Baby tort set up help

Hemme323

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Joined
Feb 19, 2020
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Minnesota
I have a baby Ibera Greek tort and I’m building a tote set up for him. I am having trouble with temps and set up of everything. I was wondering what thermostats are the best and what lights everyone is using. I want to make a big order of new stuff and want to do the best I can.

what temps are they best for them from the basking spot to the cold end.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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Here is the right info:
Beginner Mistakes
To comment on Tom's article, go here: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-split-Beginner-Mistakes#axzz1tG8s05M5 Over the years many of us, myself included, have made many of these mistakes, and we have certainly seen them made many times by others. With springtime upon us and many new...
tortoiseforum.org

Care for greek and Russian babies is the same so:
Russian Tortoise Care Sheet
Russian tortoises have great personalities, are very hardy, tolerate a wide variety of enclosure parameters, stay small, and are generally a good "starter" tortoise in my opinion. Here is how I like to set them up: Indoor Enclosure type and size: Most people want to know the minimum size...
tortoiseforum.org

And a little more help:
There are four elements to heating and lighting:
  1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
  2. Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a Russian or other Testudo species. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for Testudo species.
  3. Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoises room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
  4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb. Regular "T 8" type UV tubes produce hardly any UV. CFL type UV bulbs are also ineffective, and sometimes dangerous, and should not be used.
 

Hemme323

New Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Messages
24
Location (City and/or State)
Minnesota
Thank you Tom for helping on your light placement how far off the back of your tort do you start on a new set up like 12 inches?
 

Hemme323

New Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Messages
24
Location (City and/or State)
Minnesota
I picked up a 50watt flood after you messaged me that and so far it’s holding the basking spot perfect
 
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