Worried!!! (tortoise not eating much)

mhcl2241

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Sep 6, 2013
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Im not sure of her temps. Especially now that she is just moved into this bin. The heat lamp I have is a coil bulb with no light. It stays on 24/7. The uv is not coil. It is a tube inside of the black hood thing. That is on a 12hr timer. Everything was great in her last enclosure till she couldn't get under the hide anymore. Now we need to build a new one with higher walls. Also, I tried that thick plastic, but in her attempts to burrow (which she does a lot) she actually scraped through the plastic. My husband is thinking we can find a harder plastic sheet type of thing to line the floor. I was also thinking linoleum(?)
My biggest issue is the covered hide with heat. She will stay on the main floor and we don't sleep on the main floor. I have anxiety about something catching fire.
 

lyle

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Dec 18, 2014
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I could not tell you why she /he is not eating I will leave that to the others but the color on its bottom shell and feet could simply be color transfer from a plastic tub !
I had one that I soaked my tort in only to find the purple color had stained the bottom of the shell in the growth area and feet just like yours
 

mhcl2241

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Sep 6, 2013
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Well, I got up this morning and she was out under her basking lamp and she had already eaten the fresh greens i put in for her last night and also had pooped. I'll be keeping a close eye on her and her plastron. We are in the middle of a pretty bad snow storm so getting to the hardware store may be a bit difficult today, but I will do some research and get some plans together to start her new enclosure.
 

mhcl2241

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How much space do you have indoors right now for an enclosure? you can get a large stock tank at the feed store, one with a lot of floor space, I'm thinking one of the big Black round ones. they take up a lot of room but it could get you through the winter. And then next year you can work on building an outdoor enclosure with a heated hide box. I am from Colorado so I know what kind of whether you're talking about, which part of Colorado do you live in? she could actually spend more time outside then you may be thinking depending on where you live. but for now just work on the indoor enclosure. Get some orchid bark, organic soil or something like that for her enclosure. She needs to stay off cement. The Rubbermaid bin she is in will be okay for a few days until you can find something much bigger.. I'm glad you found your tortoise. Welcome to the forum.

I am up north in Thornton/Brighton. I have tons of space. Im basement is completely open and ideally I would like to create an indoor pen for her down there when it gets snowy like it is now. Im looking for a store that has orchid bark in stock. Not much luck so far. Is this a substrate that won't get muddy with moisture?
 

mhcl2241

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5 Year Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2013
Messages
46
Im not sure of her temps. Especially now that she is just moved into this bin. The heat lamp I have is a coil bulb with no light. It stays on 24/7. The uv is not coil. It is a tube inside of the black hood thing. That is on a 12hr timer. Everything was great in her last enclosure till she couldn't get under the hide anymore. Now we need to build a new one with higher walls. Also, I tried that thick plastic, but in her attempts to burrow (which she does a lot) she actually scraped through the plastic. My husband is thinking we can find a harder plastic sheet type of thing to line the floor. I was also thinking linoleum(?)
My biggest issue is the covered hide with heat. She will stay on the main floor and we don't sleep on the main floor. I have anxiety about something catching fire.
When I say coil bulb, it is a ceramic bulb. No light, just heat.
 

mhcl2241

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Sep 6, 2013
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ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1419899771.632722.jpg
Waiting for her new enclosure to be finished.... She is taking over the dog bed. I can't wait to have her in her new home. Took the trip to the hardware store through the snow storm. Waited two hours to have wood cut and got it home and realized they cut it too small. Now her enclosure will be 2.5x6ft
 

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