New young horsfield advice please

Sammy79

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Joined
Aug 30, 2017
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Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Hi
I got a young horsfield tortoise at the weekend. He is not eating much, never drinks and sleeps a lot. I have given him several baths but not seen him drink. He is in a Viv at the minute but have ordered one with a mesh top as not sure if too hot for him. Cannot have a table due to having a cat. The temp in the cooler end is 25 degrees is this too hot. He is burrowing a lot. He has a basking lamp and uv light and Viv is 3ft. Substrate is half hemp and half pro rep tortoise life. I have tried dandelions, carrot, spinach, watercress, rocket and he also has constant access to water and pellets. Live in yorkshire in the UK. Any advice greatly appreciated as want him to be happy and healthy. TIA
 

Tidgy's Dad

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Hello, Sammy, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum. :)
He is probably still settling into his new home. At first they are afraid they are in another's territory, or that something or you are going to eat them so it can take quite a while before they become confident enough to explore their surroundings and start eating. Young tortoises do sleep a lot. As he settles in he should start to see you as the food god and become more outgoing. Burrowing is also normal.
What type of UV lamp do you use?
You should aim for a basking spot of 35 to 38° C and just let the temperature slowly fade away from this.
Substrate should be coco coir, fine grade orchid bark or cypress mulch.
Don't feed carrot, it is too high in sugars.
Have a look at http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
and http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
and try to get your set up as close to this as possible.
 

Sammy79

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Aug 30, 2017
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Location (City and/or State)
Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Hi
Thanks for the welcome and advice is appreciated. The basking spot light is a 100w pro rep and I have a separate uv light. Is that ok? Will have a look at the links and substrate that you recommend. There is so much conflicting info online it can be a bit confusing. Can I give Chester some fruit? Will not give him carrot anymore if not good for him but that's the only thing he has eaten.
 

Tidgy's Dad

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What type of UV light ?
A lot of the information out there is old and out of date, not just on line, but with petshops, breeders, even vets. This is up to date information.
No fruit, too high in sugars and acid, some species can eat fruit but not Horsfields.
 

Yvonne G

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...also, the screen top will filter out a good portion of the UVB, so cut a hole in it for the light
 

Tom

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Hi both

It's a eco terra 150 uvb lamp in the opposite side to the basking lamp, I copied a Viv set up from online. Is that wrong?
TIA

CFL type? THose aren't effective UV sources and some of them burn reptile eyes. I would use that.
 

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