He finally arrived! Shipped from California at 4pm yesterday and arrived in Michigan at 8pm today. Quite the trip for the little guy! And I mean VERY little, man! He is ridiculously tiny! I was terrified for him traveling all day in the snow. His heat pad was still warm when he got here, but he seemed a little lethargic.
I soaked him in warm water for 15 minutes when he got here, and then he started trying to climb out so I dried him off and put him in the enclosure. He hid on the warm side for an hour, then basked in the 98 degree basking area for nearly 45 minutes, took a few snaps at an air plant but didn't eat a noticeable amount of it. He climbed into the water dish and sat there for at least an hour.
Is is possible for him to soak too long? I know he can get out, he even had his two front legs out for a while but turned back into it and soaked for a while longer. At what point should I make him come out?
Also, he hasn't eaten any food yet. He's been here for six hours now and hasn't shown interest in the calcium powdered plant pieces yet. How tiny should I shred the pieces for him?
Also, my mom is extremely concerned about him being so tiny without a heat light at night. It is 67 degrees in the house, so that's about what temperature it will be overnight. Is that an okay temperature for a hermann tortoise the size of a quarter? (He weighs 11 grams or 0.4 oz according to our food scale.) The humidity is 30% on the hot side and 45% on the cooler side (where it's about 80 degrees).
He does have a 10.0 UVB HO tube light now too (I also have a 5.0 UVB HO I can switch to if need be).
I'm hoping to get him on a normal circadian rhythm in the next couple days. I could just be over worrying about him, but I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to make him as comfortable as possible.
Thanks for your help everyone!
I soaked him in warm water for 15 minutes when he got here, and then he started trying to climb out so I dried him off and put him in the enclosure. He hid on the warm side for an hour, then basked in the 98 degree basking area for nearly 45 minutes, took a few snaps at an air plant but didn't eat a noticeable amount of it. He climbed into the water dish and sat there for at least an hour.
Is is possible for him to soak too long? I know he can get out, he even had his two front legs out for a while but turned back into it and soaked for a while longer. At what point should I make him come out?
Also, he hasn't eaten any food yet. He's been here for six hours now and hasn't shown interest in the calcium powdered plant pieces yet. How tiny should I shred the pieces for him?
Also, my mom is extremely concerned about him being so tiny without a heat light at night. It is 67 degrees in the house, so that's about what temperature it will be overnight. Is that an okay temperature for a hermann tortoise the size of a quarter? (He weighs 11 grams or 0.4 oz according to our food scale.) The humidity is 30% on the hot side and 45% on the cooler side (where it's about 80 degrees).
He does have a 10.0 UVB HO tube light now too (I also have a 5.0 UVB HO I can switch to if need be).
I'm hoping to get him on a normal circadian rhythm in the next couple days. I could just be over worrying about him, but I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to make him as comfortable as possible.
Thanks for your help everyone!
I just got a tiny Greek tortoise too- I'm pretty sure being worried is perfectly normal! As to too much soaking... I have no idea since I'm pretty new to this, but in regards to eating, I wouldn't be too concerned. Traveling is pretty stressful and I would assume he will take some time to acclimate to his new environment. It has taken my Greek a few weeks to have a truly hearty appetite. I would see what more experienced keepers have to say. They can be super helpful 
