What a lovely little chap he is (or it might be 'she', as it's difficult to sex tortoises before they are about five or six years old). If you want to send us a photo of his underside, clearly showing his tail, we could have a good guess.
Thanks for the photo of your table -- and well done for having a tortoise table and not a vivarium (which can cause major problems)! One of the things that is really important for tortoises is temperature. They are ectothermic (depending on outside source of heat to produce their body heat), and need to move from warm to cool spots during the day to regulate their body temperature. You want to aim for a temperature of around 30C directly below your lamp and about 20C at the cool end. And this needs to be measured directly under the lamp at the height of the tortoises shell, as a thermometer on a nearby wall won't give an accurate reading (I can suggest an inexpensive good type of thermometer if you are interested). You shouldn't need any heat at night unless the temperature drops below about 13C. Also, just to check, how old is your mercury vapour lamp (they are only effective for between 1year - 2 years and then you need to change them -- can explain why if you want).
Where is your heat mat placed? If it is on the roof of his sleeping area that is fine, but if it is on the floor of his table, even under the substrate, it is dangerous because even with a low watt heat mat the temperatures can build up when tortoises sit on them and there are cases of tortoises getting shell burns. Also, tortoises do like to get their heat from above, rather than below.
I think I would change that substrate. Wood chips aren't a natural surface for them to walk on and they present two problems: if they are wet for a long time (say, from wee or from water spilling out of the bowl) then mould can grow; and if a bulb should blow (which rarely happens, but it is known) then if hot pieces of glass fall down on the wood chips they can catch fire. I would move to a soil-based compost, which is more natural and also easier to clean (you can easily use an old spoon to take out clumps of damp soil after a wee). There is a commercial substrate called Tortoise Life, which is OK, although expensive, but most of us use ordinary sterilised topsoil mixed with children's play sand (dont' use builder's sand), and you can buy both of these cheaply in bags from garden centres or Homebase, etc. We then mix them either 50/50 or more topsoil to sand -- say 60/40 or 70/30. Then you spray the substrate lightly every other day, to keep it from getting dusty, or pour some water on it and mix it up well every three or four days so that it is just the teeny tiniest bit damp -- not at all wet.
He does have a bit of pyramiding (when the individual scutes are raised up like little pyramids, rather than having a smooth shell). This is very common and caused by several factors but the main one is diet. You have only just got him, so this was caused at his previous home, but you can prevent further pyramiding (which can lead to metabolic bone disease), by feeding the right food (high fibre/low protein), and not over feeding (which can cause too rapid growth and shell deformities. The thing you want is slow growth, so aim for an average growth of no more than 1g - 4g per month. This is an average and some months his weight will increase more and some months less, but this is what to aim for. If he is putting on more weight than that then you need to cut down on how much you are feeding him.
LOL, I think this post is getting too long, so I'll end here by attaching a link to a care sheet for Spur Thighs and saying that I think you are going to be a really good tortoise keeper, and it's great that you are undertaking your research at the beginning of your journey with him -- it will provide him with a happy and healthy life.
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... 014New.pdf
Nina
Mrslums wrote:
> Thankyou so much for your reply. Your a star
>
> Bert is a spur thighed tortoise hes approx 4 years old. I will attache
> photos. He has a e. Closure and a hooded bed area. With a heat mat and a uv
> bulb hanging over.
>
> Unsure what the bottom is called. We have never owned a tortoise but we are
> smitten and really want to provide a great home x