All persons posting here have made good points, including MattJ below. You should be giving the tortoises a much more varied diet, first of all, and supplementing it with both Ultrafine Rep-Cal and Herptevite daily. I have been keeping tortoises pretty successfully for 40 plus years and have never found any need to use a prepared tortoise chow or diet of any kind to keep them healthy and happy. The only time I ever used anything like that was in the 1960's when dog chow was used to encourage rapid growth (before it was discovered that too much protein damages tortoise kidneys and livers).

I may have missed this somewhere above, but what is the exact source of UV light you are using and how many hours daily are the tortoises receiving? My lights are on 16 hours a day, and the tortoises can get into or out of it at will. I use dual bulb fixtures with one Verilux bulb and one Reptisun 7%. I replace them at least every 4 months. Replace one brand of bulb in January and every 4 months thereafter. Replace the second brand in March and every 4 months thereafter. In this way, there is always a fresh bulb in use every two months, and you will get the maximum benefit of the UV exposure. Another point which should be understood is that the closer to the substrate the UV light can be, the more efficient it will be. Mine are about 5-6" above the hatchlings and 14" above the adults.

Finally, to add info to another posters comments, I have a temperature gun and use 250 watt infrared heat bulbs placed about 15" above the substrate. The temperature at the surface under these bulbs is roughly 116F. The tortoises sit under these bulbs for extended periods of time. My Burmese Star adults actually climb up on each other trying to get closer to the heat source. Temperature in Burma where these tortoises live can reach 110F in the summer. Also it can be unbelievably humid in the summer months.

I hope this info will be helpful to you in improving the health of your babies.

Bill Zovickian

[ Show Entire Thread ]