# Is my tortoise hiding because of his enclosure?



## jamescost (May 4, 2014)

Hello i am a new owner of a 9 week old leopard tortoise. We purchased him yesterday and brought him to the vet today to make sure he was healthy. Everything checked out perfect, however every time he goes inside of his 10 gallon enclosure he hides in his house. Other than this he isnt shy he will crawl around on me except occasionally will try and hide in my beard but will never hide in his shell. The warm side of his tank is 91 degrees and cool side is 80 with a humidity of about 80. I am using a 100w bulb on the hot side i was wondering if this was to much for him and he is hiding or he just isnt acclimated yet? please help me have a happy tortoise! This is all temporary because i am almost done building an outdoor enclosure for him.


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## Yvonne G (May 4, 2014)

I know its only temporary, but 10 gallons is way too small. 

Baby tortoises are prey, so they do a lot of hiding.


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## jamescost (May 4, 2014)

Ok I will upgrade soon once I move a fish tank. I am also concerned cause I Havnt seen him eat inside it yet.


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## Ashes (May 4, 2014)

I have read babies hide a LOT for the first year to year and a half. I've had my redfoot baby for a little over a month (is about 2-2.5 months now) and he always hides so I'm just getting used to it for the next 12 or so months. Lol. Also, mine hardly ate for the first 2 weeks I had him, and didn't poo for 3 weeks. Just getting acclimated and used to surroundings.


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## jamescost (May 4, 2014)

Me must have ate something while I wasn't looking he pooped on the vets scale and twice while I soaked him, aslong as he is happy and healthy he can hide all he wants.


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## Yourlocalpoet (May 4, 2014)

jamescost said:


> Me must have ate something while I wasn't looking he pooped on the vets scale and twice while I soaked him, aslong as he is happy and healthy he can hide all he wants.



Something to get used to - it's not just babies, the adults hide too!


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## christinaland128 (May 4, 2014)

Mine hid quite a bit too at first. I used to pull them out once a day and give them a luke warm soak then put them in front of some fresh greens or mushy mazuri and they ate every time.


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## happyjoyjoy (May 4, 2014)

I would imagine it being almost impossible to set up an adequate temperature gradient in a 10 gallon tank. Just go get a 55 gal rubbermaid tub for $20. they are the best to keep humidity up and temperatures where they need to be. congrats on the new leo


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## jamescost (May 4, 2014)

Is there a good sturdy way to cover the rubbermaid tub? We are animal lovers and while both our German Shepards are service dogs and well trained our two large maincoon kittens are curious and untrustworthy.


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## Team Gomberg (May 4, 2014)

100 watts is way too much for that small of a space. I used a 10 gallon during a temporary situation and a 65watt was more than enough.

You'll want to raise your Leopard in a humid environment and closed chambers are a great way to maintain the conditions you want. Plus, it will keep out both curious kitties and dogs!


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## algoroth1 (May 4, 2014)

I have a manouria emys emys (brown mountain tortoise) which needs humid rain-forest temps. The babies always hide and I recommend not trying to handle them too much while they acclimate. Keep the stress level down. In terms of closing the rubbermaid tub, just be careful. While heat and humidity may be good for your type of tort, heat and humidity without air circulation=death. At least that's been the experience of others on the manouria list. Good luck with your new tort friend and keep us posted!


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## jamescost (May 4, 2014)

Also the guy at the store said cypress mulch was bad to use at all and told me to use these hard dry pellets to use but it was almost impossible to get the humidity to stay up without constantly misting or having a humidifier on it. Is it ok to have just the area he sleeps/spends all his time in the dry pellets and the majority of the tank a hardwood mulch or something else that will hold moisture?


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## TortyTom (May 4, 2014)

The dry pellets are bad. Get rid of them and go for coconut coir. It will hold the moisture and not mold or mildew like the pellets.


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## jamescost (May 4, 2014)

Good cause before he told me that I ordered a lot of the coconut lol


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## jamescost (May 4, 2014)

Thank you all for the help....and for now is it ok to fill the cage with mulch or wait for the coconut?


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## happyjoyjoy (May 5, 2014)

cypress mulch is perfect I switch off using coconut and cypress. The only difference is my torts seem to like the coconut a lot more, it's fluffy like a cloud  and I use a gardening rake every couple days to re-fluff it since with spraying it gets compacted.... the days I fluff it my torts spend wayyyy more time exploring and out of their hides + it increases the humidity for some reason. As the lights are concerned I KEEP the rubber made top and installed the lights inside. I bought the light fixtures that have a metal loop on the top (pic attached) and then I used a box cuter to cut a slender hole about this size ( ) into the rubber lid. The metal loop then fits through and sticks out the top of the rubbermaid top and then I stuck a long screw through the metal loop and used a bearing on the other side of the screw so it can't slip out.... hope that made sense if not i can take a pic tomorrow. This has worked really well for me. Goodluck! Also make sure you have a large/ tall tub or this doesn't work..... 55 gal from lowes the gray/black ones. I have a huge christmas tree storage bin but this cannot be done because it isn't tall enough......


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