New owner of baby Hermann’s Tortoise, HELP!

[Eligperales]

I’m a new Hermann’s (baby) tortoise owner. I am making a 4ft by 2ft enclosure. I got a glass tank, dry pellets, 75 watt bulb heating I keep at 85-95 at night it drops to 81 (my room gets cold) A uvb/uva 13 watt bulb. Water and food dish with place to hide but my tortoise never uses it. Some plants to keep one side humid. A total of 700$ from this pet store and now I find out it’s bad, a bad enclosure and I feel terrible. I need Concha to thrive.

Please help, is the 4x2 ft wooden enclosure I’m building good? Should I keep the temp as is and how far above her for how long a day? What UvBA bulb do I need, how far from her? A strip or a bulb? for terrain do I use pellets or wood chips? I need help and the more detail the better please.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. A 4x2 glass tank is fine for a baby. You'll need something large in a year or two when it grows bigger.

Read this for care info:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

It explains everything. Questions are welcome.