# How long does it take for a baby to get settled in?



## GregUnd (Apr 27, 2011)

I have a 1 month old sulcata that just came home yesterday. How long does it take for a baby to get settled in? It eats when I put a pellet of mazuri out for it, eats about half and then leaves it alone. It doesn't seem real active and wants to sleep a lot when it's inside it's habbitat. When I get home from work I take it outside and let him litterally run around in the back yard for about an hour and then I'll bring him back in. When I put him back in it's habbitat the little guy seems to get bored and goes to sleep in his favorite corner rather than his nice, warm and humid hideout. I have yet to be home during the day to see what his activity is like, but I will for sure this weekend. Is there something that I'm doing wrong or does it just need some time to settle in? Also, how often/much should I be feeding it? I've got all the suppliments for it and tomorrow I'll be going to get it some Pre Pac spring mix. 

If you are wondering what my current setup is, picutres and description can be found here http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread...r-tortoise-enclosure?pid=244017#axzz1KfrKXs2e

Thanks everyone for your help, I'm a newb at raising a baby tortoise.


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## Yvonne G (Apr 27, 2011)

Hi Greg:

Chances are pretty good that the baby comes out while you are at work. Do you put out food in the a.m.?

They usually come out a few minutes after you turn the light on, sit there and warm up, then go looking for the food.

With brand new babies, I usually turn on the light and get them into some warm water to soak for about 15 minutes. While they're soaking, I'll chop up the food and place it in the habitat. Then I put the babies in front of the food and get out of sight (I'm the big bad monster that's going to eat them up).

To answer your question, some tortoises just seem to settle right in like they've been captive and lived in the new spot all their lives. But others take a while to get comfortable. Maybe even a couple weeks. But if you give him a routine, he'll settle in sooner.


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## Laura (Apr 27, 2011)

it can take a while.. 
when you take him outside and he runs around.. that can sometimes be Stress.. they are feeling very vulnerable exposed in a wide open area and are trying to run for cover. 
I would let him get adjusted to his inside area, or build him a safe outdoor one, since they need sun, and not let him run around in wide open space .
proper food is good too. make sure he is getting a good warm soak everyday too.


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## GregUnd (Apr 27, 2011)

Well, last night I let him/her fall asleep where ever and I turned it's light out to get the day/night cycle in routine. This morning I woke up and he was in the same spot, then I turned his light on and placed him under the light, when I came home today he was in his hideout standing in an upright position, it looked like somehow he got stuck in the moss and couldn't get out. I couldn't tell how long he had been like that but he was happy to see me. I've been feeding him when I get home from work, I have to place him right in front of his food or else he won't find it before it dries out. Tonight, I just put him to bed inside his hideout and it hasn't come out. I'd like for him to get into the habbit of sleeping in there for the humidity reasons, if I understand correctly.

I guess he may have been stuck like that for a long time and possibly wore himself out trying to get unstuck. I took out some of the moss, I believe I had to much in there and he couldn't get traction to free himself.


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## dmarcus (Apr 27, 2011)

Each tort will be different, I have had my hatchling for 3 weeks and he is just now starting to eat when I am watching, and he has finally stopped pulling his head in when we get close. 

I have put food in my hatchling enclosure and he took and few bites and then went into his hide, I woke up 2 hours later and he was eating again. Sometimes he will eat everything right away and other times he will keep comeing back eating a little bit every time.

My tort spends most of his time burred in his hide, he comes out to eat and to bask and that its. even when I put him outside in his small pen, he will bask, graze then go find a shade spot to sleep.

So just give it time and your tort will get adjusted to the surroundings and you...


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## GregUnd (Apr 27, 2011)

Laura said:


> it can take a while..
> when you take him outside and he runs around.. that can sometimes be Stress.. they are feeling very vulnerable exposed in a wide open area and are trying to run for cover.
> I would let him get adjusted to his inside area, or build him a safe outdoor one, since they need sun, and not let him run around in wide open space .
> proper food is good too. make sure he is getting a good warm soak everyday too.



I didn't even think about that.....he would stop every now and then and try to eat the SA grass, but it was too tough. He had fun trying to rip it out of the ground though.

No more outside routine - Check!


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## dmarcus (Apr 27, 2011)

Just build something small for outside that you can move so that your tort can get outside time, just make sure it has a shade spot..The sun is great for them..


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## GregUnd (Apr 27, 2011)

Build small outdoor enclosure - Check!

Small = 36"x25"?


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## dmarcus (Apr 27, 2011)

GregUnd said:


> Build small outdoor enclosure - Check!
> 
> Small = 36"x25"?



Thats what we did, and we put chicken wire on top to protect it from predators..And when it's not in use, we just lean it against the side of the house..


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## Jacob (Apr 27, 2011)

There All Different!
Some Might Take A Couple Of Days, All The Way Up To A Couple Of Weeks!


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## TortieLuver (Apr 27, 2011)

I have found that hatchlings are much easier to get adjusted than the adults. Eating is a great sign and I would feed him/her at the same time everyday so he/she gets used to it. I like to feed mine about 30 minutes after I turn the light on in the morning. They eat again in the afternoon, but they also will graze when they are outside. A pellet of mazuri is good if they will eat it, some do and some don't so that's good if he/she will eat half. I would try a handful of mixed greens with chopped fresh grasss and cactus.


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## redfoot925 (Apr 27, 2011)

My tortoise that I just got will sometimes eat by me for the most part it's when I'm away, times I'll watch for him to eat and he won't then I go to the bathroom and when I get Back it's half gone, all torts will be different though


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## Tom (Apr 27, 2011)

What are your night temps when the light is off? I don't like to let mine get much below 80 with humid hides and damp substrate. 

How was he cared for in his first few weeks? This can have a major impact after you get a tortoise home.

Did the breeder use those coil florescent UV bulbs?


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## GregUnd (Apr 28, 2011)

redfoot925 said:


> My tortoise that I just got will sometimes eat by me for the most part it's when I'm away, times I'll watch for him to eat and he won't then I go to the bathroom and when I get Back it's half gone, all torts will be different though



My little guy has no problem eating from my hand, strange enough. I'm no tortoise whisper, but it seems as if he's very comfortable around me.



Tom said:


> What are your night temps when the light is off? I don't like to let mine get much below 80 with humid hides and damp substrate.
> 
> How was he cared for in his first few weeks? This can have a major impact after you get a tortoise home.
> 
> Did the breeder use those coil florescent UV bulbs?



I have a mini heat pad on the floor of his hideout, his hideout is 10x10, the mini is like 4x8 or something, then I have damp moss as his substrate, on top of the substrate is stays cool, about 75 but the mat itself gets to about 88 degrees. This morning I found him just on the edge of the mat burrowed slightly, with the moss dried back out.


Well, I have a feeling that I'm not supposed to promote company names in an open forum, but maybe I can say his name, Tyler, is the person I got him from. He used cypress substrate, day time temps of 85-95 under the PowerSun UVB, and a red light to heat the moss to about 80 during the night. Diet is also the same as I'm feeding it, Ready pac spring mix and mazuri mixed in, supplements given to him 3 days a week. My idea was to mimic the exact setup that he was used to, just in a different enclosure.

This morning when I woke up I turned his light on and then put him under it, he kinda looked like he gave me a bad look and then retreated back into his hideout so i just left him alone.


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## Tom (Apr 28, 2011)

We are a community of tortoise lovers and friends here. If you've had a good, or bad, experience dealing with a tortoise related business, we all would love to hear about it. We all want to reward and buy from the good ones and avoid the bad ones. By telling me you got your baby from Tyler Stewart, we can eliminate bad husbandry as a possible cause of your "problem". Its so hard to tell whats going on sometimes over the internet as two people can see the same thing and describe it totally differently.

So now, knowing that he came from one of the few "good" sources, I'm going to guess that he's just acting like a normal baby and taking some time to settle in. If he's eating out of your hand already you are doing great. Babies do sleep a lot, and since everything in the wild eats them at this size, they like to hide a lot too. I don't remember if you already said it, but he should be getting soaked every day, if you are not already doing it.

The night temps in your hide box sound okay, but what about the rest of the enclosure? He could come out of the hide box and you don't want him to get a chill with damp cypress mulch as a substrate.

And finally, don't forget to get him out in the sun as often as the weather permits. Kiddie pools are a cheap easy way to safely accomplish this, but there are lots of other ways too. And please keep us posted on his progress...


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## GregUnd (Apr 28, 2011)

The only thing that is heated at night is his hidebox. The rest of the enclosure would be at room temp, about 74-76 degrees. I keep the cypress substrate dry and keep his sphangum moss damp, which is in his hidebox.

Do I need to get a red night light to keep the rest of the enclosure warm at night?


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## Rjhoop (Apr 28, 2011)

I got my little Dozer a few weeks ago and it took him 9 days i was getting worried he wouldnt eat much at all!Moisten the mazuri and mix with greens that should get him eating greens.I had just the opposite problem i had to mix it to get him eating mazuri..


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## mommytoeandj (Apr 28, 2011)

Thanks for this series of posts. I am also owner of a new tortoise (a baby mountain greek), and this post helped allay some of my worries, too!


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## Tom (Apr 28, 2011)

GregUnd said:


> The only thing that is heated at night is his hidebox. The rest of the enclosure would be at room temp, about 74-76 degrees. I keep the cypress substrate dry and keep his sphangum moss damp, which is in his hidebox.
> 
> Do I need to get a red night light to keep the rest of the enclosure warm at night?



This is a matter of opinion.

Room temp in my house gets down to 69-70 on a cold morning after the heat lamps have been off all night. When you factor in the 3-6 degree drop from evaporation out of a damp substrate, I would consider that too cold and damp.

How are you checking the substrate temps? If you are using an infrared temp gun and its truly staying 76, at tortoise level, in the middle of the night, then you are probably fine. Personally, I'd rather run a little 60 watt CHE and not have to worry about it.


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## GregUnd (Apr 28, 2011)

Well, the only damp subsrate I have is in his hidebox which is heated with a heat pad and depending on where he's at in his hidebox, heat ranges from 76-88, this is with all lights off, at night with the A/C running. Temperature is being checked with an IR heatgun. 

Will look into this "CHE" you speak of.


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## GregUnd (Apr 30, 2011)

I was told to keep everyone posted on my torts progress. After being able to monitor his behavior during the morning/mid day I'm 100% convinced he's perfectly fine. He's getting his pattern down, last night I didn't even have to put him in his hideout, he automatically went in and went to sleep. At 3:30am, he was still in there he had just moved to a warmer area. Now, I normally turn his light on at 6:45am before I leave for work, when I woke up at 9am this morning he was already out waiting for me to turn the light on(waiting directly under it). Except for falling asleep in his food dish, then waking back up to finish his food off, he's been an active little booger, sun bathing and what not.....


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## jaizei (Apr 30, 2011)

I'd recommend putting the light on a timer. It helps keep the day/night cycle consistent and then you don't have to worry about it.


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