NOT VERY ACTIVE

[wellington]

Tatum, 7 month old leopard is not very active. Temps are 100, 85, 75-78. He eats good, poops good, growing. Except for coming out to eat, he sleeps under the substrate, under the MVB most of the time. The humidity is around 60, still fighting to get it a little higher. I soak him 5 times a week. Substrate is mostly coco coir, with some timothy hay and potting soil with grass and clover. He has two hides but won't use them. He also has a log he can go under or climb on, a rock to climb on and a water bowl. He is in a 4 foot x 3 1/2 foot room. He never goes over to the other half of the room. Only goes back right basking corner to the front right/middle to eat and then back to sleeping in basking corner. When I could take him outside he would explore most of the time but not in his inside home. Is this normal for his age? I have had him since May. I would like to let him explore around the house a little, however I don't keep my house any where's near the temp of his house, so not sure if he would get too cold?
Sorry this is so long, wanted to get as much detail as possible. Oh ya he eats a mix of greens and clover two times a day, plus always has grass and clover to munch. Anyone have any suggestions or does everything sound normal?
As always thanks for any help you can give.

 

[pdrobber]

I don't have baby tort experience or leopard experience but from what I've heard here it's probably okay.

If he's under the MVB most of the time maybe it's not quite hot enough on the hot side. What are you using to take temps?

 

[ascott]

I would play around a bit with some of his hides and maybe add a lower strength basking bulb towards the other side (but not all the way on the other side, still need to have a cooler spot) and see what that does....also, does he love to be soaked?

Also, I would not necessarily make a habit of letting your little one roam the house...not only can the floor in some houses be a bit cool (unless of course you have heated floors then how awesome ) but there are things like cords, tiny yummy looking items on the floor, mistaken escapes due to doors being left open, dog/cat pestering, etc.....IMHO

 

[Tom]

If your tortoise is almost always on the warm side and almost never goes to the cooler side, it usually indicates that your temps are too low. Doesn't seem to be the case with you, but like Peter asked, what are you using to measure temps? Maybe your thermometer is off...

And I agree with Angela about not letting them roam around on the floor of the house.

 

[wellington]

If your tortoise is almost always on the warm side and almost never goes to the cooler side, it usually indicates that your temps are too low. Doesn't seem to be the case with you, but like Peter asked, what are you using to measure temps? Maybe your thermometer is off...

And I agree with Angela about not letting them roam around on the floor of the house.

I use a infrared heat gun and the majority of the room is 85, basking 100 and the front of the room is 78. As far as letting him roam the house, I meant as I watched him, not unattended. I didn't explain that very well, sorry. Should I still not let him, even if I am watching him?
As always, thanks for your time and advice.

 

[ascott]

Oh good I have in the past had my old man Humphry on house arrest for a couple of weeks after he had an old abscess cleared and during the second week of the two weeks he began to get restless (as he is use to being outside free to wander in his yard) so I did sweep the entire house and pulled up all cords and crawled around on all fours on the ground (as close to tortoise level as possible ) to make sure nothing hiding...locked the dogs out and opened all the curtains in the house so it heated up (was dang hot for this human) and then would let Humph roam around a bit so he got exercise...however, that was an exception and only because I wanted to make sure he was in sound mind while his body caught up healing....

Now, I would say to someone that I do not personally feel it is a good thing to routinely allow your tortoise to have walk abouts in the house as it is not the best for them....

 

[Pokeymeg]

I think it is temperature related.

I have a young Hermann tortoise who does the same exact thing as Tatum, and my temps are similar. HOWEVER, my tort Pistachio used to climb all around his enclosure for hours. But that was during the summer when even the 'cool' end of the enclosure was rather warm (because I live in an attic apartment).

Now that the air in my room is much cooler, Pistachio is much less active. He is not getting ready hibernation, I don't think, but he is far less active and not keen on leaving his hot spot. But, if I take him outside the enslosure (he's in a blocked off corner under supervision) he's very happy to explore and climb around, but it doesn't take long for him to show interest in getting back under his heat lamp.

 

[wellington]

I changed Tatums enclosure today. I had him on the floor, I now raised him up off the floor, same size enclosure but with a bigger, more airy space above him then before. He did a lot of exploring, checking the new digs out. Hopefully this more airy space above him will do the trick and he will feel like exploring every day. I will let you all know how it goes.
Thanks

 

[jackrat]

Sounds temperature related to me.

 

[wellington]

Tatum got up around 7:30a.m., ate, and roamed around his home for about 2 1/2 hours or more. He seems to like the more open airy ceiling. Before his ceiling was approx. 2 feet above him, now it is approx. 4 feet. Temps are the same but with a smaller 95-100 degrees basking as I separated the space in sections to better hold the temps steady. Humidity is hard to get up, but I am able to hold it above 50% and still working on getting it higher. Even at just above 50% and daily soaks, it has stopped the pyramiding that I encountered do to bad advice at time of purchase.
Thanks all for your thoughts, looks like this concern is behind me