Hi and so sorry to be a bit late in getting back to you. Glad you've found a table you like -- and the best thing is to get the biggest table that your space will allow, as tortoises get bored in small spaces. Will he have a secure outdoor area as well? Here is a link to our page on enclosures
https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/tor ... LGO96R7m9s and if you scroll down you can click on links to indoor enclosusres (including describing what you need and showing how to build some (and what lighting to use, etc.).
Regarding the UVB bulb. The combination bulbs are very good and I think most people use them, but I have a preference for separate heat/light bulb and UVB fluorescent strip lights. The reasons for tihs are firstly that the ambient room temperature has a big effect on the temperature in the table, so you need to be able to raise and lower your heat bulb to get the desired temperature (it should be about 30C directly below the heat bulb at the height of your tortoise's shell), and if you raise the bulb high to get a lower temperature in the table then the UVB source is also further away. Also, if you use the fluorescent strip UVB bulbs you can get them long enough to cover most of the length of the table (I wouldn't use the compact ones if possible), so that no matter where your tortose is he is still getting UVB. But as I said both are perfectly good and that is just my preference.
For a water bowl you can just use a shallow plant pot saucer, or anything really, and you will need to soak him two or three times a week in a container that he can't see out of (I use an old washing up bowl) in warm water that comes just up to his chin, or the line where his top shell meets his bottom shell. This will help to rehydrate him and he will also usually poo and wee in the bath, so less to clean up in the table.
A piece of slate is recommended for feeding on, as that enables the tortoise to keep his beak in trim (scraping the slate as he goes for food) so that it doesn't overgrow, but I wouldn't put it directly under the lamp as it can get too hot. You can also use a flat piece of stone. My table has a second level (which I would recommend as it gives them more exercise walking up and down the ramp to get there, and I feed mine on the top level, so that the food doesn't get covered in substrate (but in the wild their food would have dirt on it so that's not a real problem).
The best substrate to use is a mixture of ordinary sterilised tosoil and children's playsand, and you can buy these at any garden centre. You can mix them 50/50 (or I prefer a slightly higher percentage of soil to sand. This most approximates what they would have in nature and it is very easy to spot clean wee and poo. Horsfields are burrowing tortoises by nature, and that sand/soil mixture will enable him to dig in and completely bury himself if he wants to (so try to make the substrate as deep as possible (and ensure the sides of the table are high enough so that he can't climb out.
Yes, obstacles such as stones, etc. are very good. If the tortoise can see from one end of his table to the other end without obstruction then he will get bored, so you want him to have things to walk around, over and under. Those little bendy log thingys that you can buy for hamsters and guinea pigs are good because they can use them as a shelter and also climb over them (they love climbing up and sliding down the other side). This sort of thing:
https://www.miscota.co.uk/small-animals ... 1689400702&
gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4ovXysHM4QIVq53tCh2KdwM7EAQYAyABEgJDYPD_BwE
The best food for your tortoise is fresh food (weeds, flowers, etc.) Most of the commercial mixes are too high in protein (and tortoises need a low protein/high fibre diet. So weeds are best (dandelions, plantain, sowthistle) and many garden plants are also great. If you go to our website at
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk and go into any of the categories (for example wildflowers or house and garden) you can use our filter system to produce a list of edible plants for yourself. Here is a link to instructions on how to use the filter system:
https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/pla ... LGMCKR7m9s (just scroll down to the section on how to use the traffic light filters).
Calcium is really important for tortoises (when you think about it they are mostly shell and bone and so need lots of calcium). Cuttlefish bone is good, but many tortoises won't eat it until it has been left outside in the rain and elements for a month or so, but you can also use your fingernail to scrape bits of it onto his food that you have wet (so it sticks). You can buy limestone flour at horsefeed suppliers or online, or pure calcium carbonate powder and use that too on food that has been wet. He should also have a calcium an vitamin D3 supplement like Nutorbal sprinkled on his food on das when he doesn't have the other calcium supplement.
I would definitely recommend getting your tortoise from a breeder: the aftercare advice is excellent, the tortoise won't have been imported from abroad and so will be less stressed and less likely to have parasites, and breeders are also usually cheaper., and you might evengete to meet your tortoise's parents. If you want us to look for a breeder who might be near you I'm happy to make some enquiries. But if you go to this page:
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... ite/34.asp and scroll down to UK breeders, you might find someone within a reasonable distance.
Finally, I can't remember if I sent you this before, but here is a care sheet for Horsfields that might answer some of your questions:
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... 014New.pdf
Sorry to have gone on for so long, but to please get back to us if you have more questions (lol, and I will try to give shorter answers!).
Nina