My husband says I worry to much and he's right but I want more opinions lol. I have had my year old cherry head for a week today. He/she has been eating well on dandelion greens, lettuces, kale, mustard greens, zucchini, bell peppers, squash, papaya and mango (these are things that have been fed over the week). I have soaked him every 2 days for about 20 mins. He pooped twice the day I brought him home but nothing since. The breeder that I got him from said he was active but since bringing him home all he does is hide in his log. Temps are good and humidity is 65-80%. The fact that he is not pooping even when being soaked and hiding out a lot has me worried. Is this normal and I am worrying to much or should I be concerned? Thanks for your input.
Worried new cherry mama
- Thread starter joder14
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What are your temps? Including night temps....
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Try a warm soak for helping with defecation. Also how much are you feeding this guy ? Sounds like in one week he has had a buffet. Try sticking with simple mixed greens. The flowers are good too…watch how much fruit is giving ( especially to a young tort) as not only are they loaded in sugars but your tort will get spoiled and start refusing other healthy foods.
As far as the activity …..a lot of new tortoise owners think their new shelled buddy is going to run around and do tricks or “ play†. This is far from the truth …..sure each species’ and specific animals within that breed may be more “ playful like†or asking for more attention . But it’s really just a trained attribute to asking/receiving food. ( which is when most of us interact with our torts). Now redfoots and cherries I know a little about <grin>…..
For the most part they will stay low key after their morning rounds , sleep most of the day ….and then again late afternoon cruise out or any time food is being presented ( Redfoots have an incredible sense of smell). Now I will confess there are major differences when a tortoise is being kept in an indoor environment in a " tank" type
set-up and I will let someone else add in on that note…
JD~
PS: just remember to keep your temps stable and warm , but also keep you buddy well hydrated and mist a couple times daily or more if needed.....
As far as the activity …..a lot of new tortoise owners think their new shelled buddy is going to run around and do tricks or “ play†. This is far from the truth …..sure each species’ and specific animals within that breed may be more “ playful like†or asking for more attention . But it’s really just a trained attribute to asking/receiving food. ( which is when most of us interact with our torts). Now redfoots and cherries I know a little about <grin>…..
For the most part they will stay low key after their morning rounds , sleep most of the day ….and then again late afternoon cruise out or any time food is being presented ( Redfoots have an incredible sense of smell). Now I will confess there are major differences when a tortoise is being kept in an indoor environment in a " tank" type
set-up and I will let someone else add in on that note…
JD~
PS: just remember to keep your temps stable and warm , but also keep you buddy well hydrated and mist a couple times daily or more if needed.....
joder14 said:
A temperature directly beneath the basking location would be fine at 94ºF however, if the overall air temperatures on the warm end is 94ºF, I'd recommend dropping it down to 85ºF. I'm an advocate for providing options for the torts and provide a cool side 80-82ºF and a warm side from 85-87ºF for mine. Many others maintain a constant temp in the mid-80's throughout their enclosures with no issues. Whichever suits your needs is fine. If air temps on that warm side are 94ºF, it may explain the tort remaining on the cool side constantly.
An alternate explanation could be that you have hides only on the cool side.
I maintain my heat gradient with Ceramic Heat Emitters (CHE's) on thermostats.
Yup....I ditto this
and agree that if the entire enclosure is that warm then that is likely the problem...you don't want the temps to drop below 80 if you run and entirely humid enclosure...
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Few questions/maybe some considerations. You said your husband is a snake guy, does he have a "snake room" and if so do you have your tort set up in there? I wonder if the little guy can smell the predators, and is hiding out, if you do? Also redfoots are poo eaters and will eat their own if they happen upon it. Between the wet fruit and the dandelions/greens I don't see how your tort isn't having "movements". I have always found (much to my dismay) that my torts will either take a dump on a freshly changed enclosure substrate, or in a new environment (walking around in my living room on TV night.) I had an iguana 20 years ago and he defecated in his water like clockwork, either I've got defective tortoises. or the claim that that's how they "roll" too is a way overblown myth.
Thanks Michael my little ones enclosure is set up in my husbands snake room. I never thought of that bring an issue but maybe moving him to our spare room would be better. The reason I set him up in there was because it is nice and warm in there.
I have 2 cherry head tortoises and my temps run much cooler than that. I turn off their light at night and although I have a couple of heaters on, their tank gets as low as 65 degrees. I turn it back on during the day and keep the tank at around 80 degrees. The basking spot is closer to 90. Both my guys are very active and have lived this way for the last 6 months all through the winter. My humidity is 80-90 at night and around 65 during the day. If your tortoise is spending all of his time on the cooler side but still isn't active, I am thinking that your temperatures might be too high, especially when I compare them to mine.
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1208jen said:
Not to side track, but humidity that high with temps that low is asking for trouble.
Stable warmer temps would be better.
No that's fine to express your opinion. I Just checked my humidity and it is more like 70 - 80 at night. I could add another heater to get the temps up at night if I need to, but my tortoises are doing fine. They look really healthy and are very active, eating well etc. Could you tell me what kind of trouble you are referring to? I'm certainly open to hear what you have to say and I'm not trying to give bad advice to anyone - just my experience that's all.
The trouble jd3 is referring to is that high humidity (70-80%) with cool temperatures (less than 70F) can be a recipe for respiratory infections.
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joder14 said:
I would set up in a snake room too.. but I thought predator/prey scents would set everyone off kilter a bit. Please let me know if you do it (relocation) and if it works, that would be one to save for future reference.. hope he's acclimated and his personality gets to come out...
Mike
Okay. Interesting. I will add another heater to the aquarium to get the temps higher at night. I want to keep my humidity high to prevent pyrimiding and I can tell they like it too.
1. Cherry-heads (aka Easterns or Brazilians) are a bit hardier than most red-footed tortoises, and seem more tolerant of temperature fluctuations than other red-footeds- but you might try backing the temps off and see if that helps. They are also generally tolerant of night temp drops, but it may take some experimentation to find the right degree of drop- and remember that in the wild, the ground does not get cold because of this and it almost always does in our tanks.
2. The idea that cool temps and high humidity is inherently dangerous, causing RI is kind of like the idea that wet hair in cold weather causes colds. RI is caused by viral and bacterial infections, and low temps/high humidity is a combination every forest-dwelling tortoise deals with in the wild- relative humidity automatically climbs as temps drop- that is the definition of 'relative'. On the other hand, if the tortoise is stressed by thick air, cold substrates, low temps, etc. that will allow native bacteria and viruses to bloom.
2. The idea that cool temps and high humidity is inherently dangerous, causing RI is kind of like the idea that wet hair in cold weather causes colds. RI is caused by viral and bacterial infections, and low temps/high humidity is a combination every forest-dwelling tortoise deals with in the wild- relative humidity automatically climbs as temps drop- that is the definition of 'relative'. On the other hand, if the tortoise is stressed by thick air, cold substrates, low temps, etc. that will allow native bacteria and viruses to bloom.
Thanks. This is an interesting perspective too. I should get some Updated pictures of my guys up and on the computer for all to see, they have growm so much over the winter. I hope that the new cherry is doing better and that you have lowered your temps. Please give us an update!
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