# Baby Desert Tort



## lakintorts (Apr 1, 2020)

HI everyone. We have two desert tortoises. One we have had for a little over a year and he is doing well. The other we just got a week ago and he is young but I have yet to see him eat. I see him drink and his food is moved around etc but I have not seen him eat with my own eyes. I am hoping he is eating and we just haven't seen it yet...... I am just wondering if there is anything we can do to encourage/entice him to eat. Thanks in advance!
Tammy


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## Maggie3fan (Apr 1, 2020)

lakintorts said:


> HI everyone. We have two desert tortoises. One we have had for a little over a year and he is doing well. The other we just got a week ago and he is young but I have yet to see him eat. I see him drink and his food is moved around etc but I have not seen him eat with my own eyes. I am hoping he is eating and we just haven't seen it yet...... I am just wondering if there is anything we can do to encourage/entice him to eat. Thanks in advance!


Possible...bigger tort is bullying the smaller one...you won't see it...also are your temperatures correct? I'd set them up separately...and cut up the food for that baby, smaller pieces are easier for a baby to manage....until he shapes up, I would soak him in Gerber's strained carrots...plz keep asking questions...


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## Maggie3fan (Apr 1, 2020)

maggie18fan said:


> Possible...bigger tort is bullying the smaller one...you won't see it...also are your temperatures correct? I'd set them up separately...and cut up the food for that baby, smaller pieces are easier for a baby to manage....until he shapes up, I would soak him in Gerber's strained carrots...plz keep asking questions...


Oh and other people will ask for pictures of your habitat and temps humidity etc...


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## lakintorts (Apr 1, 2020)

maggie18fan said:


> Possible...bigger tort is bullying the smaller one...you won't see it...also are your temperatures correct? I'd set them up separately...and cut up the food for that baby, smaller pieces are easier for a baby to manage....until he shapes up, I would soak him in Gerber's strained carrots...plz keep asking questions...


We have the torts separate and I will check temp is staying correct. I am soaking the torts daily in warm water( a site I checked said water temp for soaking should be 90 degrees). Do you mean feed baby strained carrots to tort or soak him in them?? Thank you so much! And yes Iwill keep asking questions.


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## Maggie3fan (Apr 1, 2020)

lakintorts said:


> We have the torts separate and I will check temp is staying correct. I am soaking the torts daily in warm water( a site I checked said water temp for soaking should be 90 degrees). Do you mean feed baby strained carrots to tort or soak him in them?? Thank you so much! And yes Iwill keep asking questions.


If you add the baby food to his soaking water, he will get nutrition added that might help him...


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## Tom (Apr 1, 2020)

lakintorts said:


> We have the torts separate and I will check temp is staying correct. I am soaking the torts daily in warm water( a site I checked said water temp for soaking should be 90 degrees). Do you mean feed baby strained carrots to tort or soak him in them?? Thank you so much! And yes Iwill keep asking questions.


Most of the care info you find for this species is wrong, and if followed usually kills the baby. Sounds like you found good info if you are soaking daily.

Is the baby being housed inside or out? What temperatures? If its too cool, appetite wanes.

Follow this info for a DT. Care for Russians is the same:





Beginner Mistakes


To comment on Tom's article, go here: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-split-Beginner-Mistakes#axzz1tG8s05M5 Over the years many of us, myself included, have made many of these mistakes, and we have certainly seen them made many times by others. With springtime upon us and many new...




tortoiseforum.org









Russian Tortoise Care Sheet


Russian tortoises have great personalities, are very hardy, tolerate a wide variety of enclosure parameters, stay small, and are generally a good "starter" tortoise in my opinion. Here is how I like to set them up: Indoor Enclosure type and size: Most people want to know the minimum size...




tortoiseforum.org


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## lakintorts (Apr 1, 2020)

maggie18fan said:


> If you add the baby food to his soaking water, he will get nutrition added that might help him...


OH!! WOW!!! So cool! I did not know that! Thank you SO much!


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## lakintorts (Apr 1, 2020)

Tom said:


> Most of the care info you find for this species is wrong, and if followed usually kills the baby. Sounds like you found good info if you are soaking daily.
> 
> Is the baby being housed inside or out? What temperatures? If its too cool, appetite wanes.
> 
> ...


He is inside with basking light and UVB Daylight


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## lakintorts (Apr 1, 2020)

Tom said:


> Most of the care info you find for this species is wrong, and if followed usually kills the baby. Sounds like you found good info if you are soaking daily.
> 
> Is the baby being housed inside or out? What temperatures? If its too cool, appetite wanes.
> 
> ...


Oh my gosh those articles were SO much more informative than anything else I have found online! Thank you!


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## Tom (Apr 1, 2020)

lakintorts said:


> He is inside with basking light and UVB Daylight


Mostly indoors is best for them. I've done many side by side comparisons with groups of clutchmates over the years, and babies do MUCH better when kept mostly indoors. I put them outside in a safe enclosure for an hour two or three times a week. As they grow larger, I let them have more and more outside time. This is contrary to what most care sheets tell people to do. Almost all of them say some variation of "They do better when housed outside..." Totally false.

If you do the above, they don't need indoor UV. You can use it if you like, and it does brighten up the enclosure, but they don't "need" indoor UV if they are getting a couple hours of access to sunshine a week.

What type of UV bulb have you got? Did you read the part about not using the cfl screw in types?


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## lakintorts (Apr 1, 2020)

Tom said:


> Mostly indoors is best for them. I've done many side by side comparisons with groups of clutchmates over the years, and babies do MUCH better when kept mostly indoors. I put them outside in a safe enclosure for an hour two or three times a week. As they grow larger, I let them have more and more outside time. This is contrary to what most care sheets tell people to do. Almost all of them say some variation of "They do better when housed outside..." Totally false.
> 
> If you do the above, they don't need indoor UV. You can use it if you like, and it does brighten up the enclosure, but they don't "need" indoor UV if they are getting a couple hours of access to sunshine a week.
> 
> What type of UV bulb have you got? Did you read the part about not using the cfl screw in types?


I have two zoomed rep lights. One is a Daylight Blue, which is the UV light and it is a screw in not a long tube one. The other is the zoomed reptile basking bulb, also a screw in. I didn't catch the no using Ceramic screw in...I just read that the author of the article uses long tube for UV and says ceramic or small bulb for night heat is fine. IS ceramic screw in not good to use?


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## lakintorts (Apr 1, 2020)

lakintorts said:


> I have two zoomed rep lights. One is a Daylight Blue, which is the UV light and it is a screw in not a long tube one. The other is the zoomed reptile basking bulb, also a screw in. I didn't catch the no using Ceramic screw in...I just read that the author of the article uses long tube for UV and says ceramic or small bulb for night heat is fine. IS ceramic screw in not good to use?


Lighting and lighting types etc have always been hard for me to find concrete info on.. so this is all very helpful


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## Tom (Apr 1, 2020)

lakintorts said:


> I have two zoomed rep lights. One is a Daylight Blue, which is the UV light and it is a screw in not a long tube one. The other is the zoomed reptile basking bulb, also a screw in. I didn't catch the no using Ceramic screw in...I just read that the author of the article uses long tube for UV and says ceramic or small bulb for night heat is fine. IS ceramic screw in not good to use?


Ceramics are fine for ambient heat maintenance, but you probably don't need that for a DT since they don't need night heat and the basking bulb will let them warm up during the day. Compact fluorescent lamps are the problem.

There are four elements to heating and lighting:

Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a DT, a Russian, or other Testudo species. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for Testudo species or DTs. If your house is around 70, that's perfect for a baby.
Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoises room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb. Regular "T 8" type UV tubes produce hardly any UV. CFL type UV bulbs are also ineffective, and sometimes dangerous, and should not be used.


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## VegasJeff (Apr 3, 2020)

Take a picture of them. I have a hatchling desert tortoise. If one's not eating, I suggest buying some Kale. Mine absolutely loves Kale. That could be a start.


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## lakintorts (Apr 3, 2020)

UNfourtanately our little guy didn't make it. Came out to find him dead yesterday morning. We are heartbroken. We still have our other tort, who's about one year old give or take. This other little guy was only a couple weeks old and hadn't eaten in a week, and come to findout he had had a pretty bad fall from his previous home. So maybe there were some issues from that? I honestly don't know. We are just so sad to lose him. But we still have Dozer and we are thankful for that.


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## Maggie3fan (Apr 3, 2020)

lakintorts said:


> UNfourtanately our little guy didn't make it. Came out to find him dead yesterday morning. We are heartbroken. We still have our other tort, who's about one year old give or take. This other little guy was only a couple weeks old and hadn't eaten in a week, and come to findout he had had a pretty bad fall from his previous home. So maybe there were some issues from that? I honestly don't know. We are just so sad to lose him. But we still have Dozer and we are thankful for that.


Damn that's hard...sorry...


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## lakintorts (Apr 3, 2020)

maggie18fan said:


> Damn that's hard...sorry...


Thank you. Its hard but I am glad we still have Dozer and will find peace in caring for him


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