So I believe, one of the owners of a red foot, suggested not to pick up the baby tortoises for a while. (Mine was hiccuping quite a lot and it's now really starting to die down
). When or how much time should pass before I can hold Titan for more than waiting for him to dry off from his bath? ^_^ What are are tortoises really considered adults?
Hi Kat,
You should handle a hatchling the least amount of time possible. A short 2 or 3 minute inspection everyday to make sure everything is okay and the same amount of time to put him on a paper towel after a bath to let him dry some.
You must remember tortoises aren't mammals and don't respond well to being picked up. In the wild when a tortoise leaves the ground it usually means something is trying to eat it, especially a hatchling. They will struggle the best they can when their feet leave the ground. Hoping what ever has picked them up will drop them. It is very unnatural for a tortoise to leave the ground.
Be content with watching him and what he does when your home.
Danny
when are tortoises considered a adult?
and only because im curious but doesn't the holding thing only apply to onces that have been captured in the wild? I was told that if your tortoise is captive born then you are more free to take it out of its enclosure, pick it up, etc...
It depends on the species of tortoise. A tortoise is considered adult when it's large enough to either lay eggs or impregnate a female.
All this depends more on size than age.
That I'm afraid is not true about hatchlings or adult CB tortoises. The same rules apply with CB or WC. What I said before is all instinctual. Every hatchling, through millions of years of evolution, are hard wired to react this way. Captive breeding doesn't change that in the least. Almost everything a tortoise does is instinctual.
Danny
That makes sense, I just was told numerous things.
just asking ^_^