Dovey
Member
How long should a 6 inch DT soak for effectiveness?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Soaking
- Thread starter Dovey
- Start date
If it is safe for me to assume the answer for DT is the same as leopards, Russians or sulcata, then 20-40 minutes is appropriate. I do not keep DT's. That is why the disclaimer.
10 minutes is probably enough. 6 hours won't hurt it. I prefer to soak for 30-40 minutes. If its been very hot and dry, or they spent a lot of time outside, I'll stretch it to an hour sometimes.
Dovey
Member
Thanks! Finally got my x-mas tree box (former home of big girl blood python) up and running as short term indoor habitat. Torty has a cool-side box hide, terracotta dish watering hole in center, moist reptile bark substrate throughout, and USB light/heating mat under substrate hot spot registering 90° +-.
Does this sound adequate with 1-2 hours outside each day? Temps outside are mid 80s to high 70s.
Does this sound adequate with 1-2 hours outside each day? Temps outside are mid 80s to high 70s.
Forgive me, but I tend to be blunt. I just spell it out with no intended malice. My only intention is to help your tortoise thrive.
To answer your question, no. That doesn't sound adequate in many ways. I'll explain:
- A 48" or 50" bin is a fine size for a tiny hatchling or a large snake, but its way too small for a six inch tortoise. A big rectangle with four of those bins combined is beginning to approach the right size for a 6 inch tort. 4x8' or larger.
- Hide boxes should be on the warm side, or one on each side, so they can choose.
- USB lighting? Did spell check get you? If you meant UVB lighting, what type? What kind of bulb?
- No heat lamp for basking?
- Heat mats should not be used under tortoises. Its not safe. When they feel warm, they dig down to get away from the heat. With a heat mat, they keep digging down and only get hotter. These unreliable products often burn them when this happens.
- How about night heat? If your house is warm, you might not need this. On the other hand, warmer nights are sometimes helpful if you are trying to convince the tortoise to not hibernate during this time of year. Bright lights on timers set for 13-14 hours also help.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
Care for Russians is the same as care for DTs:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
Here are my thoughts on lighting. You might only need one of these, or you might need all four.
There are four elements to heating and lighting:
- Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
- Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a DT. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for DT species.
- Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoise's room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
- UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb.
