New Owner Questions!

[hkrewusik]

Hello! So Saturday I finally received my new baby Doug! He's (he'll be a he until I can determine otherwise and even if he's a girl she'll be a girl Doug. But in the mean time Doug will be a boy) a happy 3 month old Hermann. Here's a "few" pictures...







So far so good but I do have some questions!

I am aware that he's a baby and he's in a new home with new people and I'm sure that's a little unsettling but how active are baby usually? He will be active for an hour or so and then find a place and sleep for large portions of the day (all one and a half days that I have had him). I am also currently employed and have to be up around 7 or 8 in the morning. I have his lamp set to turn on at 8 but when I wake up I'll have to wake him up and drag his little butt out of bed for a soak. Is that alright or should I not be waking him up and just let him sleep? I'll be soaking him in the morning and in the evening so to get more than one soak in I'd need to do the first one before I leave most days.

Also, in the last day and a half he's nibbled on a little bit of his food but not much, but then again one piece of food is about the size of his whole body. So how much should I be expecting him to eat? If a few baby nibbles is irregular and he's needs to be eating more could that be attributed to being in a new home and he's just getting used to everything? He also hasn't discovered his waterbowl that is in his enclosure all day but like I said, he's gotten soaked twice daily. Will he go searching for water if he needs it?

And, on Saturday when I got him, he pooped a few hours into being bout into his enclosure but since then I haven't seen him have any other "bowl movements" in his bath or else where, and I've been keep a close eye on him because come on, he's pretty darn cute.

So I'm assuming that these would all be either normal baby behavior or normal behavior in a new home but I just wanted to make sure in case it wasn't. Other than these things he's very curious and has been exploring and also seems very friendly!

One last thing! Doug is my first tort so this is all very new, but I have noticed that when he's in my hand or sitting still he'll sort of....rock himself forward every few seconds? If that makes sense? It sort of looks like he's taking a big swallow and it rocks his body forward in the process. Is that normal...?

I just want a happy and healthy Doug so any and all input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks! [TURTLE][HEAVY BLACK HEART]️

 

[Moozillion]

Wow! What a beautiful enclosure you've made! My first thought is what are the temperatures in the enclosure? We all keep track of several temperatures in our enclosures: the warm end, the cool end and the humid hide, at least. And it's my understanding that those water dishes with the steep sides (which the pet stores unfortunately sell specifically for reptiles) are a drowning hazard for babies. They can flip over and drown, and they can be difficult to get out of. Many people use those flatter terracotta plant saucers: both cheaper and safer!

Again, beautiful enclosure! Congrats on your new baby!

 

[hkrewusik]

My warm end under the lamp is around 95, cool end is 60ish and the humid hide is between 75 and 85. Yeah I've been hearing that too, I'll replace it.

---

And for the humid hide temp, I don't mean 75-85 degrees, I mean humidity. Obviously haha.

 

[Moozillion]

I think your cool end needs to be a little warmer, since yours is still a baby. I'm thinking 70 would be better. And the temperature in the humid hide actually IS important. One of the most important things I learned on this forum is: warm + damp= healthy tortoise but COOL + damp= sick tortoise.

My tortoise LOOOVES to burrow down under the roots of the plants in her enclosure. I've got Boston fern and spider plants in there. It's my understanding that in the wild, tortoises bury themselves under the roots of plants for shelter and sleep and humidity. If you can get some slightly bigger plants Doug might feel safer and have more options for shelter and humidity.

My Elsa stayed buried completely for the whole first week I had her, much of the second week and frequently thereafter for several months. As they learn their new environment they settle down and stay out more. And once Elsa realized I was the bringer of tasty things, and NOT trying to eat her, she started eating from my hand. Have fun with your new baby and welcome to the tortoise community!

 

[hkrewusik]

I was thinking that. Currently the enclosure in about a foot away from a fire place so I was worried that that would cause it to be a little on the cooler side. Since his home is so big and so heavy moving it would have to be plan B, do you think that if I put a space heater of some sort between the fireplace and the enclosure that that would help keep it from getting so cool?

I actually have a spider plant in there now and he LOVES it. He’s been burrowing right beside it under the leaves and I have even walked in on him on top of the plant (I'll have to keep an eye on that, clearly he's adventurous).

Okay so I shouldn’t be too worried that he sleeps and isn’t active a whole lot right now? Like I said, I would assume that baby’s would need to sleep for big portions of the day.

Oh and thank you for the compliment on the enclosure

 

[MyTortoise]

Sorry I'm not answering your question but that enclosure is amazing!

 

[hkrewusik]

Haha thank you

 

[Raymo2477]

My babies are active about an hour after their light goes on they come out and for rage and drink then they go sleep in their hide until mid afternoon and then they bask, eat and drink for a hour or so and then hide again.
Babies are vulnerable to predators and therefore they stay hidden a lot of the time.

 

[jdelagarza001]

Fantastic enclosure! What are the dimensions, if you don't mind me asking.

 

[StarSapphire22]

That enclosure is sooooo pretty!

A few suggestions: switch water dishes to a terra cotta one, as previously suggested, and bury it so it is level with the substrate.

Definitely up those cool side temps to about 70 degrees...you could certainly try a space heater, or maybe even a low wattage regular ol' incandescent bulb in a ceramic base fixture. A night time drop that low is fine...but heat it up during the day.

Watch out for those pebbles. They look great, but comb through them again and take out any that are about the size of his head or smaller...don't need him to decide one looks tasty and try to swallow it.

It really does look fabulous...great job doing your research and setting it all up!

As far as behavior...just like human babies, tortoise babies sleep a lot. It sounds like he may be sleeping just SLIGHTLY more than mine did at around his age...but this could also be him being a bit nervous about all that new stuff. Nothing behaviorally you mentioned jumped out at me as being unusual. Just continue to keep an eye on him. He should also perk up a bit once his cool side isn't so cold, too.

The rocking thing? I was worried about that too at first. I felt so silly panicking about it, until someone told me he was just breathing. It looks like your little one landed a great family to be a part of. Don't be afraid to keep asking questions...you are off to a fantastic start...good luck!

 

[hkrewusik]

Fantastic enclosure! What are the dimensions, if you don't mind me asking.

It's about 48" x 26"

---

That enclosure is sooooo pretty!

A few suggestions: switch water dishes to a terra cotta one, as previously suggested, and bury it so it is level with the substrate.

Definitely up those cool side temps to about 70 degrees...you could certainly try a space heater, or maybe even a low wattage regular ol' incandescent bulb in a ceramic base fixture. A night time drop that low is fine...but heat it up during the day.

Watch out for those pebbles. They look great, but comb through them again and take out any that are about the size of his head or smaller...don't need him to decide one looks tasty and try to swallow it.

It really does look fabulous...great job doing your research and setting it all up!

As far as behavior...just like human babies, tortoise babies sleep a lot. It sounds like he may be sleeping just SLIGHTLY more than mine did at around his age...but this could also be him being a bit nervous about all that new stuff. Nothing behaviorally you mentioned jumped out at me as being unusual. Just continue to keep an eye on him. He should also perk up a bit once his cool side isn't so cold, too.

The rocking thing? I was worried about that too at first. I felt so silly panicking about it, until someone told me he was just breathing. It looks like your little one landed a great family to be a part of. Don't be afraid to keep asking questions...you are off to a fantastic start...good luck!

First if all, thank you . Second of all, I set up a space heater tonight on the "cooler side" and it's bringing the temps up to about 70-75. Should this be running all the time or just during the day? It'll drop back down to 60ish at night without it on.

 

[Moozillion]

I let mine drop into the 60s, BUT she was 4 inches long when I got her, which would make her about 4 years old. I don't know what to tell you about hatchlings- sorry!

---

If you go to the Forum section on Breeding, you'll find there's a list of people who breed the different tortoises. If you send a message to one of the Hermann's breeders with your question about nighttime temps for a hatchling, I bet they'd give you some good advice.

And I'm sure more experienced people than me will weigh in soon as well. Best wishes!

 

[MzNENA]

I myself have a hatchling and have received a lot of information since receiving mine two weeks ago.

Your enclosure looks AMAZING. Definitely love your set up. Your young tort is a very lucky tort lol
I was told by experienced Tortoise Forum member Yvonne that keeping my tortoise enclosure at room temps which was around 60-70 degrees was not enough for a baby at night

So for now I have a simple night time bulb I bought from Petsmart in the mean time that boosts temperatures where my greek hatchling sleeps at night but I have ordered a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) which will do a much more thorough job of heating his enclosure and keeping him nice and warm at night.
Cost about $18 on Amazon. For now having night time heat, really helps! My little tort isn't as cold as he was on early mornings with no light and he actually wakes up on his own now without me having to dig him out of his burrows every morning.

My hatchling does almost exactly everything that yours does. Mine does the rocking forward motion as he breathes as well and it really scared me when I first had him, but I've heard it's just normal breathing for youngins. He also continues to sleep all day even with his new 125W Mercury UV basking bulb (I raised his temps as I thought my old 50W basking bulb was causing his laziness) but after two weeks of him settling in I'm sure he'll just grow more active as he gets older. With patience we'll see.

Once again beautiful tortoise and lovely enclosure!