Shelled Warriors Forums - Advice about my horsefield please.

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Advice about my horsefield please.

Hi all, I'm Andy from West Yorkshire in the UK.
I bought my horsefield tortoise last week and I have so many questions to ask, I've searched the internet and everything just contradicts each other, any advice is much appreciated.

1. Food
So, all it seems to like eating is dandelion leaves at the moment, I've tried it on spinach, thistle leaves, carrot shavings, but it doesn't seem interested. My question is, if I put something in (e.g a random weed i found) that it's not meant to eat will he eat it? Do i need to be careful what I put in its bowl? I'm still trying to find stuff other than dandelion leaves, although I have ordered a seed mix to grow my own.

I have found the tortoise table website, but I don't know the names of many plants and weeds.

2. Enclosure
I bought it from a pet shop, which I've recently discovered reading online is a no no. I bought it together with a vivarium, which I have also learnt isn't great. Although I have read articles which say vivs are better (I think they were just trying to sell their products). Is a vivarium, that bad? Will it be ok in their for a year or so? If it is so bad I will go and make a table for it as soon as possible.
It also came with pellets for a substrate, I have also bought some top soil today as I have heard they like to dig. I'm going to put some in tomorrow, should i put his cave on the soil side so he can dig down?

3. Hides
Should I put multiple hides in? I read somewhere to put it near the basking light, but most people say to put it on the cool side, should i put one on both sides and let it choose for itself?

4. Misting
Do I need to spray water in it's vivarium now and again to keep it humid?

5.
Is it ok to wake it up, or get it out of its cave?
I ask this, as sometimes it can take it ages to get up, but when I do it seems happy enough and goes on a wander around.

I've included some pictures with my post. The guy who sold it me told me it was hatched in 2016 but wasn't sure when. I have added a picture on a ten pound note for size comparison, hopefully he's at the right size.
I have no idea if it's a girl or boy but seem to keep calling it a him.

I posted this on an American website, and I would just like to get some views from a UK based website as I think they have different ways over there.
Also I have now changed the substrate to top soil, which I was told was better but now he just gets covered in it. Also i found little bits of what look like old wrap from something in it which was worrying, I removed all the bits I could find, but may have to change it all again :roll:
I have also watered it and sprayed, but I'm a bit frightened that I'll get it too wet.

Thanks in advance!! Sorry for all the questions, I just don't want to get anything wrong.

Noticed I can't post attachments yet so I will post pictures later

Posts are moderated until you get to 5 then you will probably be okay

Thanks, I'll get posting then

I've tried to answer some of your questions below, (red text)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy_Hal (Post 675645)

Hi all, I'm Andy from West Yorkshire in the UK.
I bought my horsefield tortoise last week and I have so many questions to ask, I've searched the internet and everything just contradicts each other, any advice is much appreciated.

1. Food
So, all it seems to like eating is dandelion leaves at the moment, I've tried it on spinach, thistle leaves, carrot shavings, but it doesn't seem interested. My question is, if I put something in (e.g a random weed i found) that it's not meant to eat will he eat it? Do i need to be careful what I put in its bowl? I'm still trying to find stuff other than dandelion leaves, although I have ordered a seed mix to grow my own. Dandelions are okay in moderation, a lot of the dark green stuff like spinach, cabbage and kale is too high in something or other that might cause bladder stones with prolonged use so best avoided. Dandelions can also do that supposedly but they surely must encounter dandelions in the wild. I offer mine weeds and pellets. Plantain is a good weed, slender plantain and I think the other type is called greater plantain. Lettuce is mostly water but romaine lettuce is not as bad.

I have found the tortoise table website, but I don't know the names of many plants and weeds.

2. Enclosure
I bought it from a pet shop, which I've recently discovered reading online is a no no. I bought it together with a vivarium, which I have also learnt isn't great. Although I have read articles which say vivs are better (I think they were just trying to sell their products). Is a vivarium, that bad? Will it be ok in their for a year or so? If it is so bad I will go and make a table for it as soon as possible.
It also came with pellets for a substrate, I have also bought some top soil today as I have heard they like to dig. I'm going to put some in tomorrow, should i put his cave on the soil side so he can dig down? It is generally thought that vivs are not good for them perhaps because the humidity and heat gets too much to be able to control but it would depend on the size of it probably. Many people modify them to suit by removing the glass etc.

3. Hides
Should I put multiple hides in? I read somewhere to put it near the basking light, but most people say to put it on the cool side, should i put one on both sides and let it choose for itself? I wouldn't have a hide at the hot end

4. Misting
Do I need to spray water in it's vivarium now and again to keep it humid? It will already be humid in there if you have a drinking dish with water, people spray open tables though.

5.
Is it ok to wake it up, or get it out of its cave?
I ask this, as sometimes it can take it ages to get up, but when I do it seems happy enough and goes on a wander around. Best to let it come out itself when it wants to

I've included some pictures with my post. The guy who sold it me told me it was hatched in 2016 but wasn't sure when. I have added a picture on a ten pound note for size comparison, hopefully he's at the right size.
I have no idea if it's a girl or boy but seem to keep calling it a him.

I posted this on an American website, and I would just like to get some views from a UK based website as I think they have different ways over there.
Also I have now changed the substrate to top soil, which I was told was better but now he just gets covered in it. Also i found little bits of what look like old wrap from something in it which was worrying, I removed all the bits I could find, but may have to change it all again :roll:
I have also watered it and sprayed, but I'm a bit frightened that I'll get it too wet.

Thanks in advance!! Sorry for all the questions, I just don't want to get anything wrong.

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for some plantain, I'm sure I've seen some about.
The Viv I have is quite big, especially for the size of my tortoise at the moment.
Already having conflicting views from the yanks, they all said keep the humidity quite high and have a hot humid hide at the warm end...
Ok, I'll try to refrain myself from bothering it too much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy_Hal (Post 675645)

1/
If your tortoise is eating anything at this stage then thats good, as it can take a couple of weeds for some tortoises to adjust to a new home and setup. You could try www.tortoises.net for a downloadable booklet with pictures of suitable plants:0)
2/
Vivs are really bad for horsfields, as they need a really deep substrate to be able to dig down into, and temps will be far too high. Pellets dont allow for digging and making tunnels for horsfields. Too many petshops make a big profit selling keepers goods they really dont need, or are no good for tortoises:0( Open topped enclosures are far far better for most tortoises from the med and Russia:0)
Hides should be the other end of any heat sorce, as they need the drop in temps at nightime:0)
3/
A couple of hides are always useful as then the tortoise has choice:0)
4/
As long as you have a wide shallow container of water in the enclosure for drinking/bathing that should be enough:0) If you feel you have to spray then do it at nightime and keep to a minimum:0)
5/
Provided the enclosure has a UV heat sorce your tortoise will get up when they are ready. Daylight times have a big influence on when tortoises get up, if its grey outside then they will get up later, if its bright and sunny up earlier:0)
My tortoises are getting up later these days and are normally asleep by five oclock in the afternoon as the days are getting shorter.
Male tortoises have a long tail that curls round the shell, females have short stubby tails:0) But horsfields can be difficult to sex at a young age:0)

Thanks, I have now got rid of the pellets and swapped for top soil, it has a nice big mound in the corner so it can burrow down.
I'm going to stop with the spraying, the American forum advised me to mist and water aswell!!
I think it could be a male as it does tuck it to the side like you are describing
I'll upload some pics as soon as it let's me
Thanks for the advice

Hi Andy,
You’ve had great answers already to your questions.
Regarding the top soil, it is the best substrate and a good few inches deep if you can as Horsfields love to dig down.

I buy Wickes sterilised topsoil and find it doesn’t have too many bits in it. Your tort will get covered, as will its water dish as it walks in and out!
Some people have little pebbles around the water dish to try to keep it cleaner for longer. My torts clearly levitate as the water needs doing a couple of times a day!

It sounds like you’ve done plenty of research already. No question is a silly question. It’ll be good to see your new tort when you post photos. It’s likely to be too early to sex correctly, but he might be very male and distinctive.

Another thing is that even if indoors, if there is low pressure weather outside they might not do very much that day. I'm pretty sure that's not just unique to mine as I've seen other people say that too. Incidentally, there are American members on here too. There are tortoises that require more humidity than others such as the rain forest types