my baby horsfield always seems cold

i have had our horsfield tortiose about 2 months and he always seems cold,he has a light and a uv light and these are always on at least 7 hours a day as advised when i bought him.

he is eating well, but never seems to go under the light,he is only 8 months old and i just worry he is too cold.

i was advised at first to use bark as a base in the table but since have read that isn't a good idea, so i have now changed and he has timothy hay all th time now..is this ok?

i have a heat mat, but again there are mixed reports on if i should use these,the table is wooden so placing underneath would not give him no heat and placing under hey i think would not be good in case he wees on it

please advise as soon as possible

kind regards

caroline

Comments for my baby horsfield always seems cold

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Sep 09, 2009

more details please! :)
by: Anonymous

Hi, can you please tell us what the temps are on the warm side of the enclosure and the cool side? Micro-climates are very important. Also, what is the humidity in the table? A great substrate is a 50/50 sand/topsoil mix. The lights should be on for 12 hours and 12 hours off, this is easy to achieve with a timer More info can be found at russiantortoise.org

Sep 05, 2009

cold horsefield
by: Addie

i wouldn't use a heat mat personally. If your tortoise is eating ok then i wouldn't worry as if he was too cold he wouldn't have an appetite. During winter my tortoise used to slow right down when he was a baby and not eat much so i used to give him a warm bath in front of the fire in the the morning to get him started. This seemed to work quite well!
Hope this helps x

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