I just got a brand new Hermann's tort (my first tort, ever) yesterday. She's 4.5 inches long, so she's not an adult but she's not a fragile hatchling either. When I unboxed her, I gave her a nice warm soak for 20 minutes: she passed some urates and had a nice big poop but did't drink.
In the day and a half since I've had her, she's eating really well but I still haven't seen her drink. When she's not eating she stays completely buried in her substrate which doesn't worry me: I know that it's normal for new torts to hide because they're scared in their new surroundings. I know she'll stay out more once she calms down.
When I got home from work tonight, she had not only eaten all her greens but she had tracked dirt and sphagnum moss all through her food dish. But her water dish didn't have a speck of dirt in it, so I doubt she got in it. Her (indoor) enclosure is pretty humid: the cool end is 84% (I had NO IDEA that organic potting soil held moisture so well!. I keep fluffing it up and turning it over to help it dry out, and I know it will, eventually). The warm end is 84% in the mornings but drops to 55% after a day of the heat lamps being on.
Should I dig her out and soak her when I get home in the evenings? Is she getting enough hydration between the humid environment and the water that I rinse her greens with before I give them to her?
In the day and a half since I've had her, she's eating really well but I still haven't seen her drink. When she's not eating she stays completely buried in her substrate which doesn't worry me: I know that it's normal for new torts to hide because they're scared in their new surroundings. I know she'll stay out more once she calms down.
When I got home from work tonight, she had not only eaten all her greens but she had tracked dirt and sphagnum moss all through her food dish. But her water dish didn't have a speck of dirt in it, so I doubt she got in it. Her (indoor) enclosure is pretty humid: the cool end is 84% (I had NO IDEA that organic potting soil held moisture so well!. I keep fluffing it up and turning it over to help it dry out, and I know it will, eventually). The warm end is 84% in the mornings but drops to 55% after a day of the heat lamps being on.
Should I dig her out and soak her when I get home in the evenings? Is she getting enough hydration between the humid environment and the water that I rinse her greens with before I give them to her?