NEW Leopard tortoise named YODA

[danlou88]

Hi all,

My name is Dan, I live in Scotland. Over the past week I have custom built a tortoise table for my new (approx 1year old - 10cm shell length) leopard which I named Yoda.

As a newbie with regards to tortoise, I would greatly appreciate and advice I may receive from you tortoise lovers out there. Thank you all in advance

I took Yoda home today after seeing him at the reptile store over the past couple of weeks. He was very active at the store eating nonstop and didn't mind being touched what so ever; however he has not been doing much at all in his new indoor enclosure I built. (Pictures attached). He has not eaten at all today and seems to be very vigilant.

When it took him home I first bathed him/her for 5 minutes or so to clean his poop off his shell since he pooped ALOT while in his transport box.

The basking lamp I am using is a Arcadia 100w uva+uva D3 bulb. The basking spot temp is around 34C. Im using a tortoise substrate composition and also aspen for his indoor hide out. I have also installed a heat mat inside the hideout area which has an average temp of around 24C at night.

I will attached some pictures to this post IF I FIGURE OUT HOW TO =D

It would be great if I could get some advice with regards to how long will it take before Yoda settles in as he moved about 1meter in total this whole day!

Thank you and looking forwards to hearing from you all.

Dan.

 

[Jacob]

Welcome, your new baby could be a little stressed out over the big move.
its very common, usually within a few days to weeks it will come around
keep out fresh water and food and keep a eye on temps and humidity.


your photos didn't show up

try coping the last img code photo bucket gives you,

IMG Code

 

[Jessie]

I agree he is probably just stressed out. Just keep him hydrated and keep food available for when he decides he's hungry. He will come to eventually. Just hang in there.
He's adorable by the way and I love the enclosure. Very nice.

 

[Laura]

Nice Zen garden there.
you will need humidity for your kid.. and give him time to adjust.
DO a nice warm water soak as well. Even tho you provide it, sometimes they need to be 'forced'.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[DanaLachney]

Your pictures showed up for me beautiful tortoise you have there and beautiful enclosure as well

 

[danlou88]

Welcome, your new baby could be a little stressed out over the big move.
its very common, usually within a few days to weeks it will come around
keep out fresh water and food and keep a eye on temps and humidity.


your photos didn't show up

try coping the last img code photo bucket gives you,

IMG Code

I fixed the images Jacob =D hope you can see him now.

 

[danlou88]

Nice Zen garden there.
you will need humidity for your kid.. and give him time to adjust.
DO a nice warm water soak as well. Even tho you provide it, sometimes they need to be 'forced'.

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply... I soaked him today with warm water as soon as i took him home.

Should I soak him everyday? and when should i leave food out for him/her

 

[danlou88]

Thanks you all for the warm welcome.

I was just wondering.. How come my individual replies aren't working.. Under the posts i click reply the type my message under the quote and press post... but I dont seem to see my replys =D

Just dont want to be rude ... im trying to reply haha

 

[Jacqui]

Thanks you all for the warm welcome.

I was just wondering.. How come my individual replies aren't working.. Under the posts i click reply the type my message under the quote and press post... but I dont seem to see my replys =D

Just dont want to be rude ... im trying to reply haha

Hi and welcome! The reason your posts are not immediately showing up is with new members, the first five posts need to be approved by a Moderator. This is done to help prevent some of the spam we get.

 

[danlou88]

Thanks you all for the warm welcome.

I was just wondering.. How come my individual replies aren't working.. Under the posts i click reply the type my message under the quote and press post... but I dont seem to see my replys =D

Just dont want to be rude ... im trying to reply haha

Hi and welcome! The reason your posts are not immediately showing up is with new members, the first five posts need to be approved by a Moderator. This is done to help prevent some of the spam we get.

Ahhh icic... fair enough I suppose.. Nice to meet you

---

Nice Zen garden there.
you will need humidity for your kid.. and give him time to adjust.
DO a nice warm water soak as well. Even tho you provide it, sometimes they need to be 'forced'.

Thank you Laura Nice to meet you.

 

[Zamric]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum...

 

[coreyc]

Welcome to the TFO

 

[danlou88]

Hello guys,

I have another question to ask you gurus..

I put yoda in the side box with the heat mat switched on lastnight after i switched the heat lamp off. He slept all night from 7pm-11.41am (current time)...she is hiding in the shell. I moved her to the basking area at 9am this morning; however, she hasn't moved at all since last night. I worried about her staying in her shell whie in the basking area.. and not moving herself out the heat spot.

At 11 am I gave her a warm soak in the basin but again she was tucked in tight into her shell.

Is this still normal? She hasn't eaten at all yet . Should I manually move her out the basking spot is she doesn't move? and what is the optimum time she should be basking for before she gets too hot?

Thank you all again

Cheers Dan

 

[TORTOISEMAN1]

Very zen like. Welcome!!

 

[Arizona Sulcata]

Welcome!

 

[NudistApple]

Hey Dan, Yoda and her enclosure are very, very beautiful, but there are definitely some improvements to be made!

As I still a newbie myself I am going to link you to threads that will explain her requirements much better than I can, but just as a spoiler of sorts you will definitely need to change her substrate (in both her main enclosure and hide) and purchase digital hygrometer/thermometers. Those analog ones are very notorious for being faulty.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-The-End-Of-Pyramiding-II-The-Leopards
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Blademr2]

Welcome! Really cool enclosure! Only thing is the light appears to be hanging from the cord which could cause you problems. Its safer to use a clamp on it.