Help. New to this.

[alicensally]

Aaaahhh. I've wanted a tortoise for years. My boss surprised me with a Leopard Tortoise for my birthday. I am freaking out that I am doing things wrong.

1. Should she have another tort with her?

2. I don't know how to keep the humidity where it should be.

3. I worry that I am feeding her the wrong food. Different sites say different things.

4. She lives at my work and I bring her home on weekends. She has a habitat at both places. Will that upset her?

I am upset that I wasn't more prepared and educated but she was a surprise ( best ever).

The habitat at work is a plastic tray. I have mulch as the substrate. She has a log to hide under. There is a heat lamp and a uv light.

The habitat at home is a box from Zoomed. Open on one side and closed on the other. Same substrate and lights.

Help! I don't want to hurt her.

 

[mike taylor]

Go to the top of the sulcata section and read all the tagged threads . Tom tells you everything you need to know . You can be assured it's the right up to date information you will ever find . Welcome to TFO!

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

1. no, tortoise are solitary animal they like there own space.
2. poor water on the substrate to keep humidity up.
3. leopards are a grassland species, feed the baby grass, and lots a nontoxic weeds.
4. yes that seems like it would be stressful for her/him. in about a year this tortoise will be too big for a glass tank and it will need to live outside.
please post some pics of the enclosure and tort. what are the cool side and basking spot temps? read these care sheet.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.78361/

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Wow, what a boss!

1. No

2. Closed chambers (most efficient, effect way to do it)

3. Greens. Lots of em.. chopped up grass clippings, broadleaf weeds, spring mix from the grocery store... to get you started.

4. Possibly but as long as both set ups are correct, the tort might get used to the routine of back n fourth eventually.

That's great you were surprised, it just means you have get things together quicker

There is a lot of conflicting info out there but many of us have been mimicking the African monsoon season (what they hatch into in the wild) with great success.

Do you know the source of your new baby? How it was cared for before coming to you?

 

[gingerbee]

Lucky you quite the boss!! Congratulations!!!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

What a nice gift.

If you buy the largest plastic tub you can afford, or have space for at work, then make two of them exactly the same, it shouldn't cause too much stress on the baby to be moved back and forth. What you have right now sounds ok, but both those habitats are really too small for any long term tortoise-keeping. Go to our Enclosure section and read the pinned thread about indoor enclosures. There are many pictures there for you to mimic. And be sure to read the pinned threads at the top of the Leopard section. They will tell you how to care for your baby and feed him.

 

[alicensally]

Thanks everyone.

All I know is that she came from from a breeder in Florence, AL.

Her birthday is 1-22-14

I've made a humidity box.

The one corner of the habitat stays between 85 and 90. I'm trying to get it warmer.

I'm feeding her collard greens, prickly pear cactus and I'm growing grass that I got from a tortoise place.

 

[alicensally]

Here are some photos of the habitat at my house. I am going to ask my boss if i can take this one to work. Sally is in the humid house. It's not humid enough yet, but I'm working on it. She is 2.2 inches. I know you said the habitat is too small for her, but she is tiny. She has tons of room. I have gotten her warming area up to 94 degrees. I got some bamboo leaves from a Chinese restaurant to see if she'll eat those. I also put a piece of cuttle bone in with her. I am only using Distilled water.

 

[cmacusa3]

I have that enclosure and made several modifications to it. I would take out that divider, add a humid hide, get rid of the red light and get a ceramic heat emitter. I took off the tops and added plexiglass. I get no less than 80% humidity and I get anywhere from 95-100% in my hide. My temps never get under 80 in the box. It's a cool little box but was made more for raising them dry in my opinion. You can barely see the plexiglass in the pics, and it's open so the Rays of light can get to my tort.

 

[leigti]

Hello, welcome to the forum. Your tortoise is adorable and you have a much better boss then I do you can do some modifications to the zoo med house but I think in the long run because you have a little baby there you would do better with a plastic tote. see if the local stores have anymore of their Christmas tree boxes left, they are about 4' x 2'. you can cut holes in the lid just big enough for the lights to shine through and that will help keep the humidity up.also, I am just assuming by your many double Dome that you have a compact CFL UVB bulb. these are suspected to cause I injuries to baby tortoises. I would suggest mercury vapor bulb. you can put that on one end of the enclosure for heat and UVB and then a regular lightbulb on the other end also for heat. Use large ceramic fixtures, you can get them at the hardware store or Feedstore much cheaper than the pet store. look up on this for him "closed Chambers" and you will see many pictures of what I am talking about.
I don't think moving the tortoise back-and-forth from work and home would cause that much stress. As long as you can keep the baby safe and warm on the trip. eventually you will probably feel secure enough to keep it at home most of the time. I transport my tortoise in a 4 gallon dark Rubbermaid bin with the lid loosely on. Keep asking questions and keep us updated. you're doing good, it takes some time to get it all together but you were headed in the right direction. Stick to this forum for information, there's a lot of conflicting info out there and it just gets confusing.

 

[alicensally]

I changed the UV bulb to Mercury Vapor. I am planning on using MVB during the day and the red heat bulb at night. Will that be OK?

How do you keep the humidity at 80% in the box?

I was thinking about plexiglass so I'm glad you said that.

I am stressing over this. I don't want to hurt her.

 

[alicensally]

Can I use the MVB light in the dome I have now? Do I have to wait until I get the ceramic fixture?

 

[leigti]

Remove the divider in your wooden box, and add plexiglass across the top like the person above said. Mercury vapor bulb takes a ceramic fixture or else it will overheat and melt a plastic one. at night most people use a ceramic heat emitifier instead of a boulb with light. they also require a ceramic fixture and they get very hot. get a temperature gun, it is one of the most handy things to have. you can find them for about $10-$15. With all the humidity the wooden box will not last long and less you really work hard to waterproof it. I used one for a while, actually to put together. But it was for an adult Russian and they do not require the humidity levels that I hatchlings leopard do. so before you put too much money into the wooden box I would seriously consider the tote, like the Christmas tree box. I have changed enclosures often, until I found the one I liked. I would've saved a whole Lotta money time and effort if I would've researched it a little more at the beginning. Your tortoise will grow relatively quickly so what seems huge right now won't be for long. read the care sheets and your tortoise will be fine.

 

[alicensally]

I'm sorry…this is a stupid question. The fixture I have says it has two ceramic sockets. Do I need to get different ones?

 

[cmacusa3]

Also have you lined the bottom of the box with anything? You can cut a trash bag, tarp or shower curtain. Keep the substrate moist and keep the heat up. I didn't get get humidity until I did that.

Those fixtures should be fine if they are ceramic.

 

[alicensally]

I haven't lined it yet, but I will. Thanks for all of your help!

 

[cmacusa3]

It seems like a lot coming at you, but once you get it right, things get easy. I have all my lights and heaters on timers now. All I do is feed, soak him and occasionally wet down the substrate. Lowes has the plexiglass that I use, it's $10 for an 18x24 sheet, 2 sheets will cover the entire enclosure. Just cut holes for the lights and heat. I took both lids off and took out that divider. I was going to switch to a tote until I got this figured out. I like the look of the box and the fact that I can see inside the entire enclosure. I have 10 boxies and none of them have ever been as active as my little guy in this set up. He has more than doubled in size in the few months I've had him.

 

[cmacusa3]

If you don't line it, you will learn the hard way like I did. I got the substrate really wet and it leaked out the bottom and made a huge mess on my table. That wood on the bottom is basically useless. I would never buy this box again but I'm making the best out of it. I'm very happy with the changes I made to it.

 

[Momof4]

Welcome!! I think you had a decent start for a beginner and I commend you for coming here and making the changes everyone has suggested. Some come for advice and fight tooth and nail about making changes for the better! You are going to be a great tort mom!!
You have an awesome boss!!!

 

[alicensally]

Are your lights above the plexiglass or through it? What is the wire looking thing under the lamps?