Introduction and New parent questions

[LeafyLady]

Hello!!

New tortoise parent here. I have been trying to do my research and do right by my new little friend but you somethings are better just asked I think.

This is Wali and I just got him on Tuesday. He is a Western Hermanns from GST. When he got here I gave him a nice soak and put him in his nice temporary enclousure with some dandilion greens and let him decompress from his journey for a few hours. He after he had warmed up under the basking light for a while and he seemed fine for the most part. My questions! He is a very sleepy little guy and will sleep most of the time. Is that normal? He comes out to bask and eat but will burrow back down and sleep right after. I also have not seen any defications yet. It has now been 2 full days and I just don't know how worried I should be. I have soaked him everyday once or twice in warm water but nothing.

Attached it a picture of his tempory enclousure that he is in because of the timing of his arrival and not knowing actually when he was coming I had made plans to go out of town next weekend and the person I would have pet sit is also out of town, so he is going to come with me. I set him up in this temp enclousure right away so it would be the enviorment he knew to come with. I am not comfortable leaving him home alone for the weekend yet.

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome. Sorry I dont have agood pic of him, I am trying not to bug him too much. Thanks!!

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. Lots to unpack here...

The tortoise should definitely NOT come with you, especially since it is already stressed from transport. More stress from more transport will definitely not help and could end up resulting in this tortoises demise.

When they don't eat much and hide too much, it is usually because something is off in the environment. What are your four temperatures and what types of bulbs are you using to achieve those? Warm side, cool side, basking area directly under the bulb, and over night low?

Looks like your substrate is coco coir, and that is fine, but it needs to be hand packed to make it less messy and easier for them to walk on.

Your tortoise still has an egg tooth. That means it is less than 6 weeks old. That is not necessarily bad but it does mean that your enclosure and temperatures need to be spot-on BEFORE the little one comes home. What was this babies hatch weight and what is the weight now. I don't sell them to experienced keepers until they've doubled their hatch weight. Inexperienced keepers get to wait until they've tripled their hatch weight.

Your answers will help us to help you, and all of your questions are welcome.

Here is the correct care info:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

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The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

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[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Welcome to the forum! Good advice from Tom.

 

[LeafyLady]

Thank you for the reply.

I am very nervous to leave him alone but I do want what is best for him. I would not be going if I had know he was coming but there was not a lot of communication and then he was on his way here. I will be gone for 2 nights if that helps.

In his temp enclosure, which if he is not coming with I could move him to his permanent one that is much bigger (48x24), his basking spot is 95 degrees, 85 degrees in the warm side and 79 on the cool side. Night time is low 70s.

He is currently 13 grams and I was not given his hatching weight so I am not sure how much he has grown. I did notice the egg tooth and realize he is very young. I was told he was eating well before shipping. He had been eating well for me too. He eats a 3-4 leaves in the morning and night but that is why I worry about the no defecation.

I will pack down the coco coir more and I have orchid bark I can add as well if you feel I should the. Humidity is around 80% during the day and goes up to 90-100 at night when I put the lid on.

I have read through both of those posts and taken a lot of advice from them.

 

[Tom]

Thank you for the reply.

I am very nervous to leave him alone but I do want what is best for him. I would not be going if I had know he was coming but there was not a lot of communication and then he was on his way here. I will be gone for 2 nights if that helps.

In his temp enclosure, which if he is not coming with I could move him to his permanent one that is much bigger (48x24), his basking spot is 95 degrees, 85 degrees in the warm side and 79 on the cool side. Night time is low 70s.

He is currently 13 grams and I was not giving his hatching weight so I am not sure how much he has grown. I did notice the egg tooth and realize he is very young. I was told he was eating well before shipping. He had been eating well for me too. He eats a 3-4 leaves in the morning and night but that is why I worry about the no defecation.

I will pack down the coco coir more and I have orchid bark I can add as well if you feel I should the. Humidity is around 80% during the day and goes up to 90-100 at night when I put the lid on.

I have read through both of those posts and taken a lot of advice from them.

Sound like you've got everything really good. When they first arrive, it's best to let them acclimate in one closure for at least a couple of weeks, and better a month or more, before moving them again. I wouldn't have set up a temporary enclosure. I would have recommended putting the baby straight into is full time enclosure with those parameters you mentioned.

I don't like the idea of putting a lid on an enclosure at night and driving humidity up like that in cool temps. It's best to use a closed camber for babies, but it needs to be consistent. Not open during the day and closed at night. If anything, it should be the opposite: Closed during the day to hold in heat and humidity and open at night when it cools and the humidity naturally increases.

Coco coir is my preferred substrate for baby Testudo. They can dig into it and make their own little microclimates in it. I use orchid bark when they are older and larger.

At 13 grams you don't have a lot of room for error here. Get him into the larger enclosure with stable temps and the correct bulbs, and leave him be for a while. I would not soak more than once a day. The westerns can stress a little more easily than the easterns, so I'd proceed with caution until he gains some size.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Excellent advice from Tom as alwaysyou have an adorable baby! Is there anyone that can watch him for your whilst you’re gone?

Hopefully as well as toms links, you might like these for any future decor ideas etc

Housing young Russian/Herman

Hello there! In this thread, I’m going to include some information on an effective way to tackle a starter set up/a way you can build a bigger size once your baby is an adult. I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to break down any information...

tortoiseforum.org

Different closed chamber options:

Visual inspiration

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This one here is good to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

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Welcome to the forum!!

 

[LeafyLady]

Thank you. I moved him the to permanent enclosure and he will be staying home and so will I. I don't want to risk him and trips can be rescheduled.

Thank you everyone for your help! I am very excited for my new little friend and I really appreciate everyones help! Here is a pic of him in the bigger enclosure. His is in the top right under his basking light.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum!