New graecea tortoise prefers sleeping under his lamp?

Alex77

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Joined
Apr 17, 2014
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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:)
 
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ascott

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Are you referring to a Greek or a Russian tortoise? and welcome. You really need to get some type of heat reading under the basking spot as well as in the coolest area....until you are able to obtain one you can simply use any thermometer that you have handy....lay it in the cool side and leave it for lets say 20 minutes or so and then move it half way to the basking spot and get that reading and then move it directly under the basking light...perhaps since you have a baby you could use a deck of playing cards or the like to set the thermometer on in each of these spots...this will give a little height to replicate the top of the tortoise height.....if you are not keeping crazy high humidity levels then a cool area is ok at the furthest end from the basking light....and that can fall down to 65-70 if the cool area is not kept too moist and the overall temp for the day should be in the range of 78-90 with a basking spot around 100....these are guidelines for either the Greek or the Russian....

You say the tort is new to you and the new place, so give the proper set up and temps and then allow the tort to settle in...also, babies tend to hide much more ---likely because they instinctually know they can be picked off readily by something looking for a snack....even indoors they do this, they do not yet realize that they are safe....so time is important in allowing the tort to settle....

If you are using a earth type substrate and it does not contain any foreign matter like the calcium stones and such then a few nibbles of it here and there are fine....do offer daily warm water soaks to the tort for about 20-30 minutes and this should offer opportunity to keep the baby hydrated...

You can also plan to cover part of the top of the enclosure to help in keeping a bit more stable heat and some humidity in place, the open top enclosures have a rough time doing this and can result in cold spots throughout...
 

Alex77

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Joined
Apr 17, 2014
Messages
50
Thanks a lot Angela :) I've covered half the enclosure now and the air at least feels warmer, on the inside. So hopefully this will make him more comfortable. I also put the spot closer to the ground (approx 10 inches away, and it's a 75 watt heat lamp + a second UVB light). So now I will just buy a thermometer and if the temp is all good, I'll wait and see if he comes out in a day or so. I have seen on other forums that it sometimes takes a day or two for the tortoise to feel comfortable coming out, but he was wandering around loads this morning and last night so I suppose I just expected him to continue on being bold. Maybe he's just zonked!?
 

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