Strange behavior from greek tort

[Pungent]

Hello everyone, This is my Greek trot named "Cave" i got him 4 days ago
This is his current enclosure:

I'm building a bigger enclosure at the moment, but I'm waiting for equipment to arrive.
The lamp i'm using is keeping the temperature under it as 30 degrees which i know Isn't enough so i'm waiting for the Thermal lamp to arrive next week

This is what i do everyday in the morning:

• Soak him is water that is 33-36 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes
• Put Mint, chickweed, and lettuce for him in his plate but he never eats
• Let him outside in our garden which is filled with couch grass and chickweed, and exposed to the sun but he doesn't move at all
• Spray the substrate with water to ensure it's damp

He very rarely moves and never eats, I have been told that he wont eat because it isn't warm enough for him to digest the food
But suddenly tonight he started to be very active and he would open him mouth and close it randomly. I tried putting food near him but he still won't eat anything
He started moving around the edges of the tank, i thought he didn't like having transparent walls so I covered them with paper

(I moved him here for this picture)

Even after i put paper around the tank, he would still move at the edges for some time then stop moving

After he stopped moving so much, I put him inside the rock hill toy, I thought he might want to sleep and didn't want the light
and he started sleeping and crawled into a corner of the toy. That brings us to now.


Is there something wrong with him?
How can I ensure he gets the warmth he needs for now until the thermal light arrives?

Bonus pic:

 

[LasTortugasNinja]

New torts can take a week or two to start eating when in a new home.

Red light is possibly confusing him. Reptile eyes see color differently than mammal eyes. What is a soothing warm light to you can be a glaring red fireball to him.

The toy is a health hazard. He can easily fall and hurt himself or flip himself over.

What are the wood chips? Some shavings are a respiratory hazard as well.

Mint is a strong flavor and odor. Not many torts will eat it. Try a little radicchio. My tort eats it like crazy.

 

[Pungent]

New torts can take a week or two to start eating when in a new home.

Red light is possibly confusing him. Reptile eyes see color differently than mammal eyes. What is a soothing warm light to you can be a glaring red fireball to him.

The toy is a health hazard. He can easily fall and hurt himself or flip himself over.

What are the wood chips? Some shavings are a respiratory hazard as well.

I'm using birch wood shavings, can i use soil from our garden as a substrate?
what should i replace the toy with.. for shade and exercise?

 

[LasTortugasNinja]

I'm using birch wood shavings, can i use soil from our garden as a substrate?
what should i replace the toy with.. for shade and exercise?

For such a young tort, get a plastic dish drainer, cut out part of one wall, and put some coconut coir in it, and keep it constantly moist. Little torts need a very humid environment. Exercise will happen regardless, but if you are worried, get a few food plates and make him walk between them. Tortoises have "favorite foods" and they will seek them out.

I have a camera on mine at all times. He walks constantly when no one is looking, but as soon as someone walks near him, he freezes. So torts are good about getting their daily steps in.

Garden soil is ok if it's pure topsoil with no fertilizers, chemicals, weedkillers, etc in it. My recommendation is mixing coconut coir with fir chips or orchard bark. Especially for young reptiles who need humidity in the 70% to 100%.

 

[Pungent]

For such a young tort, get a plastic dish drainer, cut out part of one wall, and put some coconut coir in it, and keep it constantly moist. Little torts need a very humid environment. Exercise will happen regardless, but if you are worried, get a few food plates and make him walk between them. Tortoises have "favorite foods" and they will seek them out.

I have a camera on mine at all times. He walks constantly when no one is looking, but as soon as someone walks near him, he freezes. So torts are good about getting their daily steps in.

Garden soil is ok if it's pure topsoil with no fertilizers, chemicals, weedkillers, etc in it. My recommendation is mixing coconut coir with fir chips or orchard bark. Especially for young reptiles who need humidity in the 70% to 100%.

I can't use sand?

 

[LasTortugasNinja]

I can't use sand?

You can mix a little sand in for stability, but not as a main substrate. Sand is horrible for retaining humidity, Torts tend to eat it and it causes intestinal damage, and it gets dust everywhere. If you mix it in the substrate, it should make up less than 20% of the total substrate.