Help with my baby Greek?

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eross28

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Hey everybody!

My name's Evan and it has been great using your site, though this is my first post on here. After keep turtles for a while, I finally got my first tortoise, and she (whether boy or girl) has yet to receive a name other than "she", so bear with me :)

I just got my baby Greek this past Tuesday, had her enclosure set up and ready to go, and just want to make sure I'm doing every thing the right way.
I did a lot of research before setting it up, and I just hope I'm right!

She has a hide set up both in the heat and out of the heat, I'm using spaghnum peat moss as a substrate, and keep regular spaghnum moss in the hides to keep damp. I wet the soil a couple times a day to help with humidity (I'm in Wisconsin and it's very dry here), as well as mist her a few times a day too to keep her from drying out. She's eaten red and green leaf lettuce and a couple carrot shavings, topped with a calcium supplement. I also have a few tomatoes and cucumbers to give her soon. I give her the food every morning and place her in front of it, and she'll eat a bit and return to finish later in the day, usually a pile about the size of her, maybe a little larger.

Temperature is 95 degrees roughly under the lamp with 50% humidity, whereas in the hides it stays about 75-80 degrees with around 75-80% humidity.

Every thing seems to be fine with her, she eats fine and poops every day, but I still worry. After reading about how active some folks hatchlings are, mine doesn't seem that way at all. She hardly explores her enclosure, goes to sleep around 7 in the hide and stays in the exact same spot until I get food around 10 the next morning and place her in front of it. She also still seems deathly afraid of me. Am I worrying too much? Is she still stressed from the shipping and new environment, or is there something I'm doing wrong?

Any advice would be great :D
Also I know the table is rather small, but I think it's big enough for the time being until she gets a little older, right?
 

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Yvonne G

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Hi Evan:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

Don't worry about your baby's activity level. Babies are prey and as such hide a lot. As long as the baby is eating, you're more than home free. She will get more active as she realizes that you are not some giant hovering monster, but the food god. Give her some time.
 

dmmj

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I agree if he is eating then the battle is almost already won.
 

FBody355

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My baby took a while to start eating, and now he's off the wall hyper and is a horse.. though he is Sulcata. GL with her!
 

CGKeith

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Hi Evan, I have a few questions for you. The answers will help in pointing you in the right direction.

What kind of light are you using? Do you have the light on a timer? Is it turned on the same time every day? Is there a lot of movement around the enclosure? What is the night time temp in the room?

An enclosure with higher sides and even a partial lid will help you maintain temps and humidity.

I'd recommend staying away from the tomatoes or any fruit for them. Try some spring mix, it has a variety of good things.
 

eross28

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CGKeith said:
Hi Evan, I have a few questions for you. The answers will help in pointing you in the right direction.

What kind of light are you using? Do you have the light on a timer? Is it turned on the same time every day? Is there a lot of movement around the enclosure? What is the night time temp in the room?

An enclosure with higher sides and even a partial lid will help you maintain temps and humidity.

I'd recommend staying away from the tomatoes or any fruit for them. Try some spring mix, it has a variety of good things.



Thanks everyone!

I'm using a powersun UV 100 watt bulb, UV and heat all in one. I don't have a timer, but I turn it on at 10 every morning and turn it off at 10 at night so it stays consistant. As for movement, she's in my main living area and I'm by myself so she sees me quite a bit, but not a whole lot of activity. She's been more used to me it seems this evening, I was sitting watching tv and she stared at me for quite a while from across the table :cool:

Night time temp is about 75, should it be higher? And with the higher lids, are my temperatures and humidity too low?
I wasn't too sure about the tomato, think I'll stay away from that.

Thanks for the help! :)
 

CGKeith

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eross28 said:
CGKeith said:
Hi Evan, I have a few questions for you. The answers will help in pointing you in the right direction.

What kind of light are you using? Do you have the light on a timer? Is it turned on the same time every day? Is there a lot of movement around the enclosure? What is the night time temp in the room?

An enclosure with higher sides and even a partial lid will help you maintain temps and humidity.

I'd recommend staying away from the tomatoes or any fruit for them. Try some spring mix, it has a variety of good things.



Thanks everyone!

I'm using a powersun UV 100 watt bulb, UV and heat all in one. I don't have a timer, but I turn it on at 10 every morning and turn it off at 10 at night so it stays consistant. As for movement, she's in my main living area and I'm by myself so she sees me quite a bit, but not a whole lot of activity. She's been more used to me it seems this evening, I was sitting watching tv and she stared at me for quite a while from across the table :cool:

Night time temp is about 75, should it be higher? And with the higher lids, are my temperatures and humidity too low?
I wasn't too sure about the tomato, think I'll stay away from that.

Thanks for the help! :)

The MVB's are supposed to be pointed straight down to be most effective. Your light seems to be at quite a bit of an angle.

If the torotise is damp then 75 may be a little on the cool side, the damp substrate where the tortoise is will be cooler that the air temp. You don't want cool and damp, you want to keep warm and humid.

You are off to a great start, enclosure looks really good. Just a couple of little adjustments and you are there. :)
 
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