Say Hi to Mac!

[Beach Bum]

Mac is loving life at the beach! I figured he'd be tired out from his trip home but he's full of energy exploring his new home. He's a handsome fella but I guess we're a little partial. He arrived 4 hours ago and has had a bowel movement that looked really good. Hasn't eaten or taken a drink yet but has taken some nibbles on his cuddle bone. The temps are pretty dialed in but not happy with keeping the humidity up to par. He's in a large Rubbermaid for now until I get a nice table built in a few days. I'm using coco fiber and cypress mulch for substrate and it's nice and damp to the bottom so I figured the humidity would maintain at a higher level. It was at 80% this morning after I removed the lid but has dropped to 50% for the majority of the day. Any tips? I have a 200 watt heat lamp on the basking side holding a steady 90 degrees on his basking rock, a ZooMed 100 watt UV combo Mercury vapor beside it keeping the warm zone at 80 degrees and his cool side where his hide is at 75 degrees. When he does stop to hang out he's preferring the cool side. He explored the hide briefly but has been doing some laps and trying to climb the sides. For food he's got some Crane Bill leaves and a few pellets of ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food for now but we'll be trying out some weeds and flowers too. Got to see a few yawns from him this morning.

 

[lismar79]

Awww, he's perfect!

 

[wellington]

Hi Mac, glad your enjoying life.

 

[Beach Bum]

These little fellas sure have a lot of energy. He was non stop exploring for a good 4 hrs. He hasn't eaten or drank anything yet other than nibbling on his cuddle bone. We soaked him for 15 min, he explored for a few hours and finally tuckered out. Went into his hide and burrowed out of sight. Guess all of the commotion of his first day at home caught up to him. I see how easily these little guys can wrap you around their finger. They definitely have personalities. Technically my 12 yr old daughter paid for him and its "her" pet cause I kept hearing "dad I thought I was supposed to be doing all of this" every time I did anything. Guess dad took over the whole thing.

 

[tortdad]

That's typical tort behavior in a new place. Hs not exploring like you think. His instincts tell him to escape back to what he knows a home so the those 4 hours he was trying to find his way back home and eventually gave up. Also typical behavior is he will eat nice his first meal them stay hidden for a few days and not eat. He'll eat once to make sure he's got food in him then hide to make sure his new place is safe. It takes a few weeks for them to come around, torts hate change. So get everything set up and dialed in now so you can just leave him be for a bit. Also please read the care sheets for them. I would think minimum low temp, day or night, for a hatchling would be 80 degrees and your basking spot would need o be mid 90's but I don't raise that species.... Just do your tort a favor and double check.

 

[Beach Bum]

Will do thanks for the info