new greek tortoise.. please help, not sure if enclosure is too cold??

[yankeeslover]

thank you, im brand new to the tortoise world.. I purchased a greek tortoise this weekend.. I did do ton of homework before I purchased.. I actually built a turtle home for him/her.. its roughly 4x3 so it should be plenty big atleast for now, much bigger then the tanks that the petshops try to sell you. its made out of wood and is open(no screen top).. im using coco coir for betting... I also have a zoomed 160 watt mecury light that puts out all three(heat, uva,uvb).. this is all I am using for heat..my house is at room temp. here are my questions. first, I have the bulb around 14 inches above the enclosure, it is in the center of enclosure.. right below the light the temp is roughly 93 degrees... problem is that once I measure temps with my digital probe outside of this circle the temp drops to around room temp(72).. inside his big hide is probably even colder(69 degrees). any tips to raise the temp outside of his basking area? its 160 watt bulb, figured it would heat up some... now maybe the bedding is still cold since it is still partialy wet, and as it dries a bit maybe it will warm up? since he is new he is still hiding in his home, I only had him two days now, I figured if he was cold he would come out, but since he is new he is probably scared... thank you for reading this, just looking for advice from experienced owners....

 

[Spn785]

You probably need to lower your MVB a little, 93 is a little cool for a greek, 100 is best.

 

[abclements]

I don't know much about Greeks (I have a Red Foot) but I use a heat rope to heat up the substrate, especially the substrate in the hide. Which in turn heats up the entire hide. For now, I would try lowering the MVB and see if that works but if not, you may need to get a heating pad or heat ropes to go under the hide.

Another option is that you could cover the cold part of the enclosure with plexi-glass or something like that to trap the heat. This will also bring up your humidity a little which helps fight early pyramiding.

 

[yankeeslover]

good ideas..right now im trying to get the substrate to dry out a bit.. I used that coco coir and mixed it with water...its real moist right now..humidity is around 65% right now.. its going down as it drys a bit... all learning steps..next time I will dry it before I put down... I may get a couple more cubes of that coco coir tonight but instead of mix it with water, I will cut up the dry cubes and put right in substrate.. maybe that will expand the cube and dry out the existing at same time? I will lower the mvb a bit..you say 100 degrees underneath is ok?

 

[WillTort2]

Usually I see the basking light at one end of the enclosure in order to provide a wider range of temps for your tortoise to choose from.

When I mix the coco coir, I can adjust the moisture level by hand squeezing the water out of the coir before I add it to the enclosure; or just scrape the top layer from your mixing pan to get the dryer part of the coir; then leave the rest in the room and as it dries it will add humidity to the room.

I add water to one side at a time, usually a day or 2 apart, giving the tort a choice of how wet a substrate he wishes to lie upon.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[tortoise007]

I would buy a CHE (ceramic heat emitter)

 

[gtc]

thank you, im brand new to the tortoise world.. I purchased a greek tortoise this weekend.. I did do ton of homework before I purchased.. I actually built a turtle home for him/her.. its roughly 4x3 so it should be plenty big atleast for now, much bigger then the tanks that the petshops try to sell you. its made out of wood and is open(no screen top).. im using coco coir for betting... I also have a zoomed 160 watt mecury light that puts out all three(heat, uva,uvb).. this is all I am using for heat..my house is at room temp. here are my questions. first, I have the bulb around 14 inches above the enclosure, it is in the center of enclosure.. right below the light the temp is roughly 93 degrees... problem is that once I measure temps with my digital probe outside of this circle the temp drops to around room temp(72).. inside his big hide is probably even colder(69 degrees). any tips to raise the temp outside of his basking area? its 160 watt bulb, figured it would heat up some... now maybe the bedding is still cold since it is still partialy wet, and as it dries a bit maybe it will warm up? since he is new he is still hiding in his home, I only had him two days now, I figured if he was cold he would come out, but since he is new he is probably scared... thank you for reading this, just looking for advice from experienced owners....

Hi,

Did you get an adult or baby greek?

Your temps are fine! 93F under the basking light is ok, remember that it is even warmer on your greeks shell (since it is loser to the light). Baby greeks can dehydrate quickly if the temps are high (100-105F) under big MVB 160 bulbs.

You should not try to increase the temps on the cool part of the enclosure either. Greeks prefer the cool side to be in the low to mid 70's. The night temps can\should fall even lower (mid to low 60's).

Also, keeping the substrate slightly moist is good. Don't worry about it being too wet. If you want your little guys shell to grow smoothly (assuming its a baby greek) its important to not keep him too dry. What are your humidity levels? It might be hard keeping the levels right during winter with an open top. For adult greeks it should be around 45-55% and for babys around 60-70%. (I'm attaching a pic of my enclosure with 2\3 of the top covered, it really helps with the humidity levels)


Lastly baby tortoises sleep a lot, espesially when introduces to new enclosures. Make sure to give your guy daily soaks and access to food and I'm sure he\she will be fine.

 

[yankeeslover]

how do I give a daily soak? wasn't aware of this... its about 100 below the light..rest of home is around 70 degrees..and his hide is probably around 68 degrees....

 

[gtc]

how do I give a daily soak? wasn't aware of this... its about 100 below the light..rest of home is around 70 degrees..and his hide is probably around 68 degrees....

Those temps are ok, although I would go for closer to 95F for small greeks. You can search for soaking tips in the tortoise forum. Peoples opinion on how much to soak varies. I soak mine everyday for about 15min. Find a small plastic box, like an empty icecream box. Put in just enough warm water so that it reaches the bottom of your greaks shell. Pu the tort inside and the box under the basking light. That way your tort can lower its head into the water to drink, while there is no danger of drowning.

BTW...got any pics?

 

[tortoise007]

I'v never heard of putting it under the basking light. I just use a tubaware container with about 1/4-1/2 inch 90-95 degree water.