tamlelover123
New Member
Hey, fellow tortoise owners! I am brand new to having a tortoise and taking care of one. I have had her now for about 4 weeks (since mid Nov). I thought I was doing things right until my red-footed cherry-head tortoise (named Tamale) stopped eating and pooping, pretty much as soon as I set up her home here (after only a few days). She was still drinking water but just not eating. We purchased Tamale from our local Petco here in Portland Oregon. I am writing this in hopes that I can get some feedback on what I might be doing right as well as what I may be doing wrong and could be doing better. I will also provide you with photos.
Firstly my red-footed tortoise lives in a wooden cage indoors. I have a humidity gauge inside the enclosure. I recently read some discussions on this site and it sounds like the one I have is a cheap one so I will be upgrading. I also have a little food bowl with a couple of fake plants. There is also a water bowl that is used for drinking and bathing (i place her into the water bowl daily). When I put Tamale in the water bowl she immediately starts to drink it. Also when she bathes I make sure the filtered water is warm for her. I change it daily.
The cage is basically split into thirds. Two-thirds of the cage is open and allows light to shine in where the water, food, and plants are. The other one-third is the cooler, dark room. It is drier in there without a humidity gauge on that side. I do plan on getting one for that side as well soon. She sleeps under a Petco purchased fake rock/cave on that side. That’s all there is on this dark side of the wood cage.
Also in the first active side of the cage, I have a lamp and a misting system in there. It includes one pump and two sprayers. The tubes transporting the water are on the edges of the cage. The water is sourced from a five-gallon filtered water jug kept at room temperature. The heat/light source is a 160-watt UVB lamp at the moment. The height that it is currently at has the temperature in the low 80s. After the mist system kicks on (every hour) it’s as high as the mid 70’s. Right before it kicks on the humidity is low mid 30s. Again though, I am going tto purchase a new one that is of higher quality. I make sure the food is fresh each day. The substrate i use can be seen in the photos, as well as the cage, the lightbulb, and Tamale herself (we think she is a young female) but not quite a baby?
Her behavior tends to be sleeping in the darkroom at night, coming out to the lit up side of the enclosure, and lying in the sun. She usually comes out around noon or so. Sometimes she stays out until the later evening, until the heat source is turned off. And other times she goes back in the early evening. So it does vary somewhat. i place her in front of the food to encourage her to eat but she just observes it and shows curiosity to the food but she doesn't really eat it.
Update 12/19: As I am writing this up…. Out of nowhere she just ate some baby carrot slices. It’s now been ~3 or 4 days and she seems to have started eating. I started adding bananas and she seems to be taking bites out of these pieces as well. i make sure the food is fresh each day
Update 12/20 & 12/21: she seems to be hiding out in the cold room inside the little PetSmart rock yesterday 12/20 she hid out there the whole day today 12/21 I took her outside of the rock and placed her in front of some spinach and bananas she is eating them.
Firstly my red-footed tortoise lives in a wooden cage indoors. I have a humidity gauge inside the enclosure. I recently read some discussions on this site and it sounds like the one I have is a cheap one so I will be upgrading. I also have a little food bowl with a couple of fake plants. There is also a water bowl that is used for drinking and bathing (i place her into the water bowl daily). When I put Tamale in the water bowl she immediately starts to drink it. Also when she bathes I make sure the filtered water is warm for her. I change it daily.
The cage is basically split into thirds. Two-thirds of the cage is open and allows light to shine in where the water, food, and plants are. The other one-third is the cooler, dark room. It is drier in there without a humidity gauge on that side. I do plan on getting one for that side as well soon. She sleeps under a Petco purchased fake rock/cave on that side. That’s all there is on this dark side of the wood cage.
Also in the first active side of the cage, I have a lamp and a misting system in there. It includes one pump and two sprayers. The tubes transporting the water are on the edges of the cage. The water is sourced from a five-gallon filtered water jug kept at room temperature. The heat/light source is a 160-watt UVB lamp at the moment. The height that it is currently at has the temperature in the low 80s. After the mist system kicks on (every hour) it’s as high as the mid 70’s. Right before it kicks on the humidity is low mid 30s. Again though, I am going tto purchase a new one that is of higher quality. I make sure the food is fresh each day. The substrate i use can be seen in the photos, as well as the cage, the lightbulb, and Tamale herself (we think she is a young female) but not quite a baby?
Her behavior tends to be sleeping in the darkroom at night, coming out to the lit up side of the enclosure, and lying in the sun. She usually comes out around noon or so. Sometimes she stays out until the later evening, until the heat source is turned off. And other times she goes back in the early evening. So it does vary somewhat. i place her in front of the food to encourage her to eat but she just observes it and shows curiosity to the food but she doesn't really eat it.
Update 12/19: As I am writing this up…. Out of nowhere she just ate some baby carrot slices. It’s now been ~3 or 4 days and she seems to have started eating. I started adding bananas and she seems to be taking bites out of these pieces as well. i make sure the food is fresh each day
Update 12/20 & 12/21: she seems to be hiding out in the cold room inside the little PetSmart rock yesterday 12/20 she hid out there the whole day today 12/21 I took her outside of the rock and placed her in front of some spinach and bananas she is eating them.
