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Hermann Tortoise questions

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  • 16-10-2010 8:43pm
    #1
    mad m
    Registered Users Posts: 9,004 ✭✭✭


    Got my Son a Hermann Tortoise today, made up an enclosure roughly of 3f X 2f, with a little house for him to get cover.

    We're a little unsure as to the setup of the lights and how long to leave them on, and any advice i'd appreciate it. We have a 2ft long UV light attached about 7 inches from bottom. There are two clamp lamps one either end, which are 100watts each, on the right there is a night light and on the left there is a day light. The substrate is not sawdust but shavings from wood, its inbetween dust and shavings if you know what I mean.

    This enclosure is currently in the attic room, which when the heating is on can become warm. But with the weather at moment its not on constantly. And obviously it wont be on during the day during the week as we will all be out at school and work....Will have to get timers maybe when we are not in house.

    UV light how long to stay on?
    Day light how long to stay on?
    Night/heat light how long to stay on?

    Are the clamp lights set at right height?


    Some pics below....


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    #2
    lrushe
    Registered Users Posts: 1,713 ✭✭✭lrushe


    mad m wrote: »
    Got my Son a Hermann Tortoise today, made up an enclosure roughly of 3f X 2f, with a little house for him to get cover.

    We're a little unsure as to the setup of the lights and how long to leave them on, and any advice i'd appreciate it. We have a 2ft long UV light attached about 7 inches from bottom. There are two clamp lamps one either end, which are 100watts each, on the right there is a night light and on the left there is a day light. The substrate is not sawdust but shavings from wood, its inbetween dust and shavings if you know what I mean.

    This enclosure is currently in the attic room, which when the heating is on can become warm. But with the weather at moment its not on constantly. And obviously it wont be on during the day during the week as we will all be out at school and work....Will have to get timers maybe when we are not in house.

    UV light how long to stay on?
    Day light how long to stay on?
    Night/heat light how long to stay on?

    Are the clamp lights set at right height?


    Some pics below....

    Nice enclosure, the only thing I would advise is that you put a sheet of perspex on the bottom, the reason being you will need to wet down the enclosure twice a week which will eventually rot the bottom of the enclosure a I learned.
    I would also take out the wood shavings as again you will need to wet them, the shavings will good mouldy, not good for a tortoise. A better substrate is 50/50 soaked coconut coir and play sand.

    UV light how long to stay on?
    12 hours
    Day light how long to stay on?
    12 hours
    Night/heat light how long to stay on?
    No heating/ lighting at all at night
    Are the clamp lights set at right height?
    Usually they are set 12" above the enclosure, or whatever gives you a basking temperature of 32 degrees
    Also I would keep the lights together rather than at either end of the enclosure, the lights are supposed to simulate sunlight and sunlight will have heat and UVB emitting from the same source (the sun).

    Please have a look at a thread I have recently answered on Russian Tortoises, the care for Hermans are very similar.
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056056112


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    #3
    mad m
    Registered Users Posts: 9,004 ✭✭✭mad m


    Irushe,

    Sent you a pm there....

    Thanks for the reply....Just thinking what you said about the perpex, I actually stained the wood with waterbased finish to protect it, but perpex is a good idea. I wonder also would it be better to have maybe half of the enclosure in the play sand and coconut coir? sort of split it? The sides of the enclosure I'd probably have to protect also from the dampness of the substrate...hmmm

    Edit: How often would the substrate have to be changed?


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    #4
    lrushe
    Registered Users Posts: 1,713 ✭✭✭lrushe


    mad m wrote: »
    Irushe,

    Sent you a pm there....

    Thanks for the reply....Just thinking what you said about the perpex, I actually stained the wood with waterbased finish to protect it, but perpex is a good idea. I wonder also would it be better to have maybe half of the enclosure in the play sand and coconut coir? sort of split it? The sides of the enclosure I'd probably have to protect also from the dampness of the substrate...hmmm

    Edit: How often would the substrate have to be changed?

    You need to mix the coir and sand, the coir absorbs the water you will be soaking your enclosure with but it will dry out quickly, the sand will hold the moisture for longer.
    The sides should be ok as the top of the substrate will dry out fairly quickly but moisture will tend to sit on the bottom for longer as the heat from the bulbs will take longer to penetrate to the bottom.
    Your substrate should be deep enough for the tort to completely bury themselves. It won't need changing for about six months or so but daily spot cleaning for old food and poop will need to be done.


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