am i doing it right

[mattkearley]

i feel like im always checking temps ,spraying the sides of is plastic container. The temp of the basking spot is 43 c and the cool side is 28c,i keep it on allday from 8am to 10pm and a uv bulb i turn both off at ten .Then cover the container when i wake up i check temp and it dropped to 20 i feed him just a hand full of weeds a day out of the garden and put some celsoim powder on every other day i allso soak him twice a day for 15 minnites . If there is any thing im missing out if you could tell me i would be gratefull thanks

 

[Livingstone]

Pictures are the best judge of setup.

However your basking spot temperature is a lil high, should be no greater than 40. What type of weeds are you feeding, you should check to make sure non are poisonous and that they are not calcium inhibitors. Your bathing schedule sounds good, just remember its all about consistency, with everything.

On a side note, you dont mention the age of the tortoise, I assume hatchling/juvenile. Excessive handling will stress the animal and can make it more prone to getting sick.

 

[Dizisdalife]

Matt, One thing that really helped me was to get an accurate thermometer. Once I could trust the reading I was able to adjust the height of the heating and basking lamps and have the correct temps. Didn't need to be checking the temps all the time. Do you have a water dish in the enclosure?

 

[Yvonne G]

If we're talking about a baby, then I think your night time temp is too cool. It should be around 75/24 degrees.

 

[Tom]

Yvonne is right. 20 is way too cool, especially if he has any humidity in there. I would try to keep it 26-27 in there all the time. When he's older and bigger, then the cooler temps won't matter as much.

 

[mattkearley]

thanks for or your help ,ordered new fermomters one for each end and some night heaters .and some cypress much beding and a humidity diel. Got to make sure i get it right ,do you feed once or twice a day cus noticed he was hungry cus eating the wood shavings so fed a gain and he munched up but dont want to over feed how much would you feed a 4 week old sulcata .many thanks matt

 

[Yvonne G]

I usually feed once a day, but its always a good idea to give them something else to think about if they are sampling their substrate. That was smart thinking on your part.

 

[Missy]

I had to put Tank on plain dirt because he would eat the mulch. I hope in a year or so I can put him back on mulch. I would love to see pics of your little tort

 

[Tom]

I feed a big pile in the morning. If they eat it all up right away, I'll give them some more in the afternoon. If it sits for a couple hours and they don't finish it, I give a little less the next day and no afternoon feeding. The best thing is to just put them in a large outdoor pen and let them graze on grass and weeds at will all day.

 

[Livingstone]

Tom, he's in Essex England. I think putting the tort outside is going to be problematic at this time of year (read damn cold).

 

[mattkearley]

yes it would be too cold now but hopfully in a cupple of month i can put him out in the afternoon when i finnish work