Tortoise advice

Aaron · 10th August 2009, 10:51 AM

Firstly Thanks in advance Jo as ill know you will be the first to answer lol.

Is it completly neccaserary? to have a heat light on a tortoise table through the summer Our house is very warm all the time. I.e yesterday was very muggy and hot would it need to be on at times like this.

Also i have a 24" reptisun 10.0 which they can get within inches of. Is this ok when they are not outside.

And also im not planning on hibernating for a few years ( was told this is ok )
so how long shall i leave the u.v on everyday if they are in the tortoise table.

Lastly last night they buried themselves at about 8pm completely ( none of them was visible ) and when i left for work one of them was out but the other was sill buried. Is this normal behaviour.

Thanks

Oh and sorry rob for being a traitor it was a last minute thing for the girlfriends birthday and i just couldnt get the time from work to get them from you as i wanted.

Aaron · 10th August 2009, 10:53 AM

[QUOTE=Aaron;32263] and when i left for work one of them was out but the other was sill buried. Is this normal behaviour.

I left for work at 8.30am this morning

jo x · 10th August 2009, 01:42 PM

firstly its perfectly normal to bury themselves there regulating body temperature and water balance the animal seeks to protect itself from excessively high or low temperatures, and to prevent excessive loss of body fluids from respiration and evaporation,secondly idealy your tortoises should be out side in outdoor enclouser during the day time some of mine are out 24/7 as long as temps are around 15c and they have been warmed up prior there shouldnt be a problem dont be put off by a bit of cloud you will be surprised how much uv they will get. It is very important to make sure adequate heat and light is provided.Aproxamatly 14 hours of light should be provided and temperatures reaching 30c/32c directly under the heat basking area with a gradience of around 24c at cool end.

Aaron · 10th August 2009, 02:45 PM

Well lets say its a day that is not raining hard and is above 15C i should just leave them out (besides night as i really wouldnt feel comfortable them out on their own)

I didnt think they would benefit if it was cloudy lol.

So if it chucks it down or is really damp or less than 15c and overnight i am ok keeping them in the 4 x 2 tabletop with spotlamp and reptisun 10.0

also they are 18mnths old are they classed as juvenilles.

jo x · 10th August 2009, 03:22 PM

weather permitting they should be out as much as possible, as the UVB light emitted from the sun, even on a cloudy day, is far superior to that of any lamp. If the daytime temperature is over 15c and the night time temps dont drop below 10c then my torts are housed outside apart from tropical species that is.Its around 2 year old torts become juvenile,As for the rain as long as its not excessive my torts stay outside themselves and will take them selves off to the various shelters they have in an around there enclouses,if it becomes to much for them.but the majority will stay outside in it.

Aaron · 10th August 2009, 03:34 PM

sorry to pester but is mine then classed as a hatchling

jo x · 10th August 2009, 03:48 PM

your not pestering at all thats what were here for im more than happy to answer any of your questions if possible i would say juvenille

Aaron · 10th August 2009, 04:25 PM

cool i came home from work a sec ago and they were still buried and hadnt touched their weeds??

Aaron · 10th August 2009, 04:25 PM

do they require a settling in period

jo x · 10th August 2009, 05:49 PM

Everything requires a period of time to adjust to new surroundings but a little back ground information would help a little bit more, are they captive breed what did there diet consist of before your purchased as some torts that haven’t been given the right foods can be very picky in deed and they are stubborn, what are your temperatures in basking area and cooler end