Walking around at night with head in shell??

[chickennoodlesoup]

I woke up to my 2 year old red foot tortoise exhibiting some very odd behavior in the middle of the night. He was launching himself against the wall of his enclosure and staying within his shell the whole time. He proceeded to walk around his enclosure with his head still in shell. I immediately soaked him in some warm water and he took his head out of his shell after a few minutes. Does this indicate any health issues?
Some more details: I usually keep his enclosure at around 78-80° F during the day 76-77°F at night. I also usually keep the hydrometer at 65+, however I saw that the hydrometer was at 55 at this time. Please let me know if I should improve temperature and humidity conditions!

 

[TammyJ]

I woke up to my 2 year old red foot tortoise exhibiting some very odd behavior in the middle of the night. He was launching himself against the wall of his enclosure and staying within his shell the whole time. He proceeded to walk around his enclosure with his head still in shell. I immediately soaked him in some warm water and he took his head out of his shell after a few minutes. Does this indicate any health issues?
Some more details: I usually keep his enclosure at around 78-80° F during the day 76-77°F at night. I also usually keep the hydrometer at 65+, however I saw that the hydrometer was at 55 at this time. Please let me know if I should improve temperature and humidity conditions!

Temps too cool, humidity too dry. Keep temps at 80 to 85, not below 80. Humidity at 80 percent. You did the right thing putting him in warm water. I have no idea what caused this behaviour though except an irritant or neurological damage. Post pictures of tortoise and enclosure and maybe we will get some ideas.

 

[TammyJ]

Waiting for your response. Pics would be great.

 

[TammyJ]

Waiting for your response. Pics would be great.

@ZEROPILOT

 

[chickennoodlesoup]

Temps too cool, humidity too dry. Keep temps at 80 to 85, not below 80. Humidity at 80 percent. You did the right thing putting him in warm water. I have no idea what caused this behaviour though except an irritant or neurological damage. Post pictures of tortoise and enclosure and maybe we will get some ideas.

Thank you for the advice! This is the current setup I have for him. I've realized that this setup may be the issue since it is more open and doesnt hold humidity very well. This current enclosure is kept inside but im considering getting a new enclosure that I can be okay with putting outside since it is summer and I am in Florida! For now though, are there any kind of lighting/hearing fixtures that you recommend? Based on these pictures, is there anything that I could be doing better for my tortoise? Once again, thank you for all the help!

 

[chickennoodlesoup]

Thank you for the advice! This is the current setup I have for him. I've realized that this setup may be the issue since it is more open and doesnt hold humidity very well. This current enclosure is kept inside but im considering getting a new enclosure that I can be okay with putting outside since it is summer and I am in Florida! For now though, are there any kind of lighting/hearing fixtures that you recommend? Based on these pictures, is there anything that I could be doing better for my tortoise? Once again, thank you for all the help!

 

[Tom]

Thank you for the advice! This is the current setup I have for him. I've realized that this setup may be the issue since it is more open and doesnt hold humidity very well. This current enclosure is kept inside but im considering getting a new enclosure that I can be okay with putting outside since it is summer and I am in Florida! For now though, are there any kind of lighting/hearing fixtures that you recommend? Based on these pictures, is there anything that I could be doing better for my tortoise? Once again, thank you for all the help!

You need a large closed chamber to get him to around 8 inches long, at which point he can go live outside full time with a heated insulated night box. 4x8 feet would be good. He go go outside for a few hours on warm humid day now in a safe secure outdoor enclosure. Soak him after each outing as he goes back into the indoor enclosure.

In the closed chamber use a couple of radiant heat panels controlled by a thermostat to keep the temp 82-86F 24/7. No basking lamp. Use LEDs for daytime ambient lighting for 12 hours on a timer, and use a T5 HO florescent tube for UV for a couple of hours mid day on its own timer.

That wet substrate is going to cause shell rot. Swap it out for 4 inches of fine grade orchid bark and try to keep the surface of the bark dry while the lower layers are damp.

Your water bowl isn't suitable for a tortoise. Sink a large terra cotta saucer into the substrate instead.

Questions are welcome.

 

[chickennoodlesoup]

Once again, thank you for all the help and information! I definitely plan on changing the substrate and lighting/heating fixtures to more suitable ones. I'm quite unfamiliar with closed chambers, if you could provide a brief description of a good closed chamber setup, I would greatly appreciate it! I'm considering putting together a fenced in enclosure for outside, possibly a tortoise table modified so that my tortoise can walk in and out (within a fenced in area) as he pleases. Would you recommend using this tortoise table for the daytime and then the large closed chamber indoors for the nighttime?

 

[Tom]

Once again, thank you for all the help and information! I definitely plan on changing the substrate and lighting/heating fixtures to more suitable ones. I'm quite unfamiliar with closed chambers, if you could provide a brief description of a good closed chamber setup, I would greatly appreciate it! I'm considering putting together a fenced in enclosure for outside, possibly a tortoise table modified so that my tortoise can walk in and out (within a fenced in area) as he pleases. Would you recommend using this tortoise table for the daytime and then the large closed chamber indoors for the nighttime?

I think a tortoise table is too small. Also, in a hot climate like yours, it better to have the outdoor enclosure on the ground. They dig in to shady spots to keep cooler on hot day.

 

[chickennoodlesoup]

I think a tortoise table is too small. Also, in a hot climate like yours, it better to have the outdoor enclosure on the ground. They dig in to shady spots to keep cooler on hot day.

Alright!!! I'll definitely look into something different for the outdoors, probably stick with the fenced in idea instead of the tortoise table! Can you possibly elaborate on what a good closed chamber enclosure would look like? Im just unfamiliar with the concept and would like to give my tortoise the best care possible! I'm hoping to build/buy one of those for indoors!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Where in Florida are you located?

 

[chickennoodlesoup]

Where in Florida are you located?

Very south Florida, essentially the everglades

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Very south Florida, essentially the everglades

I'm in Sunrise Florida 33322.
Why I asked is because REDFOOT do so well outdoors here. Most of the issues you're dealing with would just go away if you had a simple outdoors enclosure.
Take advantage of the tropical location.

 

[chickennoodlesoup]

I'm in Sunrise Florida 33322.
Why I asked is because REDFOOT do so well outdoors here. Most of the issues you're dealing with would just go away if you had a simple outdoors enclosure.
Take advantage of the tropical location.

Oh nice! Im about 2 hours away from there, just more south and closer to the other coast! That is some seriously good news!! I absolutely plan on taking advantage of the location. My main concern is predators though, do you have any tips or tricks to prevent predators from terrorizing my tortoise?
I honestly can not thank you enough for all the help on this!! I promise that I'm using all this information to make many many many adjustments to my setups!

 

[Tom]

Oh nice! Im about 2 hours away from there, just more south and closer to the other coast! That is some seriously good news!! I absolutely plan on taking advantage of the location. My main concern is predators though, do you have any tips or tricks to prevent predators from terrorizing my tortoise?
I honestly can not thank you enough for all the help on this!! I promise that I'm using all this information to make many many many adjustments to my setups!

For my smaller species, I simply build great big walk-in cages with pressure treated lumber and welded wire. Nothing but bugs get in or out.