Lights

[CaseyTurner1]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question but is it normal for them to sleep under the heat lamp (he has never done this until today) bearing in mind tho I’ve only had him for 7 days. I’ve almost had a heart attack as I thought he was dead. This little thing is my new life’s worry ?‍♀️ Could it be that he is lacking something. I haven’t seen him drink but he has been soaked everyday for the past 7 daysI’m feeding mainly grass with the occasional dandelion, greens and strawberry top and he does a poo everyday. I’m spraying in his vivarium everyday keeping it a bit more moist in his hide- am I missing something. Does he look healthy to you?

 

[ISU]

I thought my leopard was dead,too!

I'm not worried because she's not sleeping there all day. I wait for answers from the veterans.

 

[Srmcclure]

Forgive me if this is a stupid question but is it normal for them to sleep under the heat lamp (he has never done this until today) bearing in mind tho I’ve only had him for 7 days. I’ve almost had a heart attack as I thought he was dead. This little thing is my new life’s worry ?‍♀️ Could it be that he is lacking something. I haven’t seen him drink but he has been soaked everyday for the past 7 daysI’m feeding mainly grass with the occasional dandelion, greens and strawberry top and he does a poo everyday. I’m spraying in his vivarium everyday keeping it a bit more moist in his hide- am I missing something. Does he look healthy to you?View attachment 311454View attachment 311455

He looks like he's still a little dry, but you've only had him for a short time, so keep up the 80-95° soaks for 30-45 mins everyday and it'll start to help. Also, if we see your setup we can help even more by seeing if there's something thats getting overlooked ?

My leopard has started to do that the last couple of days as well though. He's really active still, but will park it right under his lamp for 20 mins, then keep on patrolling. The temps have all stayed the same so I'm wondering if he feels it outside getting colder so its making him think he's got to soak up the heat more... idk. Excuse the blurriness. Its a grow tent window lol

 

[CaseyTurner1]

He looks like he's still a little dry, but you've only had him for a short time, so keep up the 80-95° soaks for 30-45 mins everyday and it'll start to help. Also, if we see your setup we can help even more by seeing if there's something thats getting overlooked ?

My leopard has started to do that the last couple of days as well though. He's really active still, but will park it right under his lamp for 20 mins, then keep on patrolling. The temps have all stayed the same so I'm wondering if he feels it outside getting colder so its making him think he's got to soak up the heat more... idk. Excuse the blurriness. Its a grow tent window lol
View attachment 311464

By no means is this perfect. We are changing the substrate and giving him more textures in there etc

 

[Srmcclure]

View attachment 311468View attachment 311469
By no means is this perfect. We are changing the substrate and giving him more textures in there etc

Ok so closed chamber, yay! The red light will have to be switched out for a CHE on a thermostat. The red makes them more inclined to eat their substrate and get impacted, so no Bueno unfortunately and it affects their sleep as well because they should have true darkness for bedtime. amazon sells them for really cheap though and you don't need name brand. I think I got 2 for $11 ish and the thermostat was like $15 ish.

I see a temp probe so I'm guessing that might be your thermostat? The probe should be brought down to tortoise height so you know its accurate for where your baby actually is ?

Is that strip bulb a uvb or just incandescent? ?

There is so much to learn about tortoise and it can be overwhelming at times, but your off to a good start!



This is only half of my enclosure, but you can see all my main elements. The strip light is my arcadia 10% uvb light and the basking is a 65watt incandescent flood bulb that keeps it 98-100°.
I actually have a RHP instead of a CHE that you can kind of see at the very top( the black corner of that box looking thing), but same concept ?

 

[CaseyTurner1]

Ok so closed chamber, yay! The red light will have to be switched out for a CHE on a thermostat. The red makes them more inclined to eat their substrate and get impacted, so no Bueno unfortunately and it affects their sleep as well because they should have true darkness for bedtime. amazon sells them for really cheap though and you don't need name brand. I think I got 2 for $11 ish and the thermostat was like $15 ish.

I see a temp probe so I'm guessing that might be your thermostat? The probe should be brought down to tortoise height so you know its accurate for where your baby actually is ?

Is that strip bulb a uvb or just incandescent? ?

There is so much to learn about tortoise and it can be overwhelming at times, but your off to a good start!

View attachment 311474

This is only half of my enclosure, but you can see all my main elements. The strip light is my arcadia 10% uvb light and the basking is a 65watt incandescent flood bulb that keeps it 98-100°.
I actually have a RHP instead of a CHE that you can kind of see at the very top( the black corner of that box looking thing), but same concept ?

Thank you yes I’m trying but learning loads. It’s all on a timer so goes off at night and then I put the heat mat on for nighttime. Thank you that’s great I’ll look into the different lighting/heat elements thanks for your pic very helpful ?

 

[CaseyTurner1]

 

[Srmcclure]

Thank you yes I’m trying but learning loads. It’s all on a timer so goes off at night and then I put the heat mat on for nighttime. Thank you that’s great I’ll look into the different lighting/heat elements thanks for your pic very helpful ?

We love talking tortoise so any questions or anything are always welcome ?
Also, excuse the mess, it was cleaning his mess at the time I took that pic lol

Btw, your baby is really cute!!