Hello, my name is Allison. This is my first post here and I have a lot of questions and hoping for some help.
We acquired two leopard tortoise hatchlings a few months ago. We did research but clearly not well enough. We found this forum after getting my babies. Tortellini and Ziti seem to be doing well but my anxiety is growing thinking I’m not doing what’s best for them. There is so much split information on these tortoises! I swear it was easier and less anxiety with raising my three human children! I have been reading through topics on here and gathering information but I’m still overwhelmed. If I’m posting in the wrong place, I apologize.
Tortellini is around 9 weeks old and Ziti is around 11 weeks old. Tortellini is a lot bigger than Ziti. Is this cause for alarm? They both are active, eat, go to the bathroom, bask, drink water and gaining weight... I believe they are doing good. Surviving vs thriving, I’m hoping the later. It’s just I’m not experienced enough to know.
I started them both in an open enclosure with a humid hut. Then I started reading and I didn’t feel like the humid hut was good enough. I surrounded enclosure with plexiglass and added moss. Humidity went up but still not good enough. Luckily, I have a very flexible work schedule and I am able to mist regularly, control temperatures. However, there has to be a better way and I’m going on vacation... so I really need to get this under better control. I don’t trust anyone to do for them what I do.
My person and I have decided that we should build them a better home. We want to do this right and large. We live in Ohio so once they are big enough to go outside, in the winter they are coming inside. This enclosure will be their home for the next 10 years. We are thinking of building an 4’x8’ tortoise table with a 2’x4’ enclosed to keep humidity in. But this leads me to a few questions. First of all, is this big enough for two 10 year olds? Secondly, do they always need high humidity? As of now, they both stay away from the moss area, which is where the highest humidity is. It’s like they don’t like it. Can we keep hatchling torts in an enclosure that has the option for high humidity area and a lesser humidity area with free range? Finally, making the best humid area... we are thinking of making a barrier between the dry area and humid area. How do we do this best? We are thinking of lining the floor and walls with rock/tile (moss on top) and putting a heating mat under the humid part of the enclosure with a plexiglass top. That way the heat goes up and the plexiglass keeps the humidity in. Does this sound like something that would work? Or would it be better to mount a ceramic heat bulb to the top of enclosure? My thinking with that is heat rises and wouldn’t be as effective but I’m new with this whole thing and like I stated before, overwhelmed. We are doing our best and trying. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Allison and Aaron
We acquired two leopard tortoise hatchlings a few months ago. We did research but clearly not well enough. We found this forum after getting my babies. Tortellini and Ziti seem to be doing well but my anxiety is growing thinking I’m not doing what’s best for them. There is so much split information on these tortoises! I swear it was easier and less anxiety with raising my three human children! I have been reading through topics on here and gathering information but I’m still overwhelmed. If I’m posting in the wrong place, I apologize.
Tortellini is around 9 weeks old and Ziti is around 11 weeks old. Tortellini is a lot bigger than Ziti. Is this cause for alarm? They both are active, eat, go to the bathroom, bask, drink water and gaining weight... I believe they are doing good. Surviving vs thriving, I’m hoping the later. It’s just I’m not experienced enough to know.
I started them both in an open enclosure with a humid hut. Then I started reading and I didn’t feel like the humid hut was good enough. I surrounded enclosure with plexiglass and added moss. Humidity went up but still not good enough. Luckily, I have a very flexible work schedule and I am able to mist regularly, control temperatures. However, there has to be a better way and I’m going on vacation... so I really need to get this under better control. I don’t trust anyone to do for them what I do.
My person and I have decided that we should build them a better home. We want to do this right and large. We live in Ohio so once they are big enough to go outside, in the winter they are coming inside. This enclosure will be their home for the next 10 years. We are thinking of building an 4’x8’ tortoise table with a 2’x4’ enclosed to keep humidity in. But this leads me to a few questions. First of all, is this big enough for two 10 year olds? Secondly, do they always need high humidity? As of now, they both stay away from the moss area, which is where the highest humidity is. It’s like they don’t like it. Can we keep hatchling torts in an enclosure that has the option for high humidity area and a lesser humidity area with free range? Finally, making the best humid area... we are thinking of making a barrier between the dry area and humid area. How do we do this best? We are thinking of lining the floor and walls with rock/tile (moss on top) and putting a heating mat under the humid part of the enclosure with a plexiglass top. That way the heat goes up and the plexiglass keeps the humidity in. Does this sound like something that would work? Or would it be better to mount a ceramic heat bulb to the top of enclosure? My thinking with that is heat rises and wouldn’t be as effective but I’m new with this whole thing and like I stated before, overwhelmed. We are doing our best and trying. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!
Allison and Aaron