Getting Greek hatchling up and moving in the morning...

mrsbotero912

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Hello! Looking for some advice/input from anyone who has raised Greek hatchlings.

Apollo is currently about 2 months old. I just got him Friday morning, so I'm sure he's still adjusting to his new home. But yesterday morning and this morning, I had to dig him out of his burrow and put him under the heat light more than an hour after the light came on, then moved him to his water dish for 5-10 minutes, then moved him to his food dish, and only then did he really start to wake up and eat and move around. And yesterday after a few hours, he went back to sleep for the rest of the day and night.

Cool side of the enclosure is around 75*F and basking spot is 95-100*F, and at night the temp all over drops to around 70*F.
MVB light comes on at 9am and shuts off at 10pm.

The problem is during the week I leave at 6am for work... I don't want him to get in the habit of waking up at 6am, but I also don't want him to sleep all day until 5pm when I get home and move him to his light/water/food. From your experience, is his excessive sleeping just because he's adjusting to the new home and because he's still a baby, or is it common to have to help them get moving in the morning? If it's the latter, what would be the best schedule for weekdays??

Thank you in advance!
 

Yvonne G

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Because he's a baby, you should soak him in warm water every morning. I get my babies up and in the soaking pan when I first turn on the lights, and then I get their food ready. By the time I've added food to the feeding stations, changed water, put everyone in the soak, it's been about a half hour. Then I put the babies around the feeding tile and get out of their sight.

I don't keep Greek tortoises, so my advice may not be correct for you, but I don't allow the temperature in baby enclosures to get below 80F degrees. Let's ask for @SweetGreekTorts advice. She has a few baby greeks.
 

mrsbotero912

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I definitely did read about soaking the babies daily. My question is what to do during the week when I leave the house for work at 6am. I don't want him to be in the habit of getting up that early, because I do like to sleep in on the weekends lol. But I'm not sure if there's any other solution at this point other than getting his day started before 6am with me.
Because he's a baby, you should soak him in warm water every morning. I get my babies up and in the soaking pan when I first turn on the lights, and then I get their food ready. By the time I've added food to the feeding stations, changed water, put everyone in the soak, it's been about a half hour. Then I put the babies around the feeding tile and get out of their sight.

I don't keep Greek tortoises, so my advice may not be correct for you, but I don't allow the temperature in baby enclosures to get below 80F degrees. Let's ask for @SweetGreekTorts advice. She has a few baby greeks.
 

Yvonne G

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Put your lights on a timer. It won't hurt him to have to wait for his breakfast on the week-ends.

I used to get up at zero dark thirty when I was a working stiff. I would be outside in the dark feeding, watering and picking up poop. The tortoises came out on their own when the sun came up. For babies that were kept in the house, I would still get them up at zero dark thirty and soak them, but their lights were on a timer, so when I placed them back into their enclosures, the lights were on and they were ready to start their day. On week-ends when I didn't get up so early, I would find them all wandering around loooking for their magic meal appearance and wondering what happened to the food goddess.
 

SweetGreekTorts

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I leave my house at 5:30am during weekday mornings to be at work by 6:00am. I also raise Greeks (currently have 14 babies/yearlings with another 15 hatchlings on the way).

My lights are on timers, turning on at 4:30am for 12 hours every day.

For my morning routine:

I will pull each of my babies from their different enclosures and soak them all in warm water for 30 minutes while I "spot clean" their habitats and prepare their breakfast. When they are done soaking, they each start to eat immediately when placed next to their food, which is near the basking lights to help keep them warm. I have cameras in every enclosure that I can check from my mobile phone, and they often bask under their light and graze their food throughout the day. By mid-afternoon they put themselves to bed (either in their humid hides or other hides. They choose).
 

mrsbotero912

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So if the lights are off at 4:30pm and they make their way to bed around that time, you don't really get to interact with them at all when you get home from work then?
I leave my house at 5:30am during weekday mornings to be at work by 6:00am. I also raise Greeks (currently have 14 babies/yearlings with another 15 hatchlings on the way).

My lights are on timers, turning on at 4:30am for 12 hours every day.

For my morning routine:

I will pull each of my babies from their different enclosures and soak them all in warm water for 30 minutes while I "spot clean" their habitats and prepare their breakfast. When they are done soaking, they each start to eat immediately when placed next to their food, which is near the basking lights to help keep them warm. I have cameras in every enclosure that I can check from my mobile phone, and they often bask under their light and graze their food throughout the day. By mid-afternoon they put themselves to bed (either in their humid hides or other hides. They choose).
 

Blackdog1714

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HAHA feeding and soaking are all the interaction my Russian wants. Grumpy little booger. Mind you the slow feeding of Hibiscus blooms is great or talking to him while he is sunning works. My Russian just prefers his space!
 

SweetGreekTorts

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So if the lights are off at 4:30pm and they make their way to bed around that time, you don't really get to interact with them at all when you get home from work then?
Nope. I don't handle them much, only when I'm soaking them in the mornings. I do make my rounds and check all the enclosures when I get home, but I only remove food dishes, I don't touch any of the babies. Tortoises in general aren't much of an interactive pet that likes to play and be held and cuddled. I just make sure mine are healthy, active, and have plenty of food, fresh water, and proper heat, humidity, and lighting. Handling them too much, especially as babies, can really stress them out.
 

dmilam

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I soak my baby Greek every morning before I leave for work. It normally eats, basks and patrols it’s enclosure for a little bit then about 2pm, it burrows in for the night.
 
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