We are new tortoise owners, and just want to make sure we're doing everything as well as we can. We just purchased an 8 week old hatchling from a local breeder. Right now he's in a 10 gallon aquarium with landscape mix as the substrate. He has a couple of different hiding areas, and we've found he loves to burrow. I also created a humidity chamber for him, but he never goes into it (he burrows under it). We have 2 lights - a warming light that we leave on all day that gets the temp to about 86-88, and a UVB light (Reptisun 10.0). We have one warm side & one cool side with a warming pad stuck to the bottom of one corner of the tank. One of my main concerns is that he doesn't come out enough to really get much UVB light. We're in Texas & it's been rainy & cool the last week, so outside sun not an option. We just built him a large wooden tortoise box but we haven't got it all set up yet. I'll be glad to move him, because he does bump up against the glass in the aquarium trying to get out sometimes. He's still only about 1.5 inches, though, so it's nice not to have him in something huge yet.
Our daily routine has been warm the enclosure for about 30 minutes, then feed him, then soak him in a little bowl with very shallow water (under the UVB light) for about 30 minutes each day. We then dry him and remove the water. We leave a little container of food out for him and sometimes he eats a little more later in the day.
He looks healthy & is having good poops (in his water every other day). He is very friendly.
Regarding diet - we have been giving him tiny pieces of cactus & spring mix lettuce with the spinach picked out. We gave him a tiny bit of carrot, which he really loved, but then I read that wasn't a great idea. I'm thinking of ordering some salad hay for him online. I sprinkle it with a little pinch of calcium powder every day. He seems to have a preference for things that are brightly colored, but maybe they just taste better (can they see colors?)
Sorry for the long post, but I'd love input on these things:
1) optimal habitat / substrate / plants for his new wooden box
2) what to do if he won't "bask" in the UVB for more than the time I keep him in his bath and occasionally walking around - he'll have to be fully indoor through the winter
3) is there any sort of comprehensive list of foods that are labeled YES / NO / and OCCASIONAL TREAT only? I have tried to piece a few things together here & there, but get conflicting feeds
Thank you so much!! We love our little tortoise .
Our daily routine has been warm the enclosure for about 30 minutes, then feed him, then soak him in a little bowl with very shallow water (under the UVB light) for about 30 minutes each day. We then dry him and remove the water. We leave a little container of food out for him and sometimes he eats a little more later in the day.
He looks healthy & is having good poops (in his water every other day). He is very friendly.
Regarding diet - we have been giving him tiny pieces of cactus & spring mix lettuce with the spinach picked out. We gave him a tiny bit of carrot, which he really loved, but then I read that wasn't a great idea. I'm thinking of ordering some salad hay for him online. I sprinkle it with a little pinch of calcium powder every day. He seems to have a preference for things that are brightly colored, but maybe they just taste better (can they see colors?)
Sorry for the long post, but I'd love input on these things:
1) optimal habitat / substrate / plants for his new wooden box
2) what to do if he won't "bask" in the UVB for more than the time I keep him in his bath and occasionally walking around - he'll have to be fully indoor through the winter
3) is there any sort of comprehensive list of foods that are labeled YES / NO / and OCCASIONAL TREAT only? I have tried to piece a few things together here & there, but get conflicting feeds
Thank you so much!! We love our little tortoise .