Matilda's Keeper
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2016
- Messages
- 8
Hello All,
I would greatly appreciate any advice seasoned RF owners have here in the forum! We recently acquired a RF tortoise about 2 mos ago. We've already taken her, Matilda, to a reptile vet and had her checked out. She's in great condition, no parasites, etc. and it's said she is around 9 yrs old. She's been a classroom pet for several years at a high school and she has finally met her forever home with us and our twin 9 year old boys. She was temporarily in her "aquarium" with a heat lamp until her tortoise table was built. My husband finally completed the table and we put her in yesterday. We have to add an UVB bulb to the enclosure which is not pictured. My question is now that she has all of this room (2 1/2 ft by 5 feet), she stays in the shade area which is close to 72 degrees in this area. I'm concerned that she's staying in the shaded area all of the time, unless she's moving at night which I doubt. Her basking area is around 85, but she has barely used it in the last 1 1/2 days. I also read that we can put damp beach towels draped over the table to help with humidity and retain heat somewhat? She's also barely eating now that we've moved her to her new home. Do I need to give her an adjustment period and am I doing everything right? Previously when she was in her "aquarium" she spent the majority of her time under the basking light and had no where to hide. What gives?
We feed her fresh veggies in the morning (with calcium sprinkled on the veggies twice a week), fresh water, tortoise pellets at night. Heat lamp around 85 degrees on one end with a saucer large enough for her to soak in, UVB light in the middle, and shade area with cypress mulch and spangum moss on top of the c-mulch. We also have her by a window.
Any other ideas. Thank you in advance!
I would greatly appreciate any advice seasoned RF owners have here in the forum! We recently acquired a RF tortoise about 2 mos ago. We've already taken her, Matilda, to a reptile vet and had her checked out. She's in great condition, no parasites, etc. and it's said she is around 9 yrs old. She's been a classroom pet for several years at a high school and she has finally met her forever home with us and our twin 9 year old boys. She was temporarily in her "aquarium" with a heat lamp until her tortoise table was built. My husband finally completed the table and we put her in yesterday. We have to add an UVB bulb to the enclosure which is not pictured. My question is now that she has all of this room (2 1/2 ft by 5 feet), she stays in the shade area which is close to 72 degrees in this area. I'm concerned that she's staying in the shaded area all of the time, unless she's moving at night which I doubt. Her basking area is around 85, but she has barely used it in the last 1 1/2 days. I also read that we can put damp beach towels draped over the table to help with humidity and retain heat somewhat? She's also barely eating now that we've moved her to her new home. Do I need to give her an adjustment period and am I doing everything right? Previously when she was in her "aquarium" she spent the majority of her time under the basking light and had no where to hide. What gives?
We feed her fresh veggies in the morning (with calcium sprinkled on the veggies twice a week), fresh water, tortoise pellets at night. Heat lamp around 85 degrees on one end with a saucer large enough for her to soak in, UVB light in the middle, and shade area with cypress mulch and spangum moss on top of the c-mulch. We also have her by a window.
Any other ideas. Thank you in advance!