New tortoise owner

Happytort27

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Optunia cactus is great for all tortoises. It has a lot of calcium and water.

I wouldn’t soak directly under the light, maybe a little to the side so he can regulate his temperature. After 5-10 minutes, make sure to replace the water with warm water if it gets too cold.

Glad to hear that Coco’s eating! :)
 

Crystallynda

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Optunia cactus is great for all tortoises. It has a lot of calcium and water.

I wouldn’t soak directly under the light, maybe a little to the side so he can regulate his temperature. After 5-10 minutes, make sure to replace the water with warm water if it gets too cold.
Should I brought him more water after 5 minutes? Cause now he’s back in the color side! So I’m confused!
Is it normal that he’s sleeping again?
Sleeping beauty I swear lol
Glad to hear that Coco’s eating! :)
 

Crystallynda

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Should I brought him more water after 5 minutes? Cause now he’s back in the color side! So I’m confused!
Is it normal that he’s sleeping again?
Sleeping beauty I swear lol
 

Happytort27

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Oh, sorry for confusing you! I meant that when you soak him in the bowl, if the water gets cold, replace the cold water with warm water. You don’t need to add more, just pour out all of the cold water and put some warm water in the bowl. Also, don’t put the soaking bowl right under the lamp, try to place it a little to the side so he doesn’t overheat.

Baby tortoises need a lot of sleep, so it’s normal for Coco to be sleeping frequently.

Did this clarify things?
 

Crystallynda

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Oh, sorry for confusing you! I meant that when you soak him in the bowl, if the water gets cold, replace the cold water with warm water. You don’t need to add more, just pour out all of the cold water and put some warm water in the bowl. Also, don’t put the soaking bowl right under the lamp, try to place it a little to the side so he doesn’t overheat.

Baby tortoises need a lot of sleep, so it’s normal for Coco to be sleeping frequently.

Did this clarify things?
Yes it did, he surly is a true baby haha!
 

Crystallynda

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Oh goodness..I’m shedding hair and some how it got inside his enclosure! I just removed it!

Is his private area supposed to look a little brown and white? ?
 

Crystallynda

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Oh goodness..I’m shedding hair and some how it got inside his enclosure! I just removed it!

Is his private area supposed to look a little brown and white? ?
Freaked out when I saw this and it looked like it was under him ??
 

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Crystallynda

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Coco keeps keeps leaving his light area!

I don’t know if he likes it or not but...

I pray he starts eating more ???
 

Crystallynda

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Your tortoise looks very dry. I would give him a warm, 30 minute soak everyday in an opaque container where he can’t climb out.

Get rid of the sand ASAP. Sand can cause impaction and irritate your tortoise’s eyes. The best substrate for DT’s is damp coco coir because they like digging (at least mine does). Buy the coconut coir bricks and follow the directions to loosen it. The other options would be orchid bark (known as fir bark or repti bark) or cypress mulch, but I prefer coco coir for this species.

Next, there are four elements to heating and lighting complied by @Tom:
  1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt floods from the hardware store. I run them on a timer for 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. You can mount a fixture on the ceiling, or hang a dome lamp from the ceiling. Go lower or higher wattage if this makes the enclosure too hot or not warm enough. Do not use "spot" bulbs, mercury vapor bulbs or halogen bulbs.
  2. Ambient heat maintenance. Unless your house gets unusually cold at night, you can skip this step for a DT, a Russian, or other Testudo species. Night lows above 60 require no night heat for Testudo species or DTs. If your house is around 70, that's perfect for a baby.
  3. Light. I use florescent tubes for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most tubes at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. I've been using LEDs lately and they are great, and run cooler than a florescent. This can be set on the same timer as the basking bulb. If your tortoises room is already adequately lit, you don't need this one either.
  4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside in a safe secure enclosure for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. If you want it anyway, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. It helps to have a UV meter to test and see what your bulb is actually putting out at your mounting height. Plexi-glass or screen tops will filter out some or all of the UV produced by your bulb. Regular "T 8" type UV tubes produce hardly any UV. CFL type UV bulbs are also ineffective, and sometimes dangerous, and should not be used.
I know you didn’t ask for this, but here are some food suggestions also complied by Tom:
Mulberry leaves
Grape vine leaves
Hibiscus leaves
African hibiscus leaves
Blue hibiscus leaves
Rose of Sharon leaves
Rose leaves
Geraniums
Gazanias
Lavatera
Pansies
Petunias
Hostas
Honeysuckle
Cape honeysuckle
Leaves and blooms from any squash plant, like pumpkin, cucumber, summer squash, etc...
Young spineless opuntia cactus pads

Weeds:
There are soooooooo many...
Dandelion
Mallow
Filaree
Smooth Sow thistle
Prickly Sow thistle
Milk thistle
Goat head weed
Cats ear
Nettles
Trefoil
Wild onion
Wild mustard
Wild Garlic
Clovers
Broadleaf plantain
Narrow leaf plantain
Chick weed
Hawksbit
Hensbit
Hawksbeard

Other good stuff:
"Testudo Seed Mix" from http://www.tortoisesupply.com/SeedMixes
Pasture mixes or other seeds from http://www.groworganic.com/seeds.html
Homegrown alfalfa
Mazuri Tortoise Chow
ZooMed Grassland Tortoise Food

If you do not have these types of weeds and flowers available at the moment, you can also get dandelion greens, mustard greens, cilantro, turnip and radish tops, bok choy, wheatgrass, and collard greens from most grocery stores. Make sure to rotate each item out every day to provide a variety. As a staple, you can buy chicory, endive, and escarole. Although, your tortoise needs a wider variety than this. Maybe try to order some seed mixes online or walk around your neighborhood and find some weeds that you can feed.

Please take a look at this updated care sheet for your species. This will probably clarify some things and answer your questions:

https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...ise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/

I apologize for the length of this post, but I hope this helps. More questions are welcome. :)

I think I may need a higher voltage for the baby because it’s not warming him up enough...though for some reason he actually prefers being in the cooler area of the tub! What is the suggestion?? Just received his substrate...it’s already night so not sure if putting it in his tank damped is good for him...
 

Crystallynda

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Hello, now that I’m getting coco more situated.. I want to know if it’s normal for him to have some white parts on shell? Looks like he’s shedding or something!
Also..he seems to be more active when I take him out of his enclosure!
Not sure if he ate much but I did notice some food out of his bowl!!

just wanna address every detail on him!
Also..are babies supposed to have a color inside their mouth?
 

Crystallynda

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To many threads so I started a new one!
Do I need to leave his substrate outside for a couple minutes for it to dry?
 

Happytort27

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Did you receive the thermometers yet? I use a 45-65 watt incandescent flood bulb on a 12 hour timer and adjust the height of the fixture to get a basking area of around 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit directly under the bulb. The basking lamp should raise the day time ambient temperature into the high 70's or 80s during the day.

Let him regulate his own temperature for now, but if he stays on the cool side consecutively for a long time, then I would probably start to investigate.

I would put in the substrate tomorrow morning. Just follow the directions to loosen the coir and you’ll be all set! If possible, pack the coir around 2-3 inches deep so Coco can dig. ?
 

Crystallynda

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Messages
689
Location (City and/or State)
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Did you receive the thermometers yet? I use a 45-65 watt incandescent flood bulb on a 12 hour timer and adjust the height of the fixture to get a basking area of around 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit directly under the bulb. The basking lamp should raise the day time ambient temperature into the high 70's or 80s during the day.

Let him regulate his own temperature for now, but if he stays on the cool side consecutively for a long time, then I would probably start to investigate.

I would put in the substrate tomorrow morning. Just follow the directions to loosen the coir and you’ll be all set! If possible, pack the coir around 2-3 inches deep so Coco can dig. ?
I got coconut substrate! I think I might need more! Let me show you!!
 

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Crystallynda

Active Member
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Jan 13, 2021
Messages
689
Location (City and/or State)
Las Vegas
Did you receive the thermometers yet? I use a 45-65 watt incandescent flood bulb on a 12 hour timer and adjust the height of the fixture to get a basking area of around 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit directly under the bulb. The basking lamp should raise the day time ambient temperature into the high 70's or 80s during the day.

Let him regulate his own temperature for now, but if he stays on the cool side consecutively for a long time, then I would probably start to investigate.

I would put in the substrate tomorrow morning. Just follow the directions to loosen the coir and you’ll be all set! If possible, pack the coir around 2-3 inches deep so Coco can dig. ?

is this normal? His mouth?
I ended up soaking him a little more this evening because his shell was white!
 

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