Shell growth and energy

David y

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Joined
Oct 14, 2021
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14
Location (City and/or State)
Oak Forest il
Hi all!! I recently posted an introduction to our new marginated, Totoro, and after going thru all the info and reading more on the site I was wondering about their shell and the indents. Also wondering how much they should be moving around. I soak him for 20-30min everyday after work and replace his food and he eats a bit and explores a little but the rest of the evening before bedtime he seems to just hang in the corner by the basking light. The temps and humidity seem to be going well amd I’m wondering if this is just normal behavior. I have a CHE and thermostat coming but as of now the lowest temps I’ve recorded have been 72*. Just want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to keep him happy and healthy. Thank you for all of the help everyone
 

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MarginatedMooney

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150
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Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina USA
Hello, welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure about Totoro's shell since I'm not very experienced with that. Maybe someone else will weigh in on that. Just make sure to keep the humidity up (I like to keep mine at or above 60% near the basking lamp) and keep soaking 20-30 minutes every day. It sounds like you're doing a good job.

That sounds like normal tortoise behavior to me. When they're young, they sleep a lot. Mine seems to have a routine of getting up in the morning, basking for a while, eating, sleeping until around noon, roaming for a while, burrowing/sleeping in the afternoon till I give him his soak, then going to bed around 5 or so.
 

David y

New Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2021
Messages
14
Location (City and/or State)
Oak Forest il
Hello, welcome to the forum!

I'm not sure about Totoro's shell since I'm not very experienced with that. Maybe someone else will weigh in on that. Just make sure to keep the humidity up (I like to keep mine at or above 60% near the basking lamp) and keep soaking 20-30 minutes every day. It sounds like you're doing a good job.

That sounds like normal tortoise behavior to me. When they're young, they sleep a lot. Mine seems to have a routine of getting up in the morning, basking for a while, eating, sleeping until around noon, roaming for a while, burrowing/sleeping in the afternoon till I give him his soak, then going to bed around 5 or so.
Hey there, thank you so much for the reply. I’m sure I’ve just been overthinking everything but like all of us I just want the little guy to be happy and healthy. As far as humidity it has been staying up pretty well but as far as by the basking light but do you have any tips/tricks to keep it humid in that area? I’ve added some sphagnum moss to that area and I mist that and the entire enclosure before work (530am) but we’re usually out of the house for 8-10hrs because of work so I’d hate to see him dry out there. Thank you again for all the insight
 

MarginatedMooney

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2021
Messages
150
Location (City and/or State)
Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina USA
You've come to the right place, and it's great that you want what's best for your tortoise!

What I do to keep the humidity up near the basking lamp is dump my tort's water dish out beneath the lamp every morning when I'm giving him fresh water.
The other big thing with keeping humidity up is to have a closed chamber enclosure. By that I mean, it doesn't have an open top. You'll see a lot about closed chambers on this forum. I learned this the hard way. We got one of those enclosures with a screen top and I was struggling to keep the humidity up at first. I ended up putting plexiglass on top of it and cutting holes for the lights and that has helped a lot.
There are also other things you can do like building a frame and placing a shower curtain liner on it so that it covers the enclosure and lamps, or buying a mini greenhouse and putting your enclosure and lamps inside it.

Sphagnum moss is a potential impaction hazard if they eat it, so I wouldn't use it personally.
 

David y

New Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2021
Messages
14
Location (City and/or State)
Oak Forest il
You've come to the right place, and it's great that you want what's best for your tortoise!

What I do to keep the humidity up near the basking lamp is dump my tort's water dish out beneath the lamp every morning when I'm giving him fresh water.
The other big thing with keeping humidity up is to have a closed chamber enclosure. By that I mean, it doesn't have an open top. You'll see a lot about closed chambers on this forum. I learned this the hard way. We got one of those enclosures with a screen top and I was struggling to keep the humidity up at first. I ended up putting plexiglass on top of it and cutting holes for the lights and that has helped a lot.
There are also other things you can do like building a frame and placing a shower curtain liner on it so that it covers the enclosure and lamps, or buying a mini greenhouse and putting your enclosure and lamps inside it.

Sphagnum moss is a potential impaction hazard if they eat it, so I wouldn't use it personally.
Thank you for the info!! Looking into a small greenhouse to cover the enclosure. Humidity luckily only gets down to 45/50% it seems but I definitely am going to encapsulate it just so I know I can keep it up higher. Very much appreciated??
 

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