New Tort behavior??

Jennifer Nicole

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Nov 9, 2016
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Bakersfield, CA
We received our leopard tortoise yesterday from TortoiseYard... (Vicky is amazing!). I soaked her immediately and then placed her in her habitat with some food. She ate yesterday and then laid in the dirt to the side of her basking lamp spot (I have a upside down terracotta bottom right under it... I am think about taking it out if I never see her on it. I figured it would help radiate heat (ant its only warm to the touch)... I do not want her to not use the basking spot because she does not like the feel of it. Anyways she laid there for a couple of hours tucked into her shell. By the time we came home from dinner her lights were off and the CHE was on. She was sleeping in some moss I have Stacked in the warm side of the tank (86 on the farthest wall) I am going to buy another temp gage (the other two I have are the digital ones) to place directly under the CHE. I kind of just moved the moss to make sure she was in there and then put it back (I just saw her shell). This morning I checked on her (her lights just came on about 15 before) and she was still under the moss. I misted the moss and wet side of the tank... gave her more water. Placed some dry moss on the cool side for her to burrow in if she wants (I lightly misted it just so that it didn't have the fly aways... and fluffed it nicely). I placed a little more damp moss around the moss she was in. Then I carefully moved some to check on her. Her head was tucked in and when she breathes her whole head moves up and down... not sure if that is normal or not. I covered her gently and went to work. My husband texted me 2 hours later said he peeked his head in and she was "Up and about". I know she will be shy and kind of stand offish for a while... and I am not wanting to stress her out but I cannot find anything on normal tortoise behavior right after you get them, (when they are still scared). So what is normal?

Some info...
86 on the furthest Warm wall
76 on the furthest cool wall
About 90 in basking (I tested it with the digital ones on the wall when I set it up) and probably under the CHE lamp
Half log with damp moss on the warm side (damp moss in the corner for her to burrow in)
A container with a "door" cut out, moss next to it in the cool end.

I am going to soak her every day.... and feed her every other day. But since today is a no feeding day I was thinking about taking the breeder's advice and try hand feeding her a little bit of greens.

Thank you in advance!
 

Neal

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I think your temperatures need to come up a bit. I would say 95 at the least for a high under the basking area and keep things a little warmer on the cool end.

The behavior sounds normal-ish, even the head bobbing, but keep a close eye on her. Some will behave like yours, and others will be extra active when placed in a new environment, so there's nothing to worry about just yet. Keep her well fed and warm and she should settle in for you after a few days.
 

Jennifer Nicole

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Joined
Nov 9, 2016
Messages
24
Location (City and/or State)
Bakersfield, CA
I think your temperatures need to come up a bit. I would say 95 at the least for a high under the basking area and keep things a little warmer on the cool end.

The behavior sounds normal-ish, even the head bobbing, but keep a close eye on her. Some will behave like yours, and others will be extra active when placed in a new environment, so there's nothing to worry about just yet. Keep her well fed and warm and she should settle in for you after a few days.

Thank you. I will lower her lights (they are on stands) I just went to Home depot on my lunch and got a wire shelf to set across the top. Call me paranoid but I do not want the stands to fail somehow and knock the lights on her! I think with this new shelf I can lower the lights down a couple inches. (the top I am using now has heavy duty plastic on it and I do not want that to melt so I did not place it as close as it can be. We will see how this works. The shelf has a thin rubber coating on it (its one of those white pantry shelves) so a coworker (I work at a shop) said that it should be fine but if it melts it wont drip it will just look ugly. I won't cry over $15 if it doesn't work out.
 

wellington

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Totally agree with Neal about the temps and the normal behavior. Now though, what is the humidity? It needs to be 80% with the corrected temps, otherwise your raising him hot and dry, which is the old bad way. Just spraying the moss won't give you 80% humidity. Covering the enclosure and making the substrate wet with warm water will. Also, get yourself a point and shoot infrared temp gun, great for finding instant temps of all spots of the enclosure or even the tort itself.
 

Jennifer Nicole

New Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2016
Messages
24
Location (City and/or State)
Bakersfield, CA
Totally agree with Neal about the temps and the normal behavior. Now though, what is the humidity? It needs to be 80% with the corrected temps, otherwise your raising him hot and dry, which is the old bad way. Just spraying the moss won't give you 80% humidity. Covering the enclosure and making the substrate wet with warm water will. Also, get yourself a point and shoot infrared temp gun, great for finding instant temps of all spots of the enclosure or even the tort itself.

I do not have the whole thing covered but I Spray it down twice a day. (Not just the moss). I had a humidity gage but Yesterday it was reading at 0... and I knew it wasn't 0. I even tested by putting it in the bathroom while I showered. Still 0... so I ordered a new one. Part of my enclosure is glass so you can see the water droplets in the soil on the side. Like I said I ordered a new gage. I will look into the temp gun thank you.

My husband checked her out before he left for work. Apparently she has destroyed the neatness of her habitat lol. Which is good it means she was up and about. She wouldn't take food from him but she would eat it if he set it down... so that's a start
 

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