Do tortoise yawn?

kellya31

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i came home from work and checked on my hatchling. I put him in my hand and talked to him and he looked away opened his mouth and I could swear it looked like a yawn. He seemed very bored with me.
What a character.
 

Tom

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Yes they do. If they do it excessively, it can be a sign of an incoming respiratory infection.

Looks like a RF in your avatar. Is that what we are talking about? What are your temps? Cool side, warm side, basking area (If present.) and overnight low?
 

kellya31

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Yes he is a little red foot.
I do have a basking light in there and a uvb. I think it’s to high though for the tote. It’s about 16 inches tall. I put a floor heater about a foot from one wall to get the temp up. It’s 89 degrees. The cool side honestly I really don’t know. I have one of those temperature gauges I stuck in the wall on the hot side. I should have bought two. The tote is only 2 foot long.
I just got him yesterday morning.
I kept the light on last night. I was afraid he would get chilled. It got down to 80 degrees on the basking side with the heater turned off.
 

katieandiggy

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I’ve seen mine yawn a couple of times which is normal, it’s when it becomes more persistent that you need to worry.

@Tom will give you assistance with your heating/lighting but I think you will need a CHE for over night as the light should not be on 24 hrs.

Can you post some pics of your setup ? Members will then be able to comment and make sure everything is as best as it can be
 

kellya31

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Sure I can post one tomorrow. Bobby is in my sons room and I don’t want to wake him up. It’s 2 am. Here.

What’s a CHE?
 

kellya31

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I should buy one of those CHE’s this weekend.where can I find one?
Here is his habitat. Could I take him outside this weekend and let him crawl around outside a bit? Our lawn is not treated with pesticides. Here is his habitat for now. How deep should the substrate be? It’s a pretty thin layer right now of cypress. I thought about getting some peat moss to mix with it. I know the breeder used cypress. I thought maybe the moss would make him more comfortable.
 

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katieandiggy

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I should buy one of those CHE’s this weekend.where can I find one?
Here is his habitat. Could I take him outside this weekend and let him crawl around outside a bit? Our lawn is not treated with pesticides. Here is his habitat for now. How deep should the substrate be? It’s a pretty thin layer right now of cypress. I thought about getting some peat moss to mix with it. I know the breeder used cypress. I thought maybe the moss would make him more comfortable.

@Yvonne @Tom

Please can you help.

I would suggest you defiantly need a CHE I don’t know much about RF’s (which is what I think you have?) your baby will need constant heat and humidity and I don’t think you will achieve the humidity needed in an open top enclosure.

Hopefully some more people will chip in here and help you with your RF.

You can buy a CHE online on amazon they are quite easy to find. It will allow your baby to stay warm but without he light.
 

vladimir

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@Yvonne @Tom

Please can you help.

I would suggest you defiantly need a CHE I don’t know much about RF’s (which is what I think you have?) your baby will need constant heat and humidity and I don’t think you will achieve the humidity needed in an open top enclosure.

Hopefully some more people will chip in here and help you with your RF.

You can buy a CHE online on amazon they are quite easy to find. It will allow your baby to stay warm but without he light.

60w ZooMed CHE here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002AQCPK/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

You can also get them at Petco / Petsmart and other petstores. Amazon may be cheaper though. I'm guessing a 60 watt will be the best size for that enclosure.

If you don't already have one, pick up an infrared temperature gun:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0759DD7PF/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

It will allow you to accurately measure temps at specific areas in the enclosure - a must for tortoise keeping :)
 

kellya31

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Thanks. I’m going to get one and close his habitat at night to keep in moisture.
Again thank you for all the help.
 

Beasty_Artemis

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My goodness! Stop scaring the poor guy! (girl)

I was under the impression that tortoises have what's called a Jackobson Organ in the roof of their mouth that they use to "taste" or enhance smells to help them find food. Yawning is what it looks like when they are using said organ to look for the scents of food.

I wrong?
 

creepy-crawler

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my adult redfoots yawn once when they come out int he morning, i have seen my russians do that but very rarely, they wake up really early:)
 

Hbewsher

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My 3 month old cherry head RF yawns once virtually every morning after his light comes on, but before he comes out of his flower pot for food and drink.

I've been trying and failing to get a picture of this. He yawns and I go "Awwww" and miss the photo op. It's completely adorable.
 

Big Charlie

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My 3 month old cherry head RF yawns once virtually every morning after his light comes on, but before he comes out of his flower pot for food and drink.

I've been trying and failing to get a picture of this. He yawns and I go "Awwww" and miss the photo op. It's completely adorable.
I've been trying and missing to get the perfect yawn picture for years!
 

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