# wake up my baby in the morning?



## PatMurray (Oct 9, 2009)

*my new baby!*

Hey all,

Just wanted to ask a quick question. I just received my baby (Filbert) this morning! So far he was been wonderful. I soaked him and then he ran straight for the food. Lol. He has been basking under the heat lamp for about an hour now. Just livin' the easy life. Lol. But anyway, I was wondering if when I wake up to go to work tomorrow morning should I wake him up when I turn the lights on???? Thanks for all your time and advice!!

Patrick


----------



## alfiethetortoise (Oct 9, 2009)

I normally turn the lights on, and Alfie wakes when he is ready. I don't wake him, even if im going out to work all day or something. You can buy a timer plug for your lights/heat lamps so that the light/heat is consistent. Im guessing he will wake when ready, sleep when tired. Alfie normally takes himself tobed when the temperature in the evenings starts to drop.


----------



## Yvonne G (Oct 9, 2009)

*RE: my new baby!*

I generally fix the plate of food, then spritz the habitat with water and turn on the lights. Then I place the food inside and put the baby in front of the food. Then I go off and about my business. Throughout the day, every time I pass by the baby habitat, I find the babies and place them in front of the food again until its all gone.

Yvonne


----------



## Stephanie Logan (Oct 9, 2009)

What a great question and I would also like to see the responses.

Right now, I turn on Taco's lights in the early morning, then come back a few minutes later with food. I rub her shell and talk to her a little, then go away and come back a few minutes later, when I pick her up gently, hold her close to my chest where she will be warm, and basically cuddle her awake for a couple minutes before placing her down under her basking light. Silly, I know, but I enjoy taking some time to just interact with her before I charge off into another busy day.

I can do this since I only have one tortoise!


----------



## Weloveourtortoise (Oct 9, 2009)

We have the lights on a timer, Charlie wakes himself up and ready for the food when Matt feeds him. But we play with him during the day even when napping.


----------



## ChiKat (Oct 9, 2009)

Nelson's lights are on a timer too. He wakes up when he's ready- sometimes it's right when the light turns on and other times he sleeps in.
I feed him when he's up and moving around. There are some mornings when I wake up and he's already on his tile ready for his breakfast!
It would be different if I had to get up early to work every day, but I'm in college so I'm only away for 2 hours at a time for class.


----------



## Madortoise (Oct 9, 2009)

I wake up to put the heat lamp and lights on first before I go ready myself for work (at least 1 hour in advance.) Sometimes Penelope is already up or she'll be prompted to wake up with increased temperature. By the time I'm ready to go to work, she's warmed up and ready for her breakfast and to go outside. Sometimes I have to leave home early, if she's still not ready and sleepy, she may stay in a hide outside where she can be cozy until she's active later in the morning. Mine is 4 yo though, so she can probably fend for herself and regulates her temp little better than your baby tort could.


----------



## terracolson (Oct 9, 2009)

I hold my babies close to my heart as well and i have 7 now!


----------



## tortoisenerd (Oct 10, 2009)

It is up to you. It is my personal opinion that torts don't have humans wake them up in the wild, so hatchling or not I would not wake mine up unless their is a problem. My definition of a problem is not eating, sick, or sleeping until after noon and thus not eating. My tortoise falls into the third category on occasion. If he's not up by noon we usually wake him up as otherwise he gets off schedule and ends up eating late, staying up late, and awaking even later, despite the timer on the light. My tort sleeps under about 6 inches of aspen so it's a little tough to find him and wake him up too.


----------



## Shelly (Oct 11, 2009)

*RE: my new baby!*



PatMurray said:


> I just received my baby (Filbert) this morning!



I have a tort named Filbert too! What a coincidence!

Here's a pic....


----------

