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Old 22-12-2010, 09:40 PM   #1
SpookandNat
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Smile New tortoise owners housing worries!

Hi all. Me and my girlfriend had been planning on getting a tortoise for ages, and today we finally got one. He is a British bred 1 year old Hermann and he is so cute! Anyway, we had a few issues on housing.

We bought I'm from a new pet store that has opened up in our town called Wrigglies. Our main concern with the shop was that everything there was kept in a vivarium. However, after seeing the certificated and having the knowlege that they hand been there or long, we decided to buy the cute one that made a mess on my girlfriends hand.

Now, we had looked up a lot of care sheets and information, but there seems o be 2 distinct types of tortoise owners who are continually contradicting the other party's arguments.

The guy sold us some good bedding, and obviously we have the tortoise table which is a good size, and all of the food bowls and scenery etc.

Our main concern is the lighting and energy costs. The guy sold us an 100 watt IR bulb and told us that was the one we wanted (also one of the more expensive ones in the shop.) He then went on to tell is that would need to be on 24/7, then went on to sell us a 12% UVB and said to have that on for 10 hours aday (15 watt)

We just wanted to know a few things.

A) is this a good way of heat uv and such?
B) if not how should it be done better?
C) with a bulb of that strength how close should it be to the table? We bought a clip lamp thing with the bulb, but I'd say there is about a size 13 shoe space length wise between the lamp and the table.
D) with the 100 watt bulb and the 15 watt UVB how much electricity are we looking at price wise (roughly)?
E) with all the snow around here at the moment, finding weeds is out of the question. I already know that icebergs are bad, and that too much protein can make them out grow their shells ( believe it or not they had a rescue tortoise there and showed us. He explained that under normal circumstances the tortoise would be put down, but that one was just so active and happy despite his rugged appearance, that they didn't feel it would be fair on him.) he told us about tomatoes and such being an occasional treat, and we bought supplements for the good veg like carrot and such. Any food suggestions to make a tortoise happy til the weeds come back?

thank you to everyone in advanced, and I apologise to everyone in advanced for any spelling mistakes and things that don't make sense throughout this post, but im writing this on my iPhone and I am not very good with it yet.
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Old 22-12-2010, 11:19 PM   #2
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Hi you have come away with some good basic thing's. A thermometer is a must for knowing what temp's the IR is giving where the tort will bask, it should be around 32c at the basking end and 21c at the other end, cool end.
The night time temp would depend on the room temp at night, to say if you need any extra night heat. In winter you may need extra night heat but not in the summer month's. The Uv and heat should be on for about 10 to 12 hours during the day.
Feeding can be a mix of a good pellet food plus Salad like Radicho leaves plus some dark green veg leaves. No overfeeding is one to watch for and bathing everyday, fresh water must be supplied. 115 watt's burning will cost money but not excessive.
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Old 23-12-2010, 12:05 AM   #3
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I have 12 torts in 8 different enclosures and I am only spending about £5 extra a week on electric
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Old 23-12-2010, 09:06 AM   #4
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light is as important as heat for keeping your tort awake during the winter so being by a window will help and if the table is large, room dark etc then you might need extra lighting at the far end from the main heat/light source. Your ambient or room temp needs to be about 20c through the day and with not much drop at night, so maybe choosing a small room thats easy to heat through the bad weather we're having at the moment. You shouldn't have any light on at night so no basking area etc, there are lots of things you can buy to feed in the winter and the food section is worth a look. Florrettes bagged salads, rocket, watercress etc plus consider using a good pellet such as Komodo alongside the greenery especially in the winter. Obviously when you have access to a good variety of greenery during the summer they won't be needed and must always be fed well soaked, I pour any suppluss water from them over the greens. Theres also a good winter food list on the Tortoise Trust's site but I'm not sure if theres a link to it from this site. The height of your bulb will depend on the temp of the surface below so raising/lowering it is how you adjust the temp.
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Old 23-12-2010, 10:41 AM   #5
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I don't know how much extra per week our utility bills are for keeping our Hector warm (leopard kept indoors), just that its £181 per month.
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Old 23-12-2010, 01:14 PM   #6
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Okay, so let's see if I get this. I should use a thermometer to check the heat temperature at the side with the heat lamp, but turn it off at night? What temp should the table be at night without the lamp on? How many hours a day should I keep the heat lamp and uv on for? How can I tell if he is getting cold? Heat AND uv during the day or only one? Sorry to bombard you with qs lol
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Old 23-12-2010, 02:17 PM   #7
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To help keep a tort awake and active through the winter it's a good idea not to let the temps drop to below 15/16 degrees at night, although as long as it's above 10 degrees should be ok. If torty is getting slugish and your night temps are dropping too low it may be worth trying to get the room a little warmer at night.

Torty should have access to both heat and light and UV for at least 12 hours a day

Hope this helps
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