Hatchlings

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Accommodation

Temperatures

Average daytime temperature – 75 - 80˚F   (24 – 27˚C)

 Average night time temperature – 64  – 72 ˚ F  (18 – 22 ˚C)

7am – light and UV on, heat mat off.

7pm – heat mat on, light and UV off.

They get cleaned out every night before their lights go off, and following the clean out of their tank will put themselves to bed ready for when the lights go off.  I use a disinfectant animal spray to ensure as many germs as possible are removed and wipe it clean with kitchen roll.

Feeding

Morning – Feed a small amount of food – You will establish how much they eat quite quickly.   It is important to include lots of natural greens in their diet, e.g. dandelion, clover, plantain- ALWAYS CHECK THAT IT HASN’T BEEN SPRAYED.  They can also been given the following foods as part of their diet.

                                                         Ice plant

I try to provide them with as much natural food as possible.  The greens are just placed on the newspaper for them to eat.  There are also a wide range of wild plants that are safe for them to eat.  To obtain the names and seed mix visit: www.tlady.clara.net/id16.htm

The food is cut up finely and sprinkled with a 50:50 powder mix of Sherleys Vionate and Calcium powder (crushed cuttlefish bone), OR alternatively give them the vionate with the cut up food and a piece of cuttlefish bone (from a pet shop) for them to bite at with the greens.

There is also another supplement available: Nutrobal.  This does not need extra calcium as it contains all of the appropriate vitamins and minerals for the tortoises.

Health

They have fresh cooled boiled water available to them on a daily basis and get a bath once a week.  This is in a cat litter tray filled to the appropriate depth with cooled boiled water.  They are then cleaned using kitchen roll.  TIP: toilet roll will just disintegrate and is not very good for cleaning their shells at all.

I weigh them every Friday to ensure that they are still maintaining or gaining weight.  This will show any signs of ill health if they begin to lose weight regularly (weight record sheet)