Baby deserts

[erinnco22]

Kind of silly, but I'm new with these wonderful tortoises, so i ask you to bear with me...
My baby sonorans ALWAYS cuddle and sleep in their food dish..they eat well, then it seems their greens end up covered in urine by their early afternoon nap. Is this common to want to sleep in the food?

 

[kimber_lee_314]

It may be that the dish is warming up under the lights and they like to sleep on it because it's warm. What area of the enclosure do you have the feeding dish?

 

[leonardo the tmnt]

It may be that the dish is warming up under the lights and they like to sleep on it because it's warm. What area of the enclosure do you have the feeding dish?

Yeah that's what I was thinking

 

[Tom]

Do you have a humid hide for them? They might be trying to dig in to the remaining food for the humid microclimate it offers.

 

[erinnco22]

That's what went through my mind, too. I had the feeding dish on the warm side to begin with. Then I moved it in the middle in between the temps and they still seem to want to squeeze in the dish together. I have a hide on the cooler side, but I'm not sure what a humid hide is! They don't go to that side much. Should I put their hide on the warm side and their food dish on the cooler?

 

[Tom]

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-18736.html?highlight=Humid+Hide+Boxes+II

Here is an example of some. Lately I have been using black $2 dish washing tubs from Walmart. Just cut out a door hole flip it upside down and wet the substrate under it.

All tortoises should have this. Especially babies. It simulates the humidity that would be found in a burrow or cubby hole that they would use for shelter in the wild.

 

[mainey34]

Hello and welcome, they are really cute...

 

[erinnco22]

Thank you! I have tried to post pictures of the enclosure I have now, but I can't seem to get it to work. It's roughly 2ft x 1ft..I have repti bark in it..a 50watt bulb on one side which keeps it at about 95 and 100 directly below the light..a heat pad on the warm side which I keep on 24/7.. And on the cool side I have a log hide. I take them outside for sun a few times a week. I have been misting down their shells and the bark a couple times a day..but the humidity doesn't keep up for long at all. I don't think I have the space for a humid hide like those in the link, but if I was to make a smaller one, should I use a different substrate? And do you just water it down every day and keep the rest of the enclosure dry?

 

[winston]

Hi am new to this aswell and I and wondering how long I keep the heat lamp and heat mat on for???