Very worried.....lesson learned....feel free to beat me up but please advise

[krinkol]

Hello group,

I am completely enamored with tortoises. After researching for weeks, decided to buy one for my 12 year old son for Christmas. He is so excited for Dr. Sheldon Cooper (Sheldon) to come.

Bought from Tortoisetown, shipping was setup as next day air. Unfortunately, UPS had a problem and our new hatchling Eastern Hermann missed the second leg of his flight. So he will not be delivered until tomorrow. I'm terribly worried about him(her) not surviving the trip. I should have avoided the holidays, should have not tried to deliver in the winter.

Any words of comfort from anyone? What are everyone's thoughts about survival. Also, if you have any great advice on how to handle him when he arrives that would be great. Was planning on a lukewarm bath to acclimate before we put him in his enclosure with greens and Mazuri tortoise food. I'm worried

Thanks for the help. Feel free to bash me for doing this at this time of year but if you can offer some support that would be great.

As FYI, indoor setup is 2x4 ft plastic tote (20 inch high). UV light with basking area is registering 95 - 100 degrees with a probe. Ceramic bulb for night time temp regulation. Substrate mix of 50/50 top soil and coir. Terra cotta 6 inch saucer for water and 2 inch for food. Hide with more coir than top soil inside. I'm a little worried about keeping the temp on the cool side regulated.

Worried new tortoise mom.....

 

[wellington]

So sorry for the delay. I would blame the people you got him from not you. Any good breeder/seller would not ship if temps are too cold or too hot, if that's even a worry at this point. However, he is a hibernating species so he can take more cold then a species that isn't.
When you do get him, stay with the plan you had. Nice long warm soak and then put him in his enclosure with food and water and leave him be until the next day. You can peek in on him, just try not to disturb him too much.
Chances are he will be fine, but will keep fingers crossed for the both of you anyway. Let us know when you get him and how he's doing.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Yep, all good points made by @wellington Maybe you csn upload some pix of your setup. That might help everyone QC your entire setup from A to Z. Carefully unpackage when your ' lil guy when he arrives and slowly bring up the temps. I'm not sure what the overall temp your tort has been in for the last 48 hours....but you don't want to go from 40's to 80 degree water.

Hoping for the best!

 

[krinkol]

Thanks to both of you. Here are a few pics of my setup. Thanks for the help.

 

[Tom]

This not your fault, and even if it was, bashing you would do no good for anyone. People ship tortoises all year long and it usually goes fine. I'll be shipping a couple to NY later this month.

All you can do is hope for the best.

Here is how I set them up. Care for russians and hermanni is the same:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[krinkol]

This not your fault, and even if it was, bashing you would do no good for anyone. People ship tortoises all year long and it usually goes fine. I'll be shipping a couple to NY later this month.

All you can do is hope for the best.

Here is how I set them up. Care for russians and hermanni is the same:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Thanks Tom! I've tried to follow your suggestions. I think my biggest worry is even with a UV heat bulb and a ceramic bulb I'm only getting the ambient temp away from the basking area to 75 degrees. My humid hide is at 73. We leave our house at 70 at night and 72 during the day so I'm getting a little warmer than the house but not much.

 

[krinkol]

Great news! Sheldon arrived alive! He got a nice warm bath. We put him in the enclosure next to the food. He walked over to the basking spot instead for a few hours. We moved him to the food and he ate. Then he walked to the darker side of the enclosure and has been resting since. I'm hopeful that he's ok. Soooo cute (see pic while taking his bath). Thanks everyone!

 

[leigti]

I’m glad he made it. To keep the enclosure warmer put a clear shower curtain over the top. Get at least the medium or heavy weight. That will keep in the heat and humidity.

 

[KevinGG]

This and various health problems seem to be common with Tortoise Town. I’d avoid them in the future. Glad your tortoise is okay.

 

[krinkol]

He seems to be doing really well. He doesn't go into his hide but he goes behind it to a dark spot for the night. When we see him go there we turn off the light for the day. He's waking up hungry and can find his food dish and wanders around. He hasn't gone in the water yet. We are bathing him each day though so maybe he gets enough then.

I will say, I had no idea it was not legal to sell them less than 4 inches. I had a little moment of panic thinking about salmonella and our kids. We are being fastidious about hand washing and the 1 year old cannot get near his enclosure. Wondering what is the right age to move to an outdoor enclosure when it warms up.

 

[GBtortoises]

Shipping or receiving tortoises, turtles or other reptiles to any area of the U.S. when the temperatures are below 38 degrees at the starting point or the delivery point the day of could not only be potentially dangerous and life threatening for the animal but is also against most carriers rules.
Heat packs are used by some. While some carriers provide guidelines for the use of heat packs they also warn against the danger of using them. Heat packs can offer a false sense of security in cold shipping conditions, especially if the wrong type of heat pack is used. They should never be used when temperatures at either end of shipping is above 45 degrees. They can actually produce too much heat in mild temperatures and cause the animal within the box to become overheated and die. I have personally experienced this from someone who thought they were doing right by adding a heat pack in a box of a tortoise they were sending me. The temperatures at both ends were in the high 40's, low 50's at the time and the box reached over 120 degrees inside of it, killing the tortoise within.
The bottom line is that reptiles should not be shipped within the northern half of the U.S. or anywhere else during the winter when temperatures are going to be below 38 degrees. late December, January and February are typically the coldest months in the upper Midwest and Northeastern U.S. often dropping to and remaining below 20 degrees. Just to give an example, here in New York State the forecast for the month of January is temperatures in the low 20's, single digits and below zero day and night for the entire month.
I stop shipping around early November and don't start again until around mid to late April depending upon temperatures. I don't believe in putting an animals live in danger to just sell one.

 

[krinkol]

Shipping or receiving tortoises, turtles or other reptiles to any area of the U.S. when the temperatures are below 38 degrees at the starting point or the delivery point the day of could not only be potentially dangerous and life threatening for the animal but is also against most carriers rules.
Heat packs are used by some. While some carriers provide guidelines for the use of heat packs they also warn against the danger of using them. Heat packs can offer a false sense of security in cold shipping conditions, especially if the wrong type of heat pack is used. They should never be used when temperatures at either end of shipping is above 45 degrees. They can actually produce too much heat in mild temperatures and cause the animal within the box to become overheated and die. I have personally experienced this from someone who thought they were doing right by adding a heat pack in a box of a tortoise they were sending me. The temperatures at both ends were in the high 40's, low 50's at the time and the box reached over 120 degrees inside of it, killing the tortoise within.
The bottom line is that reptiles should not be shipped within the northern half of the U.S. or anywhere else during the winter when temperatures are going to be below 38 degrees. late December, January and February are typically the coldest months in the upper Midwest and Northeastern U.S. often dropping to and remaining below 20 degrees. Just to give an example, here in New York State the forecast for the month of January is temperatures in the low 20's, single digits and below zero day and night for the entire month.
I stop shipping around early November and don't start again until around mid to late April depending upon temperatures. I don't believe in putting an animals live in danger to just sell one.

Thanks GB. Now that we have him I can see why this is important. He's already settled into a nice routine of eating, basking, hydrating and sleeping in a cooler spot. I can appreciate how shipping would be potentially very bad in the cold.