Am i looking after her well? and also is my tort table setup okay?

[John123]

Hi, My names John and im new to the forums I Recently got a tortoise and im going to do my best to look after it as well as i can and give it a Very happy life Its a Horsefield, But its not very old, Im not sure exactly how old it is at the moment but im guessing 1 or 2 years, I Will post pictures

I have read that Compact Uvb bulbs can cause damage to Tortoises eyes and Skin especially if its a Juvenile or a baby
I Have an Exo-Terra 10.0 Compact UVB Bulb 26W
With an Exo-Terra Sun glo Basking lamp which is at around 30-35 Degrees C
I Turn them both on at the same time 8Am and then turn them both off at the same time 10Pm
Its a fairly large Tortoise table, but at the moment i have a Wood chips substrate which is changing to A Sand and top soil Mix next week
Theres a hot end and a cooler end
At night time the Temperature drops to around 15c
We Think its a she, so im going to say she ^^, She eats Dandelion leaves Petunia leaves and Pansy leaves and it would be great if somebody could tell me if poppy leaves were edible We try to give it as much as a varied diet as possible and try to stay away from lots of vegetables and fruit. She eats around 3 Leaves a day, I hope thats enough? And not too much.
But again, focusing on the UVB Bulb, Should i change it to a tube? Will this bulb cause any damage? Its brand new because the last one we had blew just after a few days.
If anyone can give me any tips or anything its much appreciated thankyou

Thanks!

 

[Jacob]

If The Mvb Bulb is A Coil Bulb Take it out asap, its known to cause eye damage!
Get A Powersun 100w uvb and heat bulb or an exo terra 120w uvb and heat!
I would Change the beeding so something that holds in moisture well such as zoo med cocnut bedding mixed with woodchips
or cyrpess mulch etc!
You want to spray your enclsure with a spray bottle and his shell several times daily, and bath him every other to every day!
Does he get any natural sun?
try to get him outside a couple hours weekly, or just 20 min a day!
You will notice a great new attitude when hes outside, the suns the best for him

 

[John123]

If The Mvb Bulb is A Coil Bulb Take it out asap, its known to cause eye damage!
Get A Powersun 100w uvb and heat bulb or an exo terra 120w uvb and heat!
I would Change the beeding so something that holds in moisture well such as zoo med cocnut bedding mixed with woodchips
or cyrpess mulch etc!
You want to spray your enclsure with a spray bottle and his shell several times daily, and bath him every other to every day!
Does he get any natural sun?
try to get him outside a couple hours weekly, or just 20 min a day!
You will notice a great new attitude when hes outside, the suns the best for him

Yes it is a coil bulb i will try to get rid of it as soon as possible
Iv heard good things about sand and top soil, do you think this is a good choice?
Unfortunately Where i live in the Uk its pouring down with rain at the moment but i will definetly be letting her outside when it brightens up

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Topsoil is fine - and sand can be alrite too in small amounts. I have a mixture of Peat moss, eco earth, black earth, sand and mulch for my substrate.

 

[Fernando]

I don't really like sand because it can be ingested accidentally by the tortoise and cause impaction internally. Top soil should be fine (organic). You can even use regular clean dirt, if you can get some. I use cypress mulch and spaghnum peat moss as my substrate. Try things out and use what works best for you and your tortoise ultimately.

 

[Jacob]

Many People Use A Mixture of sand and many people dont bother with it!
Because it messy, and gets in the torts eye, also if they digest it its bad for there organs

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi John:

Welcome to the forum!!

 

[coreyc]

Welcome to the forum John

 

[gmayor]

I have dirt about less than half and on top is all pathaway mulch my russian seems to love it and has had no Problems with that substrate so far but like the other guys said whatever your tort likes the best