold and long winters, he's been an inside tortoise--although with UVB lights, a decent diet of...

Rachel, I'm new to this too--and have made quite a few mistakes along the way. I think the key is to listening to the veterans here, which is what you're doing. Also, you're noticing troubling behavior and asking for advice before it gets really bad (e.g. blindness from the compact fluorescent)...

I have one marginated, which I've had for about 6 months. (It's my son's, actually.) It's funny, because for the first few months, he was the shyest thing around. We'd barely see him--he'd bury himself, come out to eat, then promptly bury himself again if anyone even glanced at him. Six months...

My guess would be eel.

Ha, I used to keep nano-reefs and would do water changes every week. Then I got a freshwater tank and worked on it with the same type of diligence; 80% of the fish would die every 7 days. I thought I was cursed and that people had been lying to me about freshwater tanks being easy. Then I just...

Thank you. That's great advice. I just need to figure out where to get something like that here. For now he just has a heavy layer of seran wrap over part of his tub and I've been spraying it and him down a lot, keeping the humidity around 70%.

This is just great.

That's high praise indeed. I believe it, though. The whole family absolutely loves the tortoise--and we enjoy his idiosyncrasies. It's like having a very quiet infant.

SB, I have a marginated about the same age, and living in similar situations. I could have written an identical post. I haven't been weighing him, but he seems to have gotten much bigger since I got him a couple months ago, and his behavior is really unpredictable. Sometimes he's out most of the...

Thanks, Luke!

Thanks!

Abdulla, yeah that's the problem. It's completely open. I should probably get some acrylic or plastic covering for part of it.

No, only since June. It seemed like the pet-store was keeping him very dry (but bathing him every day) so I've been afraid he'll be inclined to pyramiding. Thank you so much.

(Can I just say this is the most civil internet forum I've ever posted in? Everyone seems intent on being kind and helpful; It's a great place.)

Here he is post-bath and with his tub sprayed down so that, at the moment, the humidity is 80% under the basking light.

I'm a teacher and it's been summer, so I was spraying 3-4 times a day; work started last week, so I think I was much less attentive to it. I can definitely do it when I wake up and when I get home. I'll ask my son to work on it as well. I'm really terrified of him pyramiding, so I do appreciate...

Thanks. I just checked out his tub now, and the chips had gotten very dry. I sprayed it down, so it's definitely wet and humid there now. I like the idea of a humid hide, I'll try to work on that. He really likes to bury himself, so I've been hoping that the topsoil was damp enough for him. It...

Thanks, guys. Yeah, I have a hard time keeping the coconut coir moist under his basking lamp. (I mist it a few times a day, but I hadn't before this pic was taken.) Underneath the coconut is topsoil, and that seems to be somewhat damp. On the cooler side of the tub the humidity is reading at 70%...

This is the marginated tortoise we bought in the Czech Republic. Almost 2 years old now. (If you see anything I should be on the lookout for, let me know.)