# How soft is too soft?



## kasey17 (Aug 1, 2011)

We are currently building building an outdoor enclosure for our baby desert tortoise. Meanwhile "she" is in a 55 gal. Aquarium. She has a uvb strip light and a heat lamp. She has an undergroud burrow on the hot side, and a semi-underground burrow on the cool side. I gave her a cuttle bone (scraped off back) and she gets at least one hour of natural sunlight each day. And we sprinkle ReptiCal on her food daily. However, her shell is still soft. It's not super squishy, but its definitely not hard. I'm wondering if this is normal, and how soft is too soft? Also, what should the temps in her tank be? The hot side is at 88-92 and the cool side is 78-81. It's a digital thermometer so it shifts. Thanks! Any help would be great!

-We hope to have her outdoor enclosure done by next weekend, but we ordered a bunch of seeds from turtlestuff.com so it'll be several weeks before we can put her in it permanently.


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## dmmj (Aug 1, 2011)

it is normal for a baby to be soft for quite awhile. And as long as they don't go softer then you will be ok, they should give still a little at this point.


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## 68merc (Aug 1, 2011)

Why do you have to wait to put her outside? She needs a hide, water and food.


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## kasey17 (Aug 1, 2011)

So they should still be soft at six months to a year? That seems to be how old most people think she is. Is there anything else I can do to help it harden?



We have to wait to put her outside because once her pen is finished we are going to plant the seeds I bought, and I want to give them a chance to root good before she is munching on them


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## dmmj (Aug 1, 2011)

Yes six months to a year is quite normal


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## kasey17 (Aug 1, 2011)

Good! That makes me feel better  We are already hooked on this little girl! Anybody think her tanks temperatures are to low/high?


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## ascott (Aug 1, 2011)

Hello  Love CDTs!!!!!!

so, the only thing that i would adjust would be the temps....I would raise the temps on the hot side to 95-100 degrees and the cool side 72-75 degrees....

awesome on the outdoor enclosure...I think that if you provide a shrub or two and do an above ground burrow (maybe some medium size solid paver bricks stacked and then covered with 8-10 inches of dirt for insulation) for her and a water/soaking dish you could likely let her remain out in the pen (that is once it is done and secure for her size  ) to get in as much sun time as possible (the sun is so very important for tortoise but especially these guys) and if you make yourself a steady source of food for your tortoise then their grazing habits are not exercised as much (so your goodies will have a chance to grow).

I know that when my guys have mowed everything down I will increase my food contributions for them for like a 2 week period and in that time their goodies have a chance to re grow and then I will back off a bit on the food train and they will go back to grazing also, when I increase my contribution to their diet I purposely give romaine and red lettuce to them as this ups their water intake and that is good but is not their only source of nutrition, also when the heat is extreme I will give them their once or twice a season treat of watermelon and berries (but make sure you don't leave the sweets down without watching, ants have like radar for the sweets)---its a back and forth thing.

fun stuff 



also, this information is based on her being out for the tortoise season...I personally think that she should be indoors when the temps drop for the cool season  I know, you likely already have that planned but i have to say it to feel better that well, I have shared that


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## kasey17 (Aug 1, 2011)

Thanks Angela! Her pen is taking a while because in order to register her, we have to build it a certain way and then they have to inspect it. If it's not exactly the way they want it then we can't adopt her.  It's been a crazy ride trying to figure out how to get to keep her, lol. But hopefully it'll all be worth it! I got her a desert plant mix, forage mix, medow mix, and wildflower mix from turtlestuff.com (desertseedstore.com) It's all edible plants espcially for tortoises. Hahaha... They won't be able to complain about her diet if I have anything to say about it! Also we bought her a plastic child's pool and filled it with organic soil. That's how we've been giving her sunshine and exercise for the time being! 
-Thanks for the tips on the tank temps. I'll try adjusting them tomorrow.

Here are some pictures of our little Roxy!


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## kasey17 (Aug 3, 2011)

Help! I can't get her temps right... With a 100 watt bulb to cool side is at 78* and the hot side is 90*, with a 150 watt bulb the cool side stays the same, but the hot side shoots up to 110!


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## dmarcus (Aug 3, 2011)

I thought about adopting a desert tortoise when I lived in Las Vegas but I just didn't have the time to set up an enclosure to there specs..

Have you tried moving the light fixture up or down a little at a time?


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## kasey17 (Aug 3, 2011)

How can I get the hot side to 95* and the cool side to 75*? Any ideas? Thanks


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## ascott (Aug 3, 2011)

Are you able to raise the hot side lamp up a bit....play with the height of the light fixture until you get the desired temp.....and the same with the cool side fixture 

Oh yeah, I just looked at the pics you posted and I have to say, that little one has the look of a male (facial expression as well as look in his eye, I know, no scientific logic to it....but just a feeling  )


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## kasey17 (Aug 3, 2011)

dalano73 said:


> I thought about adopting a desert tortoise when I lived in Las Vegas but I just didn't have the time to set up an enclosure to there specs..
> 
> Have you tried moving the light fixture up or down a little at a time?



They're really neat! I already want another one, lol. I tried moving the bulb up, but it didn't seem to help. I can't move it down because there is a screen top. (I'm afraid my cat will get her if I take it off) she I super active with the temps in the high 80's but I'm afraid it needs to be hotter for her to digest her food. With the 150 watt bulb she just stayed in her burrow until I switched it back



ascott said:


> Are you able to raise the hot side lamp up a bit....play with the height of the light fixture until you get the desired temp.....and the same with the cool side fixture
> 
> Oh yeah, I just looked at the pics you posted and I have to say, that little one has the look of a male (facial expression as well as look in his eye, I know, no scientific logic to it....but just a feeling  )



Haha.... I guess if "she" is a "he" we'll just change her name from Roxy to Rocky lol


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## Skyler Nell (Aug 3, 2011)

Very cute little one you have there  It will be difficult to get that large of a temperature variance in a 55 gallon tank. 90 should be okay, just give your little one lots of time outside in the natural sunlight!  and there isn't any way to tell "he" or "she" at this age, not until they're about 7 or 8 years old. I would estimate yours isn't even 6 months yet, unless they experienced very slow growth. It's completely normal for the shell to be a little softer at a young age. Problems usually occur when the shell gets hard but then softens again. If you have any questions feel free to PM me! I have 2 desert tortoises of my own. Best of Luck! -Skyler


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## kasey17 (Aug 4, 2011)

Thanks Skyler!


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## kasey17 (Aug 4, 2011)

dalano73 said:


> I thought about adopting a desert tortoise when I lived in Las Vegas but I just didn't have the time to set up an enclosure to there specs.



I know, right? It's kind of rediculus how many hoops you have to jump through, but I get why they do it.


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