Hi all,
We inherited a rather large Greek tortoise from my partner's grandmother about two years ago now. The first year we had her we concentrated on making sure she was getting a healthy diet (the grandmother in question had sadly fed her rather exclusively on iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber since she had her in the late 70s/early 80s). We did lots of research and she is now on a proper diet involving all the right food and supplements etc. That first year, she lived in a temporary enclosure in the garden for the summer months, coming into the house at night if it was cool and then hibernated as usual from October to April (we're in the UK).
Last year, we built her an enclosure measuring roughly 6ft by 3ft (1.83 metres by 91.5cm - she also has access to the rest of the greenhouse if she wants, and she often does in the summer, but that is non-substrated and with no artificial heating) within the greenhouse with the correct substrate, a proper 'house' in which to sleep (filled with straw) and an overhead "160w D3" UV basking lamp. She also has unlimited access to the secure garden via a ramp going in and out of the greenhouse for the sunny, warm days in the summer. Again, she hibernated in October and we kept her in a box in the garage. We'll be waking her up in the next week or two as spring hits.
Firstly, is there anything about anything I've said so far which worries anyone?! Is there anything I've mentioned which we really shouldn't be doing or should change at all?
Secondly, as we're in the UK, there were many days last year where it just wasn't warm enough for her in the greenhouse, even with the basking lamp and we had to bring her into the house, which isn't ideal as we don't have a proper enclosure for her there. We want to change that this year, so we're looking into extra heating/lighting, but there's so much info out there, it's a bit overwhelming.
Can anyone provide advice as to what other heating solutions we need to make sure the enclosure/greenhouse remains the right temperature throughout the day and night? I know there are ceramic heating elements - are these available as clamp-type devices that we can attach over the enclosure? I've also read about heating mats, how do they work? How about UV? Do we need more UV light or will the basking lamp provide enough considering she'll be in the garden most days when it's sunny?
Sorry for the long post, any comments/advice will be much appreciated.
We inherited a rather large Greek tortoise from my partner's grandmother about two years ago now. The first year we had her we concentrated on making sure she was getting a healthy diet (the grandmother in question had sadly fed her rather exclusively on iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber since she had her in the late 70s/early 80s). We did lots of research and she is now on a proper diet involving all the right food and supplements etc. That first year, she lived in a temporary enclosure in the garden for the summer months, coming into the house at night if it was cool and then hibernated as usual from October to April (we're in the UK).
Last year, we built her an enclosure measuring roughly 6ft by 3ft (1.83 metres by 91.5cm - she also has access to the rest of the greenhouse if she wants, and she often does in the summer, but that is non-substrated and with no artificial heating) within the greenhouse with the correct substrate, a proper 'house' in which to sleep (filled with straw) and an overhead "160w D3" UV basking lamp. She also has unlimited access to the secure garden via a ramp going in and out of the greenhouse for the sunny, warm days in the summer. Again, she hibernated in October and we kept her in a box in the garage. We'll be waking her up in the next week or two as spring hits.
Firstly, is there anything about anything I've said so far which worries anyone?! Is there anything I've mentioned which we really shouldn't be doing or should change at all?
Secondly, as we're in the UK, there were many days last year where it just wasn't warm enough for her in the greenhouse, even with the basking lamp and we had to bring her into the house, which isn't ideal as we don't have a proper enclosure for her there. We want to change that this year, so we're looking into extra heating/lighting, but there's so much info out there, it's a bit overwhelming.
Can anyone provide advice as to what other heating solutions we need to make sure the enclosure/greenhouse remains the right temperature throughout the day and night? I know there are ceramic heating elements - are these available as clamp-type devices that we can attach over the enclosure? I've also read about heating mats, how do they work? How about UV? Do we need more UV light or will the basking lamp provide enough considering she'll be in the garden most days when it's sunny?
Sorry for the long post, any comments/advice will be much appreciated.