New Baby in the house.

[kateiow]

I've just bought a baby spur-thighed tortoise, born in August, very cute. I have made a wooden box with lots of substrate, sand, bark chippings, grass, some bits of wood, a little hut etc but mostly he/she, "Cautious" we've called him, sleeps in a warm corner. Cautious becomes much more active if we put him on the wooden table, my question is really - is he not very happy in his box, or is he trying to hibernate perhaps? Should I let him sleep for most of the time or should I be waking him..

Many thanks for any advice.

Kate

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum, Kate! We have a good care sheet for you to read pinned at the top of our Greek section.

 

[Gillian M]

I've just bought a baby spur-thighed tortoise, born in August, very cute. I have made a wooden box with lots of substrate, sand, bark chippings, grass, some bits of wood, a little hut etc but mostly he/she, "Cautious" we've called him, sleeps in a warm corner. Cautious becomes much more active if we put him on the wooden table, my question is really - is he not very happy in his box, or is he trying to hibernate perhaps? Should I let him sleep for most of the time or should I be waking him..

Many thanks for any advice.

Kate

Hello and a very warm welcome to the forum! Love your tort's name.

Please post pics of Cautious and his enclosure. These will enable the members here to give you advice and to help you more.

Don't worry about his sleep: torts take time and a lot of time to get used to a new place, environment, owner, climate, and the rest.Therefore, patience is required here.

 

[Lyn W]

I've just bought a baby spur-thighed tortoise, born in August, very cute. I have made a wooden box with lots of substrate, sand, bark chippings, grass, some bits of wood, a little hut etc but mostly he/she, "Cautious" we've called him, sleeps in a warm corner. Cautious becomes much more active if we put him on the wooden table, my question is really - is he not very happy in his box, or is he trying to hibernate perhaps? Should I let him sleep for most of the time or should I be waking him..

Many thanks for any advice.

Kate

Hi Kate welcome to you and your new baby. Does he have a name yet?
You'll find lots of good info on the caresheet.
You may also find the Beginners Mistakes thread useful and the Enclosures thread is great for ideas.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is excellent for checking which plants are safe or not for your tort.
What are you using for heat and uvb?
Also be careful with the sand in his substrate - if it gets on his food it can cause the gut to become impacted.
Looking forward to seeing some pics and hearing all about him

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, Kate and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you and your lovely new baby.
My girl is a Greek and I live not far from where they occur in the wild.
Do not let him brumate (hibernate) this year, he's too young and after a stressful move it is not recommended.Keeping him warm and encouraging him to eat will keep him happy through the winter.
it is fine that he sleeps a lot, he is young and they do. he will also become more active as he realizes he's in a safe place, this is his territory and there are no dangers and that you are not going to eat him but are the food god.
Here ae some useful threads to read.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/greek-tortoise-testudo-graeca-care-sheet-overview.87146/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-end-of-pyramiding.15137/
good luck and enjoy many years of happiness with your new friend as I am doing with my little girl.

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome Kate and Cautious !

 

[kateiow]

Hello and a very warm welcome to the forum! Love your tort's name.

Please post pics of Cautious and his enclosure. These will enable the members here to give you advice and to help you more.

Don't worry about his sleep: torts take time and a lot of time to get used to a new place, environment, owner, climate, and the rest.Therefore, patience is required here.

Thank you, I will be spending a lot of time here I think!

 

[kateiow]

Hello, Kate and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum to you and your lovely new baby.
My girl is a Greek and I live not far from where they occur in the wild.
Do not let him brumate (hibernate) this year, he's too young and after a stressful move it is not recommended.Keeping him warm and encouraging him to eat will keep him happy through the winter.
it is fine that he sleeps a lot, he is young and they do. he will also become more active as he realizes he's in a safe place, this is his territory and there are no dangers and that you are not going to eat him but are the food god.
Here ae some useful threads to read.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/greek-tortoise-testudo-graeca-care-sheet-overview.87146/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-end-of-pyramiding.15137/
good luck and enjoy many years of happiness with your new friend as I am doing with my little girl.

Wise words! thanks for the links x

 

[kateiow]

Welcome to the Forum, Kate! We have a good care sheet for you to read pinned at the top of our Greek section.

thank you!

 

[Lyn W]

Hi Kate welcome to you and your new baby. Does he have a name yet?
You'll find lots of good info on the caresheet.
You may also find the Beginners Mistakes thread useful and the Enclosures thread is great for ideas.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is excellent for checking which plants are safe or not for your tort.
What are you using for heat and uvb?
Also be careful with the sand in his substrate - if it gets on his food it can cause the gut to become impacted.
Looking forward to seeing some pics and hearing all about him

Just found his name - good choice!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Kate

 

[kateiow]

Hi Kate welcome to you and your new baby. Does he have a name yet?
You'll find lots of good info on the caresheet.
You may also find the Beginners Mistakes thread useful and the Enclosures thread is great for ideas.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is excellent for checking which plants are safe or not for your tort.
What are you using for heat and uvb?
Also be careful with the sand in his substrate - if it gets on his food it can cause the gut to become impacted.
Looking forward to seeing some pics and hearing all about him

Thank you for your post - I'm using a uvb tube and a basking lamp, but he rarely spends any time under either, he also has a little heat mat which I've put under a piece of Perspex. Your comment about the sand worries me a little - I bought it from pets at home, its called tortoise terrain, its a mix of topsoil, sand and limestone grit - should I get rid until he's bigger? or just feed him in a different area?

 

[Lyn W]

Thank you for your post - I'm using a uvb tube and a basking lamp, but he rarely spends any time under either, he also has a little heat mat which I've put under a piece of Perspex. Your comment about the sand worries me a little - I bought it from pets at home, its called tortoise terrain, its a mix of topsoil, sand and limestone grit - should I get rid until he's bigger? or just feed him in a different area?

I'm not familiar with that sort of substrate, and personally wouldn't use sand. I use coco coir or sterilised topsoil with orchid bark - both great for keeping humidity levels up.
Does it have little white bits in it?
If so I would change it as they will try to eat those which again will cause problems

 

[kateiow]

Ok thanks Lyn

 

[Lyn W]

Ok thanks Lyn

I have a leopard tort so check the caresheet for your Greek to see what substrate is recommended on there.

Also if you haven't already seen this, it may be worth mentioning to you that for night heat a lot of people use a ceramic heat emitter (CHE) on a thermostat. This gives just heat and no light as torts need darkness to sleep and the thermostat will switch it on and off to keep temps even.

 

[kateiow]

Ah so do you think he could overheat on the mat - and not move off it if he's too hot? Our house is floorboards and not overly warm, the pad is about 4" x 5" and has a bigger piece of Perspex to spread the heat - is that not good enough?

 

[Lyn W]

Ah so do you think he could overheat on the mat - and not move off it if he's too hot? Our house is floorboards and not overly warm, the pad is about 4" x 5" and has a bigger piece of Perspex to spread the heat - is that not good enough?

I've never used one because I know some do not recommend heat mats for that reason and the risk of burns.
and I'm not sure how much overall good they do by heating underneath, but try doing a search to see what responses there have been.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I agree with Lyn.
A Ceramic Heat Emitter connected to a thermostat is a better option, in my opinion.