New Leopard tortoise question

[volcom6981]

Can somebody tell me if cypress mulch is dusty? I was given a 2 year old Leopard, about a month ago, who i noticed had a runny nose the first night i got him. I figured it was just stress or something, didnt really worry about it because he was eating like a pig. Well of course he still has this runny nose, no bubbles, just his nose is wet, still is eating like crazy, and is active. However here is where it gets a little weird, i had to take one of my tortoise to the vet, so i figured ill get him checked out while im there. I put him in a box with burmuda grass loaded him in the car and left. I get to the vet open the box, he is active, and his nose is completly dry, not wet at all. So why is this, is the cypress mulch bothering him at all. I would take him outside, but its a little cold here right now. Im just a little confused on why it would clear up when i took him out on burmuda grass, but in his enclosure on cypress its wet?

Oh also is it normal that he is very active in the morning, eats, and then stops being so active after 3:00, does that sound normal? Temps in the enclosure are always 80 degress or alittle above, with a basking area 100-105.

 

[ascott]

What is your humidity?

 

[volcom6981]

Humidity ranges from about 45-50% humidity, sometimes a little higher. With him being 2 years old, i wasnt really trying to keep a real high humidity going, like i would with a hachling. I was thinking maybe he was too dry, but with it being around 50% i thought that was pretty normal. I really wasnt too worried about it because he was pretty active, and ate like a pig. I just thought it was weird that when i took him off the cypress mulch, and put him in the box with burmuda grass for the ride, his nose was completly dry that whole time.

 

[Tortus]

Oh also is it normal that he is very active in the morning, eats, and then stops being so active after 3:00, does that sound normal? Temps in the enclosure are always 80 degress or alittle above, with a basking area 100-105.

I have no experience with a 2 year old, but my 3 month old is almost always in bed by 3 pm and doesn't get back up until morning. It's eating like crazy and growing like a weed, so I assume this is normal behavior. Sometimes I turn the lights off early since they're doing nothing but wasting electricity while it's sleeping in the cool end.

 

[jtrux]

Sometimes I turn the lights off early since they're doing nothing but wasting electricity while it's sleeping in the cool end.

Just a recommendation...besides offering heat, the light is necessary for the proper photoperiod to emulate the natural cycle of the sun and so forth. And when you really add up how much electricity the light uses, it's just not that big of a deal.

For example...if you have a regular 30 day month (30 days X 24 hours per day = 720 hours) and you pay .15 per kilowatt hour and you're running a 100 watt bulb you would be paying approximately $10.80 to run that bulb for the entire month straight. 720 hours X .1KW X $.15 = $10.80

Just sayin' lol

 

[Tortus]

I was thinking that too, jtrux. But then I figured if the tort is asleep and doesn't get back up, does it even know if the lights are on or not?

I know the photoperiod is important for plants. I'm just not sure how important it is to a tortoise that doesn't seem to care what time of day it is when it goes to bed.

I don't always turn the lights off early. But I really don't see the point of them being on if the tort is sound asleep out of the UV range.