Care Opinions for my Greek

[Beastley]

Hello, I have a 3 y.o. Greek male named Sam. Sam is about 6/7 inches big.

Anyway, I'm wondering if I am harming him, or setting myself up for a future disaster.

Here's how I take care of him:
He is housed in a home made cage made of wood that is 4'Lx 2 1/2' Wide x at least 18" tall.

I use a coil style UVB Light, and a CHE. He gets at least 12 hours a day of light. And the CHE is always on (we have a drafty house). The temp under the CHE usually is @ around 92 degrees, and the rest of the cage is around 80 or so.

His substrate is a 80/20 soil play sand mix.

He eats (a lot) everyday, poops regularly, is very active everyday.

This is where I have questions:

I do not mist him or soak him at all. He always has fresh water, and his water dish is open and large enough to soak himself in and drink from.

I have been doing this for about 10 months now. I was soaking him, but he had a URI when I got him, and he didn't get rid of it until I stopped soaking him.

My theory is that he will soak if he needs to.

Like I said before he is VERY active and seems very healthy. His shell does look a little dry at times, but others not.

So do you think I need to change my ways, or keep doing what I've been doing?

 

[ChiKat]

The first thing I would recommend is getting rid of the coil bulb. They have been known to cause eye problems (and even blindness) in tortoises.
What do you feed him?

 

[GBtortoises]

The first thing that I would ask is what subspecies of Greek is your tortoise? There are some slight differences between Northern Mediterranean Ibera Greeks, Middle Eastern Greeks and North African Greeks. A few photos posted here could tell if you aren't sure. There are several people here with good Greek care knowledge but it also helps to know what tghe subspecies is or at least from what geographical area that it comes from when it relates to captive care information.

I agree with Katie-ditch the compact flourescent UV bulb. There have been studies published that these style bulbs can cause permanent eye problems with lizards and tortoises. Plus because of their design and how they are typically mounted (in a hooded fixture), they direct the light to a very specific area. UVB tubes or MVB bulbs which are typically mounted at more of a distance, disperse the light better than do CFL bulbs.

Most people use a light producing basking source such as a regular incandescent or a Mercury Vapor bulb. They produce adequate basking heat and light for normal activity. The generally accepted basking temperature range is anywhere from 95-110 degrees directly under the center of the light source.

It's doubtful that the URI had anything to do with being soaked. It's unusual that a true URI would go away on it's own without before becoming very severe. In most cases they progress rapidly if untreated. If it remained as a clear fluid without heavy discharge it could have been what some refer to as "Runny nose syndrome". Common causes of RNS are overall dryness, dusty conditions, low humidity and the other extreme excessive dampness without proper heat and light. It can be quite common with Ibera Greeks and Marginted tortoises that are kept in conditions too dry, regardless of having access to drinking water or not. Most older literature states that it's a harmless condition but it's now known that the condition should be treated and not allowed to "run it's course". It is usually linked to a bacterial or virual infection. I used to see it quite often with newly acquired Marginateds and Ibera years ago until I began keeping them in a higher ambient air humidity and spraying their substrates more often. I haven't seen a case of it since.

 

[Beastley]

Sorry, I didn't mention that he did o to the vet and was put on meds for his URI


Also, I live in northern Michigan (not the U.P.), and I plan on putting him outside a lot this summer. When will be acceptable temp wise? Last year we only had maybe a week of +90 fht. Temps. If it's in the upper 70's and low 80's will that be o.k.?

 

[GBtortoises]

Greeks do great outdoors during the summertime as long as they have adequate shelter and the other necessities. I live in the Northeast and mine are outdoors 24/7 from about late April to early October. Mine are also all Northern Mediterranean Ibera which are more tolerant of cold and climate fluctuations. That is one of the reasons that it's important to know what subspecies of Greek that you have. They natural range covers a vast arrary of different climatic zones in the wild. Temperatures here during the summer average in the 70's to low 80's with nights in the low to mid 60's, occasionally cooler both at night and during the daytime. Depending upon what geographical area that your's is from, it may not have the same tolerance levels.

 

[bikerchicspain]

As people have said , Get rid of the coil light, Horrible and dangerous things.

I too would like to know exactly what species of greek you have, As GB said each species and sub species have their very own needs, some rather arid to some where its slightly moist.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you'll post some good pictures of the carapace, looking down on it, and of the plastron, someone here will be able to help you I.D. the subspecies.