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Old 07-11-2007, 11:58 PM
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Why when in the day my torti sleeps all day and at night when its dark n gone cooler he comes out? plus what is the best to grow quickly as my garden is becoming short and my seeds arent growing quick enough...cheers
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Old 08-11-2007, 12:04 AM
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It looks as though your daytime temps may be too high. HOw are you keeping him and what are the temps day and night?
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Old 08-11-2007, 12:21 AM
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well at the moment we have him in the living room at night to prevent any drafts....its not all night hes awake its like around 7 til around 10...then in the mornin from about 7-10...he has his basking light which is around 26-27 degrees and he got his flurencent tube...at nyt been turnin off both light and heat to go to around 12degrees...please tell me what i have got wrong....even my mum is confused...i thurt i new it all after the months of research but she still explaining things to me...he does has his bath at night because mum works different shifts and wants him to have a regular pattern so he nos what is going on....
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Old 08-11-2007, 12:26 AM
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he is in a tort table..
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Old 08-11-2007, 01:11 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by toytoisegirl View Post
well at the moment we have him in the living room at night to prevent any drafts....its not all night hes awake its like around 7 til around 10...then in the mornin from about 7-10...he has his basking light which is around 26-27 degrees and he got his flurencent tube...at nyt been turnin off both light and heat to go to around 12degrees...please tell me what i have got wrong....even my mum is confused...i thurt i new it all after the months of research but she still explaining things to me...he does has his bath at night because mum works different shifts and wants him to have a regular pattern so he nos what is going on....

Bathing them does wake them up and set them off hunting for food so this could be what is wrong. You do not need to protect him from draughts, he's a tortoise. It gets draughty outside Mine are in a cold conservatory so at night they bury down, this is what yours would do if the temps were lower. Personally I am not a lover of making a routine for any animal as in the wild they are opportunists and will seize the moment according to the weather etc If you are turning his lights/heat on to suit your work patterns then he will become confused and not know when it is day or night. Have a set time during the day for lights whether you are in or out. Match them approximately to daylight hours and don't mess with them apart from this.
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Old 08-11-2007, 02:10 AM
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everythin goes on at 7.15 every mornin n off again at 5 with it going dark early now..the only thing he has is his bath at night but i think we will change this to morning now if hed hunt for that afterwards...looks like an earlier start for mum...she loves him so hes worth it..hes had 4 names so far...she keeps changin it says it doesnt quiet suit him...lol
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Old 08-11-2007, 02:29 PM
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I cannot find what species you have but I presume a Testudo hermanni or horsfieldii.

Most of those do hibernate in winter and those who don't normally get the lights on at least for 12 hours to make them believe it would still be summer. My guess is that even 14 hours would be better, at least the bright light if you got different heat lamps and bright lamps.

I wouldn't say it's 100% proven but all what I read so far is always the same: let them believe it's summer and don't shorten the lighting time unless you want to hibernate them.

So, it doesn't matter what light is outside.

We got trays with seeds specially bought for tortoises on window sills. I don't know how much space you got.

Many of those seeds grow also up to 10°C daytime temperature, roughly the same as the lawn, so you can try it outside, only it will grow much slower.

Then there are also herbs in pots from supermarkets and plants like Aloe. Again is there the question if you got the space.

You can pick up also weeds from wasteland but that's an ample topic and there are some threads already in this section.

Just be sure you know what you're doing as some people claimed their tortoise would have died from toxic plants. Generally, tortoises can eat many plants that are toxic to mammals, but watching out can't be wrong.

If it's only a little, mix it with the stuff from the supermarket. Simply bear in mind that tortoises often want that stuff from the vegetable shelf but most of this is like junk food to us. That is as if you would live only on sweets, chips, and cola.
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Old 08-11-2007, 03:21 PM
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cool thanks...well wev got a couple of trays on the windows...just taking a little while longer than we thought...maybe they need singing to by me...may help them along lol...
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