Got the confirmation, little dude will be here tomorrow. I'm told he's small (5-6inches). Just want to run down things and make sure I have everything. Anything I might have missed? Maybe some small details. Should I feed him tomorrow or give him sometime to adjust? How long? Anyone that raises, please feel free to give me some tips. I've read its always good to leave a kuttle-bone in there with them, good advice ? Temps have been good and tank is setup...think I'm read!
Piña is on the way..
- Thread starter Piña
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I like to give new animals (of any type) time to adjust. There's rarely a good reason to rush. You can offer food. They may eat or not. I'd make sure you offer water. Maybe even do a 15 minute soak to start off with.
I have a cuttlebone in with my baby...but I have yet to see her utilize it. Regardless, it's not a big deal to have one in there as part of the furnishings, just in case.
Very exciting! Post lots of pictures!
I have a cuttlebone in with my baby...but I have yet to see her utilize it. Regardless, it's not a big deal to have one in there as part of the furnishings, just in case.
Very exciting! Post lots of pictures!
Thanks Rue, I'm sure the flight won't be fun. After a little while I'll do a warm soak. I'll be sure to put pictures. I'm going to be using repashy superveggie as a supplement. So for the little one offer food everyday? Every other day? And how often to supplement?
I feed mine every morning. I sprinkle a bit of calcium (with D3) on the leaves twice a week (to make it easy for me to remember, on Tuesday and on Sunday...but it doesn't matter). And the cuttlebone just stays by the food dish, in case she's interested.
But there's a lot of conflicting advice out there - which I might write up for fun...so it can get confusing trying to figure out what's best.
But there's a lot of conflicting advice out there - which I might write up for fun...so it can get confusing trying to figure out what's best.
I feed at night. Or I offer food every night. Mine doesn't like to eat every day, he likes to binge and then skip a day or two, but I offer food every day just in case. I tried to change this but I'm not sure how. I think it came from them feeding him once a week (or changing his food once a week and leaving it to mold) back before I got him.
Sara G.
Active Member
I feed mine in the morning, maybe only a half hour after her light has kicked on.
If I don't she gets irked with me and stomps all over her enclosure and destroys whatever plants are still left in there.
If I don't she gets irked with me and stomps all over her enclosure and destroys whatever plants are still left in there.
So far so good, she's been in the hide all day, I checked on her about an hour ago to feed her a small amount of greens, put her next to the dish and she jumped up and ate everything. Went right back in the hide. I've read on one care sheet not to supplement until after 6 months? Does that sound right, what do others do with little ones, wait to add supplements to food or do it right away? Saw a bag of Mazuri in a petco but didn't buy it, saw a lot of people here feed it, or mix it with food. Do most people have automatic misters or just hand mist? Thinking about buying one of the auto-mister from zilla or something so she can get some misting when I'm not home.
Nice looking tortoise.
Sara G.
Active Member
I don't know if you'll necessarily have to mist if your humidity is high enough.
I see it as a safeguard for pyramiding, my humidity fluctuates between 80-90% and I mist the tort two or three times a day. As long as the substrate isn't wet I think it'll be fine.
Piña if your humidity is struggling to get past 75% I would either alter the enclosure to trap humidity better or I'd get a fogger. Though foggers (in my experience) tend to eventually wet the substrate as well which can lead to shell rot and other health complications so I recommend misting by hand and keeping the humidity up another way.
New York has dry winters and humid summers. I've never paid too much attention to it, I bought a cheap hydrometer that sticks to the wall, which reads around 40-50%. Not sure how accurate it is. I also don't know what the humidity will be like in the summer. I think summer months will be fine. Winter I'm more worried about.
I recommend the acu-rite digital hygrometers because the stick on ones are not always accurate. you can buy them at home depot
Where are you keeping the tortoise? In a tank, wooden enclosure, etc?
EDIT: Re-read, saw you have a tank. You should cover the top of the tank to trap moisture. NY's temps and humidity won't matter much with an indoor enclosure, you will need heat lamps/UVB anyway. I'd keep ambient temps at 80-85, humidity at 80% at least. I recommend ceramic heat emitters because they don't give off light and won't bother your tort. They can get quite hot especially in tanks so I would let it run and measure the temps, start with a lower wattage for safety.
EDIT: Re-read, saw you have a tank. You should cover the top of the tank to trap moisture. NY's temps and humidity won't matter much with an indoor enclosure, you will need heat lamps/UVB anyway. I'd keep ambient temps at 80-85, humidity at 80% at least. I recommend ceramic heat emitters because they don't give off light and won't bother your tort. They can get quite hot especially in tanks so I would let it run and measure the temps, start with a lower wattage for safety.
Going to look into a better one Crimson, probably a digital with probe. Jockma, winter humidity here is 0% and that's probably not an exaggeration. Your skin cracks it's so dry. Should have another month of weather in the 60's I hope. Right now my temps are good. I'm using a 100w ceramic heater with uv lighting. The tank is of course going to be temp, he/she will most likely outgrow it in a year or so. The humidity for now is low. I'll be sure to mist as much as I can and plenty of soaks. The tank has a lock on screen top that I'm not using. It's a custom tank, about 32x18, so I have no glass top. Maybe some live plants will do the trick to kick humidity up?
Sara G.
Active Member
I live in NY too. I actually used a deck box to create a closed chamber that has humidity of 80%-90% 24/7.
No misting ever.
Your tank has a screen top right?
See if you can get reflectix (I think that's what it's called) or use a piece of plexiglass or even plywood to cover any and all open parts on your tank.
Actually if you can use plywood and just drill small holes where you can hang your lights in, you'll see your humidity skyrocket and won't have to worry about constantly misting.
There's several good DIY ideas on the forum concerning closed chambers.
NY humidity really does suck though, so I know your struggles.
No misting ever.
Your tank has a screen top right?
See if you can get reflectix (I think that's what it's called) or use a piece of plexiglass or even plywood to cover any and all open parts on your tank.
Actually if you can use plywood and just drill small holes where you can hang your lights in, you'll see your humidity skyrocket and won't have to worry about constantly misting.
There's several good DIY ideas on the forum concerning closed chambers.
NY humidity really does suck though, so I know your struggles.
Thanks Sara, I'll look into those. I put a Honeywell warm humidifier that we keep in one of the rooms during the winter a foot or so away from the tank. I'll check it tomorrow and see if it brings it up. I wanted to leave the top open for air circulation but may need to close it. I'll look into other ideas on here for what to do too.
Sara G.
Active Member
Air circulation isn't usually a problem in tort tanks, even in closed chambers. Because there is air exchange when you open the top to feed your tort, to soak it, clean the enclosure, etc.
So I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Plus there's always cracks and crevices that aren't sealed so it's not like you have a 100% sealed enclosure.
So I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Plus there's always cracks and crevices that aren't sealed so it's not like you have a 100% sealed enclosure.
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