Help

I have a Horsefield and a Herman, both are doing really well and have had them now for four years.

Now recently I bought a baby Sulcata and was wondering when it get's cold how to warm her up a bit. I've heard heat mats aren't good for them, what do you think? And what are the red night bulbs? Where would I buy one and would I need a proper housing unit for said bulb?

[carl20]

im very worried by what u say when u say warm her up a bit, please dont tell me u dont use a spot bulb of some sort to keep the tort warm.
Im not being sarcastic or critical but all tortoises should have a spot bulb like a 100watt from bnq for a quid or a combined uv and heat trex for 50 quid if you dont have an indoor uv source.
Sulcatas need to be kept warmer than hermanns/horsefields because they are from hot dry climates.

well wellersberd

did you reasearch before you got your new tort ... the sulcata ???

sorry if this seems a bit rude but after all the tort SHOULD come first

i would have thought resarch .....

then if you know you can provide a good environment .....then get the tort

linda


but if you have already got this new tort please ask away ... so you get the best of advice

..... sorry again if i came across a bit rude

[sarah]

Hello and a warm welcome to the forum.

Well you need a heat source for 12-14 hours a day this can be a normal spot bulb 60w -100w temp 30c underneath so you will have to higher and lower it to get the correct temperature. You need a UVB strip light 8.0 or 10.0 on for the same lenght of time( strip lights only last 6 months). Or as carl has said you can get Trex bulbs that cost £50 that do all two and last 3 years.

The lighting about is a must if you want your tortoise to stay alive. They MUST not in no way be housed together as they hold different diseases and they can pass on to one another and they all have different dietary needs, Sulcatas need a really high fribe diet with lots of grass where as the other two dont.

Food must be weeds this time of year lots out there pellets and supermarket food is no good has no goodness in and pellets just disfigure a tortoise as they are to high in protein, just a way of pet shops to make money.

Housing: its a sad fact vivariums limit tortoises life to about 5-8 years, you must keep them in a table top enclosure and you are going to need a garage for your sulcate once grown.

Please please if you need any more help just ask away!!!!!

Of course I have a basking bulb. I'm not stupid! LOL I meant through the night. I research every Tortoise I buy but the night thing, well I've read so many different scenarios that I'm not sure what's right or wrong. People say heat pads aren't good as they breed bacteria in the gut and Tortoises get heat from above.
So, I was asking for help not the Spanish do da! LOL
Sorry if I sound pissy but I love my Tortoises and they're very healthy all have UVB strips, basking bulbs, Tortoise tables, ideal substrate for each individual needs. I'm also growing grass seeds for the baby.

Can I just say that I know not to buy pellets etc. I have researched this correctly, just unsure about ONE thing only. I've even bought Bermuda seeds from America. I collect weeds daily with my children, they're washed and sprinkled with powder.
Gawd, I wish I'd never come here now! LMAO

[sarah]

No we arnt being nasty far from it, so glad you did your research first. Your first post confused us!! as you said warm her up a bit we were not sure if you were keeping her warm at all.

Not sure about bermuda seeds!! Sounds like you are feeding them really well.

Bermuda is a grass, Sulcatas are grazers and eat a variety of them including Orchard Grass, Meadow Grass and the said Bermuda.
I did research but as it's the summer I didn't think night time heat would be a problem yet and that I'd have time to ask people that might know.
So what do you think? Heat pad or not?

[sarah]

I dont keep sulcatas so im not that clued up on what they eat. Heat mats burn tortoises if placed underneath them but some use them on the side of a table for a bit of heat if they have a really cold house. As I say im not that clued up on sulcatas and not sure of their heating requirments, but regarding your hermann and horsfield temperatures at night can drop to 10c in the wild they would have a huge temperture drop.
Hwta indoor set ups have you got? have you any pictures?

[nina]

Originally Posted by Wellersbird

Bermuda is a grass, Sulcatas are grazers and eat a variety of them including Orchard Grass, Meadow Grass and the said Bermuda.
I did research but as it's the summer I didn't think night time heat would be a problem yet and that I'd have time to ask people that might know.
So what do you think? Heat pad or not?

Hi, and welcome to the forum! Sounds like you're keeping your torts in excellent conditions, and sorry that there was a misunderstanding to start with. You could fix a heat pad to the side or top of an enclosure, but not underneath the tort. In the cold weather, at night, you could use a ceramic heat emitter set on a thermostat. I've got one in my horsfield's indoor enclosure. I wasn't able to hibernate him last winter, and our house gets really cold, so I set it to go on if the temperatur dropped below 7 or 8 degrees at night. Since the CHEs don't give off any light, it won't disturb his day/night cycle , and they last forever (I've got one that provides all of the heat in my cornsnake's cage, and it has been running for 18 years!).

Nina