Is this ok? (sleeps a lot)

Kaddyman

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Joined
Jun 24, 2020
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Mauldin
We got this little guy a few days ago. He is finally starting to eat and he has started to drink during his daily soaks. But he sleeps a lot. His shell and plastron is hard and does not dent and is not spongy but it does feel like it has some give. Kind of like a plastic butter lid. I think he is still very young. I was told a couple months old but i've had other people say they think he is only a Couple of weeks. He had an ambient temp of 81 to 82 and a basking light that gets about 100. He has hides, a shallow water bowl and is currently on forest floor bedding but we are mixing it with peat moss and or humid eco earth. I have wet miss in his hide to allow for humidity in the hide. He has been getting fed grass from outside and some organic spring mix, no spinach, cut up orchard grass hay and cactus pads cut up. Do you think I bought a unhealthy baby or will his shell get better?20200706_150310.jpgFB_IMG_1594207674766.jpg
 

iAmCentrochelys sulcata

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Aug 10, 2019
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1,322
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Alief
Looks all good! You should add more variety to the food, when they are babies they don’t eat much grass or at all. But if he’s eating grass that’s great!
You might need to increase the humidity if it isn’t high enough to 80-90% to prevent Pyramiding.
Nothing to worry about sleeping babies sleep for most of the time.
 

kcrawford457

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Jul 8, 2020
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Location (City and/or State)
Ohio
His shell looks just fine! It's normal for their shells to have some give at this age. It's takes a while for their shells to calcify and harden completely. I wouldn't be overly concerned. As long as he's eating and pooping normally, all is well. As for the sleeping, don't be too concerned about that either. Baby tortoises tend to be more "secretive," because in the wild they're easy prey for a number of predator animals. So, they sleep a lot, in order to essentially hide from larger animals that might think of them as a snack. Plus, babies in general tend to sleep a lot to help them grow. Sounds to me like you have a normal little tortoise!
 

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