Russian tortoise enclosure

[Kaynicdur]

Hello,
I got my russian tortoise about 6 months ago. I absolutely adore him. I'm so happy I have him. When I got him I was told all he needed was a tank, a heat pad, and a UVA daylight bulb and I also use eco earth subtrate. He seems to be happy in his enclosure. But the more I read about enclosures the more concerned I am that I might not have it right. I was told to leave the heating pad on all the time, and to place it under the UVA bulb. The temperature in his tank Is usually always at around 70°f. I noticed he likes sleeping on his mat everynight. Is that okay for him? I really just want to make the best environment for him.

 

[ileoyu]

The heat pad gotta go. Especially if he sleeps on it every night. It will cause dehydration overtime and since you need to their substrate to be at least 4 inches deep, the heat pad is useless. Please provide uvb lighting as well, it is very essential for their shell growth.

 

[Kaynicdur]

The heat pad gotta go. Especially if he sleeps on it every night. It will cause dehydration overtime and since you need to their substrate to be at least 4 inches deep, the heat pad is useless. Please provide uvb lighting as well, it is very essential for their shell growth.

Thank you for replying. I'll make sure and change that out right away. So just to clarify, I need a heat lamp, a uvb, and uvb? Or is there a lamp that produces both? And also, how long do i leave the lamps on? Does he need heat at night?

 

[ileoyu]

I prefer zoomed's powersun 100w mvb, it provides essential uva, uvb and heat. You need to leave it on for at least 12 hrs. You don't have to use additional heat at night just as long as the temperature doesn't get below 60f.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome
As the above poster said you need to provide uvb (unless you live somewhere warm and sunny and he has access to outdoor sun) I like the mercury vapour bulb (MVB) as it gives heat light and uva/b on one bulb,so you only need one ceramic bulb holder and I use mine with a wide dome to direct heat etc downwards.. You can adjust the temps by raising or lowering if you hang it rather than use the clamp which can be unsafe. At night I use a ceramic heat emitter CHE which just gives heat because torts need darkness to sleep - in the same sort of fixture as the MVB, but you may not need one. Check the Russian caresheet for information about temps, diet humidity and substrate etc, The Beginners Mistakes thread (link below) is also useful for learning some do's and don'ts and the Enclosures thread has some great ideas for a happy safe tort home.

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum!

Please post pics of your tort as well as his enclosure. This will enable us to help you more.

And good luck!

 

[Tom]

Hello,
I got my russian tortoise about 6 months ago. I absolutely adore him. I'm so happy I have him. When I got him I was told all he needed was a tank, a heat pad, and a UVA daylight bulb and I also use eco earth subtrate. He seems to be happy in his enclosure. But the more I read about enclosures the more concerned I am that I might not have it right. I was told to leave the heating pad on all the time, and to place it under the UVA bulb. The temperature in his tank Is usually always at around 70°f. I noticed he likes sleeping on his mat everynight. Is that okay for him? I really just want to make the best environment for him.

Hello and welcome.

There is a lot of misinformation and bad advice floating around out there. I'm sorry this happens to people. But the good news is that you found us, and took the time to ask!

Here is all the russian care info. Check this out and then come back with all your questions. We will help you get everything just right.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[von345]

I use the Zoomed powersun because it provides both the needed lights. Be careful to monitor the heat it can get really hot so you might have to adjust the height every now and then. But overall very happy I chose to use the Powersun