Your tortoise setup checklist
Set the table up and run the lamps for a few days before the tortoise arrives, so you can check the temperatures. Your ticks save on this device.
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An open-topped wooden table, not a glass vivarium. At least 90 × 60 cm for a youngster, and 10 times its shell length as it grows.
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Without UVB they can't use calcium, and shells and bones go soft. A T5 tube, or a combined heat and UVB bulb.
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Creates a 30–35 °C hot spot at one end. A combined mercury vapour bulb does heat and UVB in one.
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Holds the bulb at the right height. Plastic holders melt under basking bulbs.
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Measure at the height of the tortoise's shell under the lamp, and at the cool end.
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Lets them dig, holds a little moisture and doesn't get swallowed in clumps like shavings.
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Somewhere dark at the cool end to sleep.
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Shallow enough to walk into and out of. They drink and soak.
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Leave cuttlefish in the table to nibble, or dust food a few times a week.
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Weighing monthly tells you more about health than anything else, and it's essential in hibernation.
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Grow their food: a pot or patch of weeds and wildflowers saves money and beats supermarket salad.
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For warm days from late spring to early autumn. Sun on their shell beats any lamp.
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If you hibernate in a fridge, two thermometers inside, checked daily. A dedicated small fridge is best.