Desert Tortoise

I haven't been on this forum in awhile! Anyways, I'm back with questions!

My girlfriend is "obsessed" with turtles so I got her a Desert Tortoise. My dad has had tortoises for about 15yrs and they've lived in the backyard in a little hole and eat the flowers we have. Probably about 2-3yrs ago they had babies and I've recently asked my girlfriend if she wanted one and she of course said yes. The baby tortoise is only about 2yrs old and is probably no bigger/longer than a tennis ball, still very small. I had an extra 10gal tank that I was going to use for my African Fat-tail gecko's babies (which never did happen). So I got a tank for her with some cage carpet, but I'm going to get some sifted dirt out of the backyard for it instead. (Dad's friend said sifted dirt is the best choice, and he's a reptile man so I believed him). Anyways, so I have a lamp with a 75 watt red heat light for the nighttime, and I have a daylight bulb for the daytime. I have a coconut shelter for it, that should tell you how small the baby is small enough to fit inside one of the smaller coconut homes.

I'm just wondering what do I need to do get her setup with? I was told the Desert Tortoise could eat collard greens, mustard greens, and like romain lettuce with vitamin supplement. We feed ours like plums and things every so often when we can just for like a treat.

If anybody can upload a picture of a Desert Tortoise setup, that would be awesome, and also a list of things I might need for the baby.

Thanks guys.

I couldn't get my links to work, so I sent you a PM.

Can we see pictures of the little guy?

I would suggest first thing to do, is to get a bigger enclosure. 10 gal is simply not big enough. 20 gal long is minimum, but try using one of the long totes...especially if you could still find on clearance the ones made to store Christmas wrapping paper under a bed.

Check to see what actual temps at the surface of the bedding those lights are getting it...and what is the temp on the cooler side? Is it a UV light or will the little guy get supervised time out in the sunshine?

Yeah I talked to her about having a bigger tank, she's going to save up to buy a 20gal tank. I think we've done a pretty good job in creating a little enclosure for him/her. Not too sure what it is yet, but we definitely have a name for it! It's name is Sandee.

I got the temps. High: 85 / Low: 70-72ish.

Let me know what you think.

i would skip the 20 gal, soon your tort will out grow it, and you will have a pricey 20 gal, plus a 10 gal to deal with sitting around... of course that gives you a chance to fill them!

The totes are much bigger and much cheaper.

Do you have a UVB light?

What did you finally use for the bedding? Old eyes here can't see things clearly. Before you mentioned a hide hut, but am I just over looking it? Or can it get under the rock in the corner for a hide? I would suggest something inside the hut to add humidity (like long spag. moss).

He's eating okay? What all are you now feeding him?

Yeah before I got the dirt put in, I just had cage carpet and a coconut hide that I use for my AFT's. The next day I came over to her house with a paint bucket filled with sifted dirt that I got from my backyard. I sifted it 3 times. Then I washed a few rocks and placed them in there. He dug under the one in the corner and that's where he sleeps. The other rock is just one to climb on and the water bowl in the other corner of course.

I'm going to be buying her another lamp so she can have both heat and UV going on at the same time. Right now during the day we use a UV bulb and at night we use the red light bulb, the temps don't seem to alter much, they stay at the same, but I'm going to be buying her a new lamp so she'll have both going on at the same time.

I went to Petco and bought some vitamin supplement that could be used on his vegi's. He eats A LOT! She feeds him romaine lettuce and one grape. He's a hyper little guy and he's so much fun to watch. He trucks around his tank non-stop.

Romaine lettuce is just water. You want to go for mustard and collard greens for the majority of the diet. If it's some sort of desert tortoise, he will need a basking spot. You can do this with a simple house hold bulb.

Yeah I am going to buy her another lamp that will be the basking light during the day so the red heating lamp can always be on. The basking UV bulb I bought is the Clear looking blue bulb. I got it at petco and it says it provides UV and heat, so I was like oh sweet. So yeah, getting another lamp is definitely on my list.

Make sure its heat and UVB. Many places sell backing bulbs that provide UVA but not UVB rays. Your tortoise needs UVB. Mercury vapor bulbs do UVB, UVA and heat. If you got one of those, it should have been about $50. If it was any less, its not providing UVB.

That is a simple basking bulb. It does put out UV and heat.
But its UVA, just like a household light bulb. What you need will say specifically that it provides UVB.