Hi there tortoise peeps!
I would just like to begin by saying thank you to the many members (you know who you are) who were so very helpful in the creation and fine tuning of my enclosure. Ripple seems to be adjusting well. I’ve had her for a couple of weeks now, and she is just beginning to explore her space and use other hides that I have set up for her instead of just going to her favorite hide and staying there all day.
Her daily routine is waking up by being placed into her water dish (opposite side of the enclosure from her favorite hide) and spraying her with mist. Sometimes I give her a warm soak instead of a misting if I have time. I have live plants (aloe, strawberry, and seedlings from a seed mixture purchased on tortoisesupply) in the enclosure that she enjoys checking out and eating, but other than that she likes to spend the majority of her time hiding out. I expected this behavior from my hatchling, and nothing has been too surprising yet. However, I do have a couple of concerns which may be related to one another...
First of all, I have a thermostat in the enclosure that was originally set at 86F. I would like for the side of the enclosure with the thermostat probe to stabilize around that temp, however when I check the temperature with my laser thermometer, it says that the actual temperature is closer to 94F. I tried changing the thermostat to 80F in the hopes of dropping the actual temperature by 6 degrees, but now my laser thermometer gives me readings that are too low, around 77F. Should I get a new thermostat, or is this something I should expect when using a thermostat with ceramic heat bulbs? Furthermore, over the past few days I’ve noticed that Ripples eyes are usually closed when I take her out of her enclosure. When I give her a warm soak or mist, her eyes open right up. I assume this is caused by dirt in the eyes and maybe from her being too hot...
Any thoughts, ideas, help, and/or input on this matter is MOST appreciated!!
Best,
-C
I would just like to begin by saying thank you to the many members (you know who you are) who were so very helpful in the creation and fine tuning of my enclosure. Ripple seems to be adjusting well. I’ve had her for a couple of weeks now, and she is just beginning to explore her space and use other hides that I have set up for her instead of just going to her favorite hide and staying there all day.
Her daily routine is waking up by being placed into her water dish (opposite side of the enclosure from her favorite hide) and spraying her with mist. Sometimes I give her a warm soak instead of a misting if I have time. I have live plants (aloe, strawberry, and seedlings from a seed mixture purchased on tortoisesupply) in the enclosure that she enjoys checking out and eating, but other than that she likes to spend the majority of her time hiding out. I expected this behavior from my hatchling, and nothing has been too surprising yet. However, I do have a couple of concerns which may be related to one another...
First of all, I have a thermostat in the enclosure that was originally set at 86F. I would like for the side of the enclosure with the thermostat probe to stabilize around that temp, however when I check the temperature with my laser thermometer, it says that the actual temperature is closer to 94F. I tried changing the thermostat to 80F in the hopes of dropping the actual temperature by 6 degrees, but now my laser thermometer gives me readings that are too low, around 77F. Should I get a new thermostat, or is this something I should expect when using a thermostat with ceramic heat bulbs? Furthermore, over the past few days I’ve noticed that Ripples eyes are usually closed when I take her out of her enclosure. When I give her a warm soak or mist, her eyes open right up. I assume this is caused by dirt in the eyes and maybe from her being too hot...
Any thoughts, ideas, help, and/or input on this matter is MOST appreciated!!
Best,
-C