- Joined
- Jun 7, 2010
- Messages
- 51
I currently have 2 torts. I have a leopard that I have had for close to a year now and a sulcata that I just got. I thought I had a pretty good set up for them but after browsing the site, I know I need to make some immediate changes.
First of, I am not new to reptiles. I have been keep snakes for some time now. But torts are a totally different animal (literally). I also should add that I live in Florida and the torts are kept in my animal room where the temp stays at 78.
The current set up (and yes i did research this) is 2 extra large sterilite tubs with newspaper and timothy hay for substrate. both have "walk in" type water bowls and hides. they are heated by a retpile dome heater that has a heater and UV light in one. I also have 2 domes with dester compact floresent bulbs. I soak the torts every other day. I only offer fresh, home grown foods usually in a mix. I got a list of acceptable plants from africantortoise.com and it cross references with this site.
Apparently I fell into the "desert torts don't need humidty" trap and need to change my substrate. On a positive note, the leopard came to me with pyramiding but under my care, I can see the shell is flattening out even with the crappy set up. I was told by a guy in my herp club that breeds sulcatas to stay away from mulch because they will eat it, yet I see many set ups on here where people use mulch so I am curious about this. What would be a good soil to use for both animals? I also have scorpions and tarantulas and keep them on a mix of coco fiber, peat moss, and vermiculite. I assume the vermiculite is not a good way to go due to possible ingestion but what about the other two?
After reading up a bit on this site, when I switch over to a new type of soil, I plan on misting the animals more. Should I still soak them even with misting?
I am also getting a lot of differences in reccomended temperatures. I was keeping the warm end of both at 90 degrees but the sulcata was just sleeping all day and wasn't active. After reading a site that states sulcatas should be kept at 85 when young, i droped the temp and noticed a quick improvement on the animals activity. What are the good temps for both animals? The leopard seems fine with a 90 degree warm end but not the sulcata. And what is the reccomended bulb? Are the mercury vapor bulbs the best? I plan on suspending them above the enclosures and the mercury vapors are in the 100 watt range. How far up is to far up in terms of UVB will I lose the wave lenghts needed by the animals?
I must say the variation of information on torts is astounding! There is some variation with snakes but no where near the variation as with torts. And sorry for so many questions!! I just really want to get this right before it becomes a problem.
First of, I am not new to reptiles. I have been keep snakes for some time now. But torts are a totally different animal (literally). I also should add that I live in Florida and the torts are kept in my animal room where the temp stays at 78.
The current set up (and yes i did research this) is 2 extra large sterilite tubs with newspaper and timothy hay for substrate. both have "walk in" type water bowls and hides. they are heated by a retpile dome heater that has a heater and UV light in one. I also have 2 domes with dester compact floresent bulbs. I soak the torts every other day. I only offer fresh, home grown foods usually in a mix. I got a list of acceptable plants from africantortoise.com and it cross references with this site.
Apparently I fell into the "desert torts don't need humidty" trap and need to change my substrate. On a positive note, the leopard came to me with pyramiding but under my care, I can see the shell is flattening out even with the crappy set up. I was told by a guy in my herp club that breeds sulcatas to stay away from mulch because they will eat it, yet I see many set ups on here where people use mulch so I am curious about this. What would be a good soil to use for both animals? I also have scorpions and tarantulas and keep them on a mix of coco fiber, peat moss, and vermiculite. I assume the vermiculite is not a good way to go due to possible ingestion but what about the other two?
After reading up a bit on this site, when I switch over to a new type of soil, I plan on misting the animals more. Should I still soak them even with misting?
I am also getting a lot of differences in reccomended temperatures. I was keeping the warm end of both at 90 degrees but the sulcata was just sleeping all day and wasn't active. After reading a site that states sulcatas should be kept at 85 when young, i droped the temp and noticed a quick improvement on the animals activity. What are the good temps for both animals? The leopard seems fine with a 90 degree warm end but not the sulcata. And what is the reccomended bulb? Are the mercury vapor bulbs the best? I plan on suspending them above the enclosures and the mercury vapors are in the 100 watt range. How far up is to far up in terms of UVB will I lose the wave lenghts needed by the animals?
I must say the variation of information on torts is astounding! There is some variation with snakes but no where near the variation as with torts. And sorry for so many questions!! I just really want to get this right before it becomes a problem.