My experience over the past few months of buying a new Tortoise.

haydog_99

Active Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2020
Messages
138
Location (City and/or State)
Rocklin, CA
I just got a new tortoise back in February and thought I would share what I learned throughout the process.

Buying your new tortoise:
I looked the internet and thought I did a good amount of research before buying my tortoise, and still purchased from a site I wish I wouldn't have. I suggest you look for threads on sites like this, and ask for recommendations on breeders, so you get a tortoise that you know was started correctly. I have a feeling my tortoise was started in an environment that was too dry. My tortoise is almost a year old and is a slow grower. His name is Max (leopard tortoise) and he was 10 months old when he arrived. After researching growth rates for leopard tortoise I was just as confused as when I started, it seems that the growth rates can vary tremendously. Here is a good site that I found on growth rates: http://leopardtortoises.com/leopard-tortoise-growth-rates/ . In the end as long as your tortoise is gaining weight and growing that's what matters. Weigh your tortoise regularly and give them the once over every few days to ensure he looks good. Watch that they stay active and eat well, also watch for open mouth breathing or snorting sounds as that indicate respiratory problems. Summary, ask for recommendations and only buy from the breeder, not sites that act as a middle man.

Enclosure and accessories:
DON'T buy a starter kit for any tortoise, they look nice but they aren't functional for a young tortoise. I bought a starter kit that came with an enclosure (zoomed tortoise table), lighting, substrate, water bowl...... After all this, I am not using one thing that came in the starter kit except the Zoomed tortoise food. I am going to re purpose the tortoise table as an outside enclosure this summer. Look for, or make a fully enclosed enclosure so you can easily maintain the correct temperature and humidity levels. I now have a 4' x 2' x 2' enclosure I purchased from DIYcages.com and so far I really like it (picture attached). I am using one Powersun 80 watt heat/UV bulb over my basking area (I had this left over so I am gong to continue to use it), one Reptisun 10.0 22" mounted on the top of the enclosure and on 100 watt heat emitter on the far end of the enclosure for night heating. I have my heat emitter hosed in a lighting enclosure (fire safety precaution) and one thing I've noticed is after 4 or 5 hours it can't produce the same amount of heat as the first few hours. Even in the beginning it doesn't keep the enclosure as warm as my Powersun and Reptisun bulbs, I am going to try a 100 watt infrared heat lamp at night and see if that does a better job. After all the back and forth attempts to make the first enclosure and work and dialing in the new enclosure I have wasted a lot money on accessories I probably won't ever use. This the area you will likely spend the most money getting right, do your research on enclosures and build your enclosure before buying your new tortoise. You can find plenty of discussions on this board regarding the correct temperatures and humidity levels for different types of tortoises, I'm going withe the 80/80 method.

Food:
This has been pretty easy so far, I have focused on feeding Max mixed greens, dandelion, collard greens and give him Zoomed tortoise food every couple days. I also add a little calcium to his food every couple days. I have just started growing some food for him, I bought some seeds on line which are a mixture of grasses flowers and other things. There is a really good thread on the board that lists all the weeds and grasses that tortoises can eat if you are confused with what they can and can't eat.

In summary, buying your first tortoise can be very overwhelming and a bit frustrating, but once everything is done and working well it is very satisfying. Do your research spend time on figuring out the type of enclosure you are going to build, or just go the easy route like me and buy one. Buy from a reputable breeder and enjoy your new tortoise. Hopefully this will help someone avoid some of the pitfalls I went through.

Cheers

New Tort_Enc.jpg
 

Srmcclure

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2020
Messages
1,791
Location (City and/or State)
Oklahoma city
I just got a new tortoise back in February and thought I would share what I learned throughout the process.

Buying your new tortoise:
I looked the internet and thought I did a good amount of research before buying my tortoise, and still purchased from a site I wish I wouldn't have. I suggest you look for threads on sites like this, and ask for recommendations on breeders, so you get a tortoise that you know was started correctly. I have a feeling my tortoise was started in an environment that was too dry. My tortoise is almost a year old and is a slow grower. His name is Max (leopard tortoise) and he was 10 months old when he arrived. After researching growth rates for leopard tortoise I was just as confused as when I started, it seems that the growth rates can vary tremendously. Here is a good site that I found on growth rates: http://leopardtortoises.com/leopard-tortoise-growth-rates/ . In the end as long as your tortoise is gaining weight and growing that's what matters. Weigh your tortoise regularly and give them the once over every few days to ensure he looks good. Watch that they stay active and eat well, also watch for open mouth breathing or snorting sounds as that indicate respiratory problems. Summary, ask for recommendations and only buy from the breeder, not sites that act as a middle man.

Enclosure and accessories:
DON'T buy a starter kit for any tortoise, they look nice but they aren't functional for a young tortoise. I bought a starter kit that came with an enclosure (zoomed tortoise table), lighting, substrate, water bowl...... After all this, I am not using one thing that came in the starter kit except the Zoomed tortoise food. I am going to re purpose the tortoise table as an outside enclosure this summer. Look for, or make a fully enclosed enclosure so you can easily maintain the correct temperature and humidity levels. I now have a 4' x 2' x 2' enclosure I purchased from DIYcages.com and so far I really like it (picture attached). I am using one Powersun 80 watt heat/UV bulb over my basking area (I had this left over so I am gong to continue to use it), one Reptisun 10.0 22" mounted on the top of the enclosure and on 100 watt heat emitter on the far end of the enclosure for night heating. I have my heat emitter hosed in a lighting enclosure (fire safety precaution) and one thing I've noticed is after 4 or 5 hours it can't produce the same amount of heat as the first few hours. Even in the beginning it doesn't keep the enclosure as warm as my Powersun and Reptisun bulbs, I am going to try a 100 watt infrared heat lamp at night and see if that does a better job. After all the back and forth attempts to make the first enclosure and work and dialing in the new enclosure I have wasted a lot money on accessories I probably won't ever use. This the area you will likely spend the most money getting right, do your research on enclosures and build your enclosure before buying your new tortoise. You can find plenty of discussions on this board regarding the correct temperatures and humidity levels for different types of tortoises, I'm going withe the 80/80 method.

Food:
This has been pretty easy so far, I have focused on feeding Max mixed greens, dandelion, collard greens and give him Zoomed tortoise food every couple days. I also add a little calcium to his food every couple days. I have just started growing some food for him, I bought some seeds on line which are a mixture of grasses flowers and other things. There is a really good thread on the board that lists all the weeds and grasses that tortoises can eat if you are confused with what they can and can't eat.

In summary, buying your first tortoise can be very overwhelming and a bit frustrating, but once everything is done and working well it is very satisfying. Do your research spend time on figuring out the type of enclosure you are going to build, or just go the easy route like me and buy one. Buy from a reputable breeder and enjoy your new tortoise. Hopefully this will help someone avoid some of the pitfalls I went through.

Cheers

View attachment 289342
I had the same issue... months of reading all for nothing because it's all ancient Info... I bought the larger exo terra terrarium thinking I had a good start. Nope. Humidity and temps were never right no matter how hard I tried... now I have a closed chamber and he is so much happier and healthier! All thanks to you guys!
 

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Tortymama

Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2020
Messages
40
Location (City and/or State)
Macon
Did anybody tell you to get rid of it when you couldn't get things right away this happened to me tonight just cause I asked for a way to get weeds when I'm allergiv
 

haydog_99

Active Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2020
Messages
138
Location (City and/or State)
Rocklin, CA
I had the same issue... months of reading all for nothing because it's all ancient Info... I bought the larger exo terra terrarium thinking I had a good start. Nope. Humidity and temps were never right no matter how hard I tried... now I have a closed chamber and he is so much happier and healthier! All thanks to you guys!
Looks awesome!
 

haydog_99

Active Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2020
Messages
138
Location (City and/or State)
Rocklin, CA
Did anybody tell you to get rid of it when you couldn't get things right away this happened to me tonight just cause I asked for a way to get weeds when I'm allergiv
I found this forum just after I got my tortoise and I was on the fence with all the high humidity etc.. After fighting to keep temps and any type of humidity in my enclosure I decided to make the change. The way a lot of the people on this forum come across seems a bit harsh at times, but I believe they are just trying to help. You just need to try things and see what seems to work best, I only keep my humidity around 70% during the day and 75% at night and that seems to be doing the job. Best of luck and don't let things overwhelm you.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Its been a long time since I got my first tortoise and went through what you are going through now. Thank you for sharing your perspective.

Your CHE shouldn't be changing how much heat it emits. Is it possible that the room temp is dropping and just making it seem that way? Also, the CHE should be mounted in the middle. Any heat source that is meant to maintain an ambient temp should be near the middle so the heat spreads out evenly. Finally: Where is the probe for the thermostat? If it is over near the CHE, it will keep Turing it off as the heat reaches it, while the far side of the enclosure continues to get too cool. The probe should be mounted down near tortoise level as far away from the heat sources as possible. You don't want the CHE to be cut off until the temperature is warm enough farthest away from it. I wouldn't use and infrared bulb. The light will disturb your tortoises sleep and sometimes prompts them to eat inappropriate things.
 

haydog_99

Active Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2020
Messages
138
Location (City and/or State)
Rocklin, CA
Its been a long time since I got my first tortoise and went through what you are going through now. Thank you for sharing your perspective.

Your CHE shouldn't be changing how much heat it emits. Is it possible that the room temp is dropping and just making it seem that way? Also, the CHE should be mounted in the middle. Any heat source that is meant to maintain an ambient temp should be near the middle so the heat spreads out evenly. Finally: Where is the probe for the thermostat? If it is over near the CHE, it will keep Turing it off as the heat reaches it, while the far side of the enclosure continues to get too cool. The probe should be mounted down near tortoise level as far away from the heat sources as possible. You don't want the CHE to be cut off until the temperature is warm enough farthest away from it. I wouldn't use and infrared bulb. The light will disturb your tortoises sleep and sometimes prompts them to eat inappropriate things.
Not sure what the issue was, I've outfitted my 4' x 2' x 2' with two 100 watt CHE's (one on each side of the enclosure) on thermostats set at 85 F. This seems to work well now. On my hot side I have an 80 watt MVB bulb for day heat and UV (day temps are around 88 on the hot side, mid 90's in the basking area and low 80's on the cooler side of the enclosure. At night the ambient temp of the entire enclosure stays around 84 degrees.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,264
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Not sure what the issue was, I've outfitted my 4' x 2' x 2' with two 100 watt CHE's (one on each side of the enclosure) on thermostats set at 85 F. This seems to work well now. On my hot side I have an 80 watt MVB bulb for day heat and UV (day temps are around 88 on the hot side, mid 90's in the basking area and low 80's on the cooler side of the enclosure. At night the ambient temp of the entire enclosure stays around 84 degrees.
Those temperatures sound very good to me. :)
 

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