new member need help

[Irwin4530]

You may not be stressing him out as much as you think. The sound you are hearing is not him being fearful or upset. I found this explanitation about the "hissing" sound on the sulcata station website (they are much better at explaining then I am )


"Why does my tortoise hiss at me when I approach him or pick him up?

Sulcata Station's response: Tortoises instinctively pull into their shells whenever they feel threatened. The action of pulling in its head and front legs compresses the tortoise's lungs, which causes them to exhale suddenly -- that's the hiss you hear. It doesn't necessarily mean that the tortoise is angry or upset; it's just following its instinct for self-preservation.

Once the tortoise realizes that you're not a predator, you're just its Human (and that you may have food!), it will often come right back out to see what's up. Shyer tortoises may take longer to lose that instinctive fear of being approached or picked up, but eventually most of them do learn to relax a bit."


Hope that helps

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Keep the spring mix and powder but also add in some other greens.
Kale
Collard
dandilion
to name a few. some of us notice that our torts dont like collards but my greeks love it.

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

Your going to need the walls at 12inches. You will just need one UVB light, although I would try to bring him outside as much as possible so do you have any friends/family you can go to to give him exercise/sun. Use a dry hide. Your not going to want "cold nights" I would go for 70 minimum. You can use a big flat rock for his feeding dish and he will wear his nails on it as well. I would only use the calcium powder 2-3 times a week. I would also incorporate other things in his diet like mazuri and if you can get a seed mix that you can grow for him so he can graze on that. Everything else sounds good.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

Got the topsoil into his vivarium tonight, found basking temp at 95 but humidity at 50%. I may be in trouble. I will continue to monitor and see how it does when the MVB turns off for the evening. updates to follow and thank you to everyone who is helping me out in getting this get set up with a more appropriate dwelling.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

Just took a night reading. looks like at the surface, temp of 73 but humidity at 75. I am going to need some help bringing his humidity and temp down in a hurry. also, he was not asleep in his hide but he was kind of tilted up on the side of it.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

temp today at about 100 in basking and humidity of 48-50% on the cold side it was 75 temp and 75% humidity. I still need to lower the humidity on the cool side of his vivarium but I'm not sure how to do that without the use of a lamp. is that really the only option I have is to rotate the lamp until I get the total dew point down to where I can spray it to control it? I know the vivarium is not ideal and I need to get him out of it I just don't have the funding right now to build the tortoise table that I have designed. Any help is welcome.

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

Because you have a North African greek you need to lower that 75% humidity. I personally wouldnt use something like soil for your tort inside because you need to keep it fairly dry. Potting soil is probably the worst substrate to keep dry because its extremely dusty. I would go for orchid bark or cypress mulch for your tort.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

Alrighty. Also, I found a new table for him made from a solid wood bookshelf that I picked up for short money. it is 3ftx6ft and 1ft deep. I will pick it up tomorrow, get it lined and do more research. It was suggested that I use the potting soil to help him out but the humidity is awfully high. It came down to 64% while it is drying but I assume it needs to be less than 30 for the little guy. I will keep looking and ask before I fill the new table. I had mulch in it before but it was incredibly dusty. (although my gf never sprayed it or measured temp/humidity) I am figuring at this point even the little improvements are helping him. Sorry for keeping this thread at the top, I'm sure you all are sick of hearing me but I jumped into this with way less knowledge than I thought and you guys have helped tremendously improve Leo's quality of life and for that he and I are forever grateful.

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

Were never sick of hearing from anyone that needs help with their torts. That bookshelf will be a good enclosure for him.

 

[Irwin4530]

I am sorry about the topsoil suggestion, it does not seem to be working out for you.
I use it with great success but then I use tables not tanks. Hopefully you will be able to
salvage some of the soil to use in your new enclosure.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

The good news is I picked up the bookshelf that will make his table today. I removed 3 of the 4 shelves so that he will have a nice built in hide. Only problems I'm having are how to build the legs and what to seal it with. I believe the case is made of pine which I know pine shavings are poisonous, so I need to address that. The other issue is planning a heat lamp/lamp rack assembly. Pics to follow and as always thanks for your help and patience.

Jeff and Leo

 

[Eweezyfosheezy]

Sounds like its going to be an extremely nice setup for your tort. Hopefully someone will chime in and help you out by giving you ideas how to set it up.

 

[Greektortnamedleo]

Ok, new table has vented far long enough after applying the sealer. Now, I have topsoil mixed with spagnum peat moss in his vivarium right now, and was scolded for using it by members of the board here. My question is what should I put in his table? I have 10 inch sides on the table with no lip, so height is kind of at a premium, but he does burrow. I would also like to plant some of the grass in the table for him and get it growing before I put him in it. My other question is what lights and soil should be over the table to support a healthy tort and good growth for his grazing habits?

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also, new pic.