im getting in a bit of a muddle here when I purchased our tortoise he came with a tortoise table which is from the tortoise shop and has a hiding box in which he sleeps in and a section at the side where a basking lamp is should they be so close to one another.
Also when we got him a few months back he was in hemp bedding i have since changed that but he dosent seem to be happy as he is obviously used to it and uses it to burry himself in at night Ive left a little in the beding area alongside his 50/50 substrate mix as to not stress him but now im stressing!! especially knowing it can be harmful any suggestions on what i should do ie use instead? Im also now looking for a combined basking /uvb light fitting and bulb wheres the cheapest place to but this? any help is much appreciated

Hi

Good news that you have started with a table top for your new friend, and that the tortoise shop recommended one!!
Be strong and remove the hemp, it is not worth the risk as it could be quite dangerous. In the bedding area I use lots of shredded paper and find both my baby and adult bury themselves deep down in it, and I know they are safe. For lighting/heating, the combination lamps are the easiest to use when  new to the world of torty's, if you decide to develop further you will soon discover other options to use. There are several makes of the comi lamps ranging in different prices, the most highly recommended one is the MegaRay, then you have Powersun, T'Rex, Solar Glo and probably many more, each have there own advantages and disadvantages. What species is your tort and how old?
Jane, Keya & Molly

Hi, I use sand/soil all over, just make it deep enough for him to bury himself into, this is the most natural substrate mimicking the wild.

Regarding combined heat/light lamps, as Jane mentioned Megaray are used by a lot of our members, we have a site in our links section, here is the link http://www.kimbosreptileworld.co.uk/.

I hope this helps, regards Vivienne

HEMP REMOVED LOL!
His cites papers say he was hatched in July 09. So he could be a she I guess!
Tried the shredded paper all's well.
I looked on the site given below wow! anything cheaper than that! As of course I will need yo buy the lamp holder too.Still saving at the moment.
The lady we brought our torty off said the basking lamp was all he needed we now know different through out the bit of summer we had he was put out in his enclosure to get natural sunlight but of course now we cant which is why we must get a uvb light asap.
Thank you for all your help
Jacqueline

p.s Im going to try and look it up to see how strong the watts should be on the light as i understand the lesser watts are noy being produced anymore so what wattz do I need. My tortys a Herman