New to forum, seeking horsfield tort advice :)

[Rosepop]

Thought I would introduce myself and my little tort whilst also seeking some advice.

I'm Poppy from the UK. I have a horsfield tortoise called Vince. He is just over 1 year old. I got him as a present for Christmas and did a lot of research on how to care for him and found this forum very useful, so thought I'd finally join.

Things have been going well, he's a happy tortoise with so much personality! I got a UV bulb that came with his tortoise table. It now needs changing but I am unsure of what percentage of UV I need. I have seen people say they need as little as 5% to as high as 12%. Advice would be much appreciated so I can get his new bulb asap Also what substrate is best to use, I use top soil which was recommended but I find it dries out quite quickly.

Thank you - I've added a couple of pics of Vince

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Poppy, and welcome to the forum!

That's an awfully cute little baby. We have a very good baby russian care sheet pinned at the top of our Russian section.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

More is not necessarily better with UVB, enough is fine.
Any of the recommended MVB bulbs or a decent UVB strip bulb should be fine.
Do not use coil or compact bulbs.
Your tortoise does look very dry and you will need to keep the humidity higher to prevent pyramiding.
Coco coir, orchid bark and cypress mulch are all very good at keeping in the humidity.
Have you seen http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
and http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
as well as http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-end-of-pyramiding.15137/
Good luck.

 

[Rosepop]

More is not necessarily better with UVB, enough is fine.
Any of the recommended MVB bulbs or a decent UVB strip bulb should be fine.
Do not use coil or compact bulbs.
Your tortoise does look very dry and you will need to keep the humidity higher to prevent pyramiding.
Coco coir, orchid bark and cypress mulch are all very good at keeping in the humidity.
Have you seen http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
and http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
as well as http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-end-of-pyramiding.15137/
Good luck.

Thank you for your reply. I've tried a few different substrates but none have seemed to keep humidity so will try the ones you have suggested, thank you very much.

 

[Rosepop]

Hi Poppy, and welcome to the forum!

That's an awfully cute little baby. We have a very good baby russian care sheet pinned at the top of our Russian section.

Thank you Yvonne! And I will give that a read, thanks

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome Poppy !

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Poppy