New 2 month old baby

[sophie8808]

Hi everyone. I just received a beautiful, tiny, 2 month old sulcata tortoise. She was shipped from Florida to Minnesota Fed Ex overnight.
I've soaked her twice, for 20 minutes, and have offered food, but she is mainly sleeping.
she has a humid hide, with damp cypress mulch, hay, and newspaper.
Basking spot is about 87 degrees- I just ordered a new ceramic bulb, which I hope will bring it up a bit. She also has a UVB light.
I'm offering her dandelion greens, chopped, grass, leaf lettuce (old fashioned- several varieties grown in our yard), and some soaked pellets. I have not seen her eat yet.
I brought her outside in the grass for an hour or so, and she really perked up and motored around. Beyond that, she is pretty tired.
I'd appreciate opinions about her general description. Do you think she is just extremely tired and stressed from the shipping? Her eyes and nose look nice and clear, and her shell seems nice and firm.

 

[Killerrookie]

Your baby just needs time to settle in and relax. Just give your baby a week or so to settle in and he/she will start becoming more active and eat. May I ask what kind of UVB bulb your using? Is it a coil bulb like this:
What kind of substrate do you use for the entire enclosure?
What is the humidity at in the enclosure?
Welcome to the forums by the way.

Austin

 

[sophie8808]

Thanks so much for the reply. The UVB bulb is not coiled like that, but I'm having a hard time describing it! I will take a picture...
Humidity is about 50 percent in the basking area. Substrate in the rest of the enclosure is newspaper, with some aspen bedding (will probably get rid of that), and Timothy hay on top of that.
Again, thanks so much for the reply. There is so much conflicting info out there!

 

[Jodie]

That light is bad. It can cause eye damage. The basking area should be 100F. Get a Mercury Vapor Bulb which will provide UVB and heat. Check out the care guides in the Sulcata section. I would not use the substrate you're using. They need hot and humid to grow smooth.
Here is a link to the Sulcata section.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/forums/sulcata-tortoises.88/

 

[Killerrookie]

Thanks so much for the reply. The UVB bulb is not coiled like that, but I'm having a hard time describing it! I will take a picture...
Humidity is about 50 percent in the basking area. Substrate in the rest of the enclosure is newspaper, with some aspen bedding (will probably get rid of that), and Timothy hay on top of that.
Again, thanks so much for the reply. There is so much conflicting info out there!

Aspen and newspaper is hard to keep humidity in. I recommend some coco coir from a hardware store like Lowes or Home Depot. If you want something a little bit more pricey than get some Eco Earth from a pet store and put a little layer of cypress mulch on top of it. I would consider that coil anyways and will ruin the tortoises eyes and later on in the future make him blind. This is what I use and everyone else uses for their tortoises:

The humidity should be raised to around 80%. You have a open top enclosure or is it closed?
How big is his enclosure?

 

[sophie8808]

I will get a mercury vapor bulb. The enclosure I have is open. It's actually a gigantic guinea pig cage with plastic skirt about 4 1/2" around the bottom so she can't see out. I also have a glass enclosure I could use, but I have heard it's too hard to regulate the temp for basking vs hiding.
We are planning on building a much larger wooden enclosure in the future, and when she outgrows that, she will winter in our basement (which we'll modify), and summer outside.
I'll change up her substrate as soon as she is a little less stressed. For now, she seems to be enjoying her moist little den.
as far as eating- when should I worry?

 

[Killerrookie]

I will get a mercury vapor bulb. The enclosure I have is open. It's actually a gigantic guinea pig cage with plastic skirt about 4 1/2" around the bottom so she can't see out. I also have a glass enclosure I could use, but I have heard it's too hard to regulate the temp for basking vs hiding.
We are planning on building a much larger wooden enclosure in the future, and when she outgrows that, she will winter in our basement (which we'll modify), and summer outside.
I'll change up her substrate as soon as she is a little less stressed. For now, she seems to be enjoying her moist little den.
as far as eating- when should I worry?

Many of us use glass enclosures and have no problem with them. I would try to cover the enclosure with some foil or plastic wrap to keep humidity in. How big is the glass tank?

 

[Jodie]

I think she will eat, if you get the temp up. Minimum temp should be 80F for babies with 80% humidity. They have to be 85F to digest food, so will not eat if it's not warm enough.

 

[sophie8808]

A LOT smaller- I don't remember the exact size, but it's bigger than 5 gallons, smaller than 10!
I wish I would have known- I could have gotten a glass enclosure for a lot cheaper. The one I have is an old aquarium.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome!!

 

[sophie8808]

Thanks very much!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, Sophie,and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you and your new baby.
Read, learn, contribute, ask questions and have fun.

 

[sophie8808]

Thanks! I'm glad to be here.

 

[teresaf]

Respiratory infections are prevalent in babies. It happens when kept high humid but with temps that dip too low. Keep temps above 80 at LEAST.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello and welcome to the TFO from AZ. Torts rule !

 

[Merrick]

Welcome

 

[teresaf]

I just went back and looked at the pictures again and At 2 months old you can already see Pyramiding. You need to switch enclosures to a more humid setup. Keep the temps up above 80 or even a bit higher. Don't take him outside for so long and only if the temp is above 80. Get rid of the coil-ish bulb. Read up on 'closed chambers' by entering it in the search option above

 

[sophie8808]

She's doing extremely well this morning- motoring around her cage and checking things out. I've seen her drink- now, I am hoping to see her eat. I'm feeling pretty confident today, with her activity level and tiny attitude.

 

[sophie8808]

I got a laugh just now...
I looked at my profile, which says I'm 17... I'm 35! Apparently, my birth year is unchangeable, too... '79 vs '97 is easily mistyped when you're in a hurry, I guess. Anyway, I wanted to mention that, as I work in vet med and I know it can change a person's outlook on how they are prepared to care for a pet.
Keep the suggestions coming, though... I'm a dog owner and a snake owner, but this is my first tortoise.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I got a laugh just now...
I looked at my profile, which says I'm 17... I'm 35! Apparently, my birth year is unchangeable, too... '79 vs '97 is easily mistyped when you're in a hurry, I guess. Anyway, I wanted to mention that, as I work in vet med and I know it can change a person's outlook on how they are prepared to care for a pet.
Keep the suggestions coming, though... I'm a dog owner and a snake owner, but this is my first tortoise.

I wouldn't want to be 17 again.
Glad she's happy this morning.