The tortoise I got last night is acting very lethargic. I haven't seen him eat, bask, or get in the water dish since yesterday.
He has a 10.0 UVB high output tube bulb, a daylight basking light that gets between 95-100 degrees, and a grow light. The ambient temperature is between 70-80 during the day and 67 at night.
I've been leaving shredded plants with calcium (and even tried offering some without calcium too) on his flats rock in the morning and switching them out when they get dried out near the end of the day.
My sister said she saw him move and nibble a few plants, but I don't think he really did- I think she just wanted me to think she was keeping an eye on him when she was really playing PlayStation.
He his under his temperature gauge all morning and in his warm hide for at least five hours in the evening. When I checked on him before bed (at 3 am) he was still in exactly the same spot and hadn't moved since 5:30pm. His light turns on at 8:30 so it wasn't really his bedtime yet. His lights were still on when he went and his for the night.
I touched him to see if he would flinch or anything and he didn't move at all. I seriously thought he was dead. But he moved around a bit and opened his mouth when I picked him up (a yawn or voicing his displeasure for being woke up? I don't know). He had his eyes closed and didn't open them at all when I held him. I attached a picture because I know people say sometimes they get swollen but I can't tell if his are swollen or not. I wouldn't know what it looks. Let me know if you think they look swollen and what I should do about it. The picture was taken right after I picked him up and his eyes had been totally closed, possibly sleeping. The substrate he has is 100% cypress mulch, which is what they say they had him on.
I'm just really afraid he's gonna die. He's so very tiny. I feel any little disturbance in his environment could kill the poor little guy. And everyone in the house complains about how cold it is in the house (67) despite being warm blooded.
If you guys could let me know if I'm doing anything wrong that would be great.
Should I be soaking him daily for 20 minutes? Can I put the basking light above him while he basks so the water doesn't get cold so fast or will the reflection hurt his eyes?
Should I try offering him tortoise pellet food just to get him to eat something?
And what is this "hatchling failure syndrome" someone posted about? I've been researching for months and never heard about this. Is this something I should be concerned about? It says it can be caused by dehydration and it did take him about 26 hours to get here, but j have soaked him and the humidity in the tank is between 30-60% depending on what side he's on.
I really hope I'm just being neurotic, but I worry about him being so small and fragile. I keep trying to think if there's anything I am doing wrong, but I just want to be sure.
Sorry for the long posts guys, I'm just worried about the little bugger.
He has a 10.0 UVB high output tube bulb, a daylight basking light that gets between 95-100 degrees, and a grow light. The ambient temperature is between 70-80 during the day and 67 at night.
I've been leaving shredded plants with calcium (and even tried offering some without calcium too) on his flats rock in the morning and switching them out when they get dried out near the end of the day.
My sister said she saw him move and nibble a few plants, but I don't think he really did- I think she just wanted me to think she was keeping an eye on him when she was really playing PlayStation.
He his under his temperature gauge all morning and in his warm hide for at least five hours in the evening. When I checked on him before bed (at 3 am) he was still in exactly the same spot and hadn't moved since 5:30pm. His light turns on at 8:30 so it wasn't really his bedtime yet. His lights were still on when he went and his for the night.
I touched him to see if he would flinch or anything and he didn't move at all. I seriously thought he was dead. But he moved around a bit and opened his mouth when I picked him up (a yawn or voicing his displeasure for being woke up? I don't know). He had his eyes closed and didn't open them at all when I held him. I attached a picture because I know people say sometimes they get swollen but I can't tell if his are swollen or not. I wouldn't know what it looks. Let me know if you think they look swollen and what I should do about it. The picture was taken right after I picked him up and his eyes had been totally closed, possibly sleeping. The substrate he has is 100% cypress mulch, which is what they say they had him on.
I'm just really afraid he's gonna die. He's so very tiny. I feel any little disturbance in his environment could kill the poor little guy. And everyone in the house complains about how cold it is in the house (67) despite being warm blooded.
If you guys could let me know if I'm doing anything wrong that would be great.
Should I be soaking him daily for 20 minutes? Can I put the basking light above him while he basks so the water doesn't get cold so fast or will the reflection hurt his eyes?
Should I try offering him tortoise pellet food just to get him to eat something?
And what is this "hatchling failure syndrome" someone posted about? I've been researching for months and never heard about this. Is this something I should be concerned about? It says it can be caused by dehydration and it did take him about 26 hours to get here, but j have soaked him and the humidity in the tank is between 30-60% depending on what side he's on.
I really hope I'm just being neurotic, but I worry about him being so small and fragile. I keep trying to think if there's anything I am doing wrong, but I just want to be sure.
Sorry for the long posts guys, I'm just worried about the little bugger.