Alex77
Member
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2014
- Messages
- 50
Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and I am also a new tortoise owner, since yesterday. I did lots of research before getting him/her, but already s/he is managing to confuse me. It's a mediterranean tortoise baby, and since this morning it has been tunneling into the coco bedding that is directly under the heatlamp and sleeping there. Tortoise has done this twice, even though I took it out once and gave it a bath and fed it, so I'm guessing that the enclosure is not warm enough. It is an open top tub. S/he's been eating regularly and pooping regularly, and seemed active enough until this afternoon when I noticed it was sleeping under the heat spot.
Could this be a sign it is ill? Or is it just normal baby tortoise basking behaviour? It strikes me as odd that the tortoise seems to want to be in the hottest part of its enclosure, but is choosing to bury itself under the bedding, as if it's too hot.
Yesterday night it slept without any heatlamp whatsoever, and it seemed to wake up normally this morning. The flat has constantly been around 25 degrees celsius since it arrived here, so the heat spot must be at least 8-10 degrees warmer, although I cannot tell for sure as I have not yet bought an enclosure thermometer yet.
Another question, which may be related: the tortoise ate a bit of soil yesterday, while I was setting up the enclosure. I had read that soil is not dangerous for tortoises, unlike sand - is this problem? I have used potting soil in the tank. Is this okay for it long-term, or should I be using some kind of special soil?
I really appreciate you taking the time to read this and any answers you may be able to give! Thanks
Could this be a sign it is ill? Or is it just normal baby tortoise basking behaviour? It strikes me as odd that the tortoise seems to want to be in the hottest part of its enclosure, but is choosing to bury itself under the bedding, as if it's too hot.
Yesterday night it slept without any heatlamp whatsoever, and it seemed to wake up normally this morning. The flat has constantly been around 25 degrees celsius since it arrived here, so the heat spot must be at least 8-10 degrees warmer, although I cannot tell for sure as I have not yet bought an enclosure thermometer yet.
Another question, which may be related: the tortoise ate a bit of soil yesterday, while I was setting up the enclosure. I had read that soil is not dangerous for tortoises, unlike sand - is this problem? I have used potting soil in the tank. Is this okay for it long-term, or should I be using some kind of special soil?
I really appreciate you taking the time to read this and any answers you may be able to give! Thanks
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