Squirtle80
New Member
Hi! We got a leopard tortoise hatchling as a gift in January, and we've just been doing what the breeder recommended. But now his shell feels softer than I remember, and after reading through posts here all day I know I've been doing it ALL WRONG. He's been in a 20 gallon (I think it's 20 gallon) tank with vermiculite for the bedding. Dry. Horribly dry. And now I feel HORRIBLY HORRIBLE and want to get him set up properly. He does have a black, circle light fixture with the red heat light bulb and another with a uvb light bulb. I do soak him daily, he has a small water dish, he eats green leaf lettuce and goes outside for about an hour a day in an enclosure I hastily put together, so he eats grass and dandelions, rose leaves and petals that my son tosses in to him.
So now you've seen what I've done wrong, and I want to fix things, but I don't know some of the lingo I've read. What is CHE and MVB? Why is pyramiding bad? I'm going to a reptile store in Fresno in a week to get a new tank (24" x 36" x 12" high) which I know is not big enough, but it's the best I can do currently. I plan on building a better "tortoise run" in the back yard this coming week so he'll have that area also.
Please, just tell me what I need to buy and I'll get it. I found a thermometer gun on amazon so that will be here soon, but which substrate does he need, and how often do you change it out? I tried sphagnum moss but it was really prickly even after soaking it in water and the tortoise didn't seem to like walking around on it. Oh! And do I need a heating pad or something under the tank to keep the bedding/substrate warm enough?
I'm sorry for the novel length post. I'm just feeling very overwhelmed and even more guilty that I've been doing this all wrong.
So now you've seen what I've done wrong, and I want to fix things, but I don't know some of the lingo I've read. What is CHE and MVB? Why is pyramiding bad? I'm going to a reptile store in Fresno in a week to get a new tank (24" x 36" x 12" high) which I know is not big enough, but it's the best I can do currently. I plan on building a better "tortoise run" in the back yard this coming week so he'll have that area also.
Please, just tell me what I need to buy and I'll get it. I found a thermometer gun on amazon so that will be here soon, but which substrate does he need, and how often do you change it out? I tried sphagnum moss but it was really prickly even after soaking it in water and the tortoise didn't seem to like walking around on it. Oh! And do I need a heating pad or something under the tank to keep the bedding/substrate warm enough?
I'm sorry for the novel length post. I'm just feeling very overwhelmed and even more guilty that I've been doing this all wrong.