herman tortoise setup

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HermanTort101
Posts: 1
Joined: 15 Aug 2019, 16:22

herman tortoise setup

Post by HermanTort101 » 15 Aug 2019, 16:34

hello. a day ago i bought a beautiful herman tortoise about 2 yr old. i have made a tortoise table 4ft long by 2ft wide and 1ft deep. i fitted a lamp with a 50watt uva and uvb bulb. my tortoise doesnt want to bask under the light. Can anyone help or run me through hibernation and what i need to get the tort for it. Also do i need thermometers. its currently in the spare room which is normally quite warm. do i need a heat lamp

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Nina
Posts: 2003
Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:22

Re: herman tortoise setup

Post by Nina » 15 Aug 2019, 17:07

Hi HermanTort101 (sorry, don't know your name), and welcome to The Tortoise Table! And many congratulations on getting your little Hermann's Tortoise -- they are a great species, and he will really love the fact that you have made him his own tortoise table -- and it sounds a good size too.

Re your light -- could you tell me what brand it is? It's just that not many UVB lamps come in 50W versions, so I'd just like to check (or did you mean that you had separate UVA and UVB lamps?). The important thing with any heat source is that the temperature is correct directly below the lamp and at the height of the tortoise's shell, so you do need a thermometer. Don't get one that is mounted near the light on a wall of the table, as that won't give you an accurate reading. I would get one of the digital fridge thermometers (the kind with a display unit and then a long cord with a probe on the end), and you hang that probe down into the table as close to the circle of light given off by the lamp as possible. Something like this (but you can get them cheaper):
https://tinyurl.com/y52hyxwx
And then you just raise or lower the lamp to get cooler or warmer temperatures.

Re the heat lamp -- it is just important that you get the right temperature and as much light as possible in the table, so if you are getting the right temperature from what you already have then you don't need another source.. You want a temperature of around 30C directly below the lamp at tortoise height (that is the 'hot' end of your table), and a temperature of around 20C at the cool end, and there is no need for any light or heat at night indoors. A tortoise is ecto-thermic and needs to wander from warm to cool areas throughout the day to regulate its body temperature, so a gradient of 20C - 30C is what you are trying to achieve.

Re hibernation, if you have only just got your tortoise now, I think I would not hibernate him/her this year. It's really important that a tortoise goes into hibernation in full health, so you need a while to really get to know her/him and the little signs that might tell you the tortoise isn't well. However, if you do decide to hibernate we can send you full instructions on how to prepare the tortoise for hibernation (called 'winding down') and the hibernation itself, so let me know if you want them and I will send them on.

Would you like a care sheet for Hermanns? Here is a link to one in case you don't already have one:
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... 014New.pdf

I hope that helps, and please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any more questions or problems.

Cheers,
Nina

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