hi,im new to this site and wanted to know a few things,first off i have a hermanns tortoise which is currently in a viv,i will be changing to a table or similar though after reading about vivs,my current set up includes a uv strip light,spot bulb and a heat mat,my question is does the tort need the ehat mat as this is what was recommended but im not so sure,my tort is constantly scraping at the sides of the viv and i have a gut feeling that it is not at all happy and also keeps digging the mat up,i hope this makes sense im still relatively new to keeping tortoies so help would be appreciated

Hi Steve, the quicker you can change to the table top enc, the better.

Heat mats are not advisable for torts and should not be kept on the inside of the enclosure where he can dig it up.

I would also advise an outside enclosure then your tort can benefit form the sunshine that we have had recently. I don't keep mine outside overnight. However, my outside enclosures are heavily planted with tort goody plants and they can graze freely, bask and shade as they would in the wild.

There are lots of seed mixes available from good websites.

I use powersun combined heat and uv bulbs in my enclosures. There are lots of gradients and it is important to have the bulb situated towards one end to allow him to regulate his own body temps.

thanks for your quick reply,i am now going to take the mat out straight away,i did have a feeling it wasnt meant to be there,but poor advice from the shop where i bought it lead me to beleive different,i only wish i knew about this site when i got my tort,i am going to build an indoor enclosure for him/her out of an old bookcase i think,also how do you sex them?

Hi Steve

Like you I am a new tortoise 'mummy'. This site has been absolutely fantastic and I am learning some thing new every day. I really don't know what I would have done without it.

As my understanding goes I think a tortoise has to be between 3 and 5 years before you can sex it. How old is yours?

And yes, get rid of the viv straight away. Alfie, my 10 month old tort, has a really large indoor rabbit enclosure - a bit like a huge hamster cage and this is ideal plus they are relatively in expensive.

Good luck

Julie

i think its around 5 years old,the viv is definately going,i did have one of them cages but for the life of me cant remeber what i did with it,i was thinking of making one out of an old bookcase i have,plenty of space then

Hi Steve,

An old bookcase with the shelves taken out makes a great tortoise table. Just make sure the sides are high enough that the tortoise can't climb out. Looking forward to seeing your great new table when it is finished.

Does he have an outdoor enclosure too? The UVB that he will get from the sun is far superior to any indoor UVB light, so he should be outdoors as much as possible while we are having this good weather.

Nina

Hi Steve, 

Im also new at this, weve recently got 2 horsfields and after loads of info searching of this site ( tons of helpul advice) we set up with an indoor rabbit cage with a mega ray lamp and dome over the top. ( this was recommended by Darren at Kimbos, who was very helpful.) The rabbit cage we got from a garden centre and because it was display we got it down to half price, BARGAN.

I gave Darren all the details size of the cage and he sorted the suitable  lamp out for me.

Ours, Sparkey and Bolt are hatchlings only 8 weeks old and we bring them in at night. The breeder who we got them off was so helpful I cant thank her enough and even with a couple of hiccups at the beginning she was there to help us NOT the sort of support you would get from a shop Im sad to say. Defo to getting them out of the viv as soon as poss. Our 2 have soo much room and differant areas to explore only problem is when we bring them in at night Sparkey tends to dig himself down, well hard to find.

All the best with new family member, 

Paula  

i take mine out through the day when its good,at the moment it is raining,like it usually does(i live in scotland in the uk)land of rain so not many oportunities to take it outside unfortunately,have to get around to building an outdoor enclosure also

hi steve welcome to the tpg, i also live in scotland outside edinburgh & know what you mean about the weather for an outdoor enclosure as we would love to have 1 but 9 out of 10 times the wind here is to cold for them thats if its not raining aswell but we have had them out on nice days watching them get lost in the grass even tho its only about 2" high lol