Temperatures

[abbi815]

Ok so I've just ordered 2 thermostats for my 1 year old Russian's enclosure. 1 is for her MVB (which will come on and off to maintain A good ambient temp) and the other for the CHE (used for basking and maintaining heat at night). I have a strip uva uvb bulb as well which remains on at all times, as the mvb throws out too much heat to leave on all day and I don't want to deprive her of the uv rays while it's off.
My question is what are the best temperatures to set them at? At present I try and keep the basking area at about 90, the warm end 80 and the cool end 70 but I've never actually known what the best temperatures are for young horsefields.
After losing one tortoise I'm determined its not going to happen again but my little one already has some eye swelling on one side so I want to make sure I have everything right for her!

 

[WillTort2]

You may want to put the MVB spot light on a timer rather than a thermostat because the electronics of the MVB will not allow it to be turned on and off in a short time period. Put the CHE on the thermostat to maintain your temperatures.

You may want to have your CHE turn on at about 6 am with the timer then turn off with the thermostat as your temperature gets to 75 or so. Have your strip tube turn on at sunrise. Then have the MVB turn on by timer for several hours in the morning and have the thermostat turn the MVB off if the room gets too hot. (The timer will not turn the bulb back on that day unless your timer has a second on position in place.) Make sure your enclosure has a shallow water dish the your tort can walk into for self soaking to provide water and to allow cooling. Water will transfer heat away from the body about 25 times faster than air. (not sure about the 25x its an old memory from scuba class.)

You will need a thermometer that stores highest/lowest temperature and highest/lowest humidity. This will allow you to adjust your timers and thermostats to perfect your conditions.

If your basking area is around 95 and the cool end in the low 70's this will allow your Russian to select the temperature it needs. At night it's a good idea to allow the temperature to drop into the low 60's. Total darkness is best for your Russian at night; they don't need a night light!

Are you able to get any outdoor time for your Russian to soak up the rays? This will provide the best UV light all natural.

Good luck. Russians are better off a little cool than too hot.

 

[Tom]

You are making this way more complicated than it needs to be.

MVBs cannot be run on thermostats. You need a timer for that. In your case, since you have the long tube florescent, you don't need a MVB. Just use a lower wattage bulb to give your tortoise a basking spot of about 95-100. Set the height of the fixture to give you the right temp. I like to use 65 watt flood bulbs for this, but you'll have to check the temps in your enclosure.

You also don't need night heat unless your house gets much below 60 degrees.

Russians are easy. Give them a basking spot on one end for 12 hours a day, and that's all they need. Boom. Done.

Now two other concerns:
1. If a MVB is overheating your whole enclosure, I suspect your enclosure is too small. Russians need a lot of room to move around and walk.
2. If he gets outside for regular sunshine in a large safe enclosure, then a smaller indoor one is fine for overnighting. Does he get outside?

 

[abbi815]

Ok so I dont need the CHE? The MVB doesn't heat the whole enclosure, up until now it has been a basking spot for her and I haven't been turning the CHE ON except on cold nights. But I changed enclosure today and it's been too hot with the MVB as a basking spot. That's why I changed to the CHE. I put the tube uv light in because I was worried she wasn't getting enough only having the MVB on intermittently. Anyway thanks for your advice I'll get on it.

As for going outside yes she does, she has a nice big secure enclosure but sadly this year sprung doesn't seem to have started properly and there have literally been a handful of day when it hasn't been cold and rainy. She loves it in the garden and I put her out as often as I can.

I've also got a male Russian who is 12 and have had him since he was 3. I've never been too strict on temperatures, and he's just had a strip uv bulb and a basking lamp. He has gone in the garden as much as weather permits and I've never had any health issues with him at all.

It's just with this little one she seems so vulnerable! And since her eyes have started swelling I think something must be wrong...

Sorry to be such a pain!

 

[Tom]

The eyes concern me too. Sounds like you did a great job with your older boy. Lets see if we can figure out what's wrong with the eyes on your small one. Can you post a pic of your babies eyes and the enclosure? If it was getting too warm, I wonder if the MVB was too close. I've never seen eye damage from a MVB, but it is physically possible. You have the long tube style florescent, right? Not the cfl coil type?

What substrate do you use?

Diet?

Just trying to think of some possibilities...

 

[abbi815]

Definitely not a coil, no. I've never used those and reading all these posts on here I'm glad I haven't.

I used a 50/50 sand top soil mix for substrate, feed her primarily on weeds including dandelions, plantain, clover, chick weed, sow thistle. I sometimes have to give greens from the supermarket when the garden is sparse but just occasionally and nothing more than spinach rocket and similar leafy greens. She doesn't eat it if I put calcium powder on it but she does nibble cuttlefish bone. I've had her since about august and she's never been much of an eater, but I always have it readily available to her. I don't know if the eye problem is due to lack of nutrients, as I often have to encourage her to eat.

The eye problems started a couple of weeks ago. I took her to the vet but they weren't very helpful. They gave me eye drops and told me she needed more vitamin A and I should feel he r some carrot peel. Her eyes open really well after a soak and the drops seem to have helped a bit, but ultimately the problem is till there.

I'll get some photos asap.

---

Here are the photos, her right eye is worse than her left. I just woke her up so this is pretty much what they look like at their worst.

 

[WillTort2]

From what I've read the high percentage of sand may be causing eye irritation.

I started using coco coir with a small amount of sand mixed into the substrate; but I've since changed to top soil with a mix of coco coir. My Russians seem to enjoy digging into this and it holds moisture quite well.

 

[Tom]

I think Will is right. Sand is a big impaction risk and possible eye and skin irritant. I would get rid of the sand and try flushing the eyes with a squirt bottle. Some Terramycin ointment for a few days might also help.

 

[weldorNate]

for my tortoise i run my heat lamp on a timer and go two hours on two hours off i use a fancy digital timer so u can have up to 20 settings

 

[Tom]

for my tortoise i run my heat lamp on a timer and go two hours on two hours off i use a fancy digital timer so u can have up to 20 settings

Why?

 

[weldorNate]

otherwise it gets to hot it works well that way for me cause i still keep my temps up were they need to be this is temporary until i build my tortoise i bigger enclosure

 

[abbi815]

Thanks guys I'll get some coco coir and see what happens. I've been flushing her eyes so I'll continue with that and sort out some ointment. Thanks for tour help

 

[Tom]

otherwise it gets to hot it works well that way for me cause i still keep my temps up were they need to be this is temporary until i build my tortoise i bigger enclosure

In my opinion a smaller wattage bulb, or raising the fixture slightly, would be a better solution, but if this works for you and you have a healthy tortoise, then rock on man.