Very happy new CH owner !!!

newCH

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Joined
Nov 15, 2014
Messages
526
Location (City and/or State)
So.FL
Hello everyone,
I have been wanting to get a tortoise for quite sometime. I had been researching
what kind would be the best for my So. FL location, etc. I have been reading alot
of the forum as a non-member which helped alot.
I had decided on getting a CH and wanted to find one locally to avoid shipping &
stress. We went to the reptile store and they had an assortment of red foots, cherry heads & yellow foots in an aquarium. I watched for a few minutes to watch them.
I am new at discerning quality tortoise features, but there was one that caught my eye. He or she was going around in search of food, the store had just opened and the owner had apparently not fed them yet. He was alert & seemed to have good
coloring. It was like he was showing himself off ! I told my husband that I found the one & he came over. No sooner did he walk over the tort came walking to the front like saying " pick me, pick me!"
( probably more like "feed me, feed me" ! But I liked his activity)

He is a tiny guy, CB no yolk but does have the apparence of a egg tooth. He ate some
spring mix literally in the car on the way home. He ate more at home and I saw him drink water. He went around investigating his home and went under his log and dug into the substrate. Since then he has not come out. I did check him by lifting the log and rubbed his shell, I saw movement, so I am ok that he's good.
It kinda reminds me of when you bring home a dog from a shelter. They come home and sleep real good since their previous enviorment didnt really let them get rest.

So, I am sure I will have lots of questions with " Sheldon" in the future.
We got the lights and supplies at the store. Those turtle food chunks are something
that I should keep in his diet with fresh foods or should I phase them out ? I am assuming that is for his protein, but I dont want pyrimiding, so can I replace that
with maybe a different protein in the future. He did snack on part of a chunk with
his spring mix. Tomorrow I will add some grated carrot for variety.
Any advice would be greatly be appreciated. ~ Thxs :tort:
I am trying to attach a better pic besides the avatar, but dont know how or its not giving me the option.

Part 2 - I had started a conversations by accident, not a thread. So I copied and pasted.
I see the attachment
newCH, Today at 12:04
20141115_130922.jpg
 

Jacqui

Wanna be raiser of Lemon Drop tortoises
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Hi and welcome! One important thing you didn't mention are the temperatures your keeping him at. Being too cold could make him go under the substrate and stay there. Looks like your using an aquarium, which I find helps hold humidity and makes seeing them so much easier. What size is it? We should probably get a little more information on what kind of lights and what type of chunk food. Sorta looks like Mazuri or Grassland is it?
 

newCH

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2014
Messages
526
Location (City and/or State)
So.FL
Just measured Sheldon, his carapace is 2.5 inches in length, 3 inches if I curve the measuring tape along his dome.
Hes in 20 gallon aquarium & they sold me Forest floor as a substrate. He is a good eater, likes chin rubs. I saw him drink yesterday & this morning, it was so cool. I will do his first soak today. The guy said it was Mazurri, however it was sold in a clear container with no label. His aquarium has a wire screen lid, not mesh & I have the Zoo Med Mini combo deep dome
dual light fixture. One bulb is Reptisun 10 & the other is ReptiBaskin spot lamp 50W. Also I have Repticalicum to put
on his food 3 x's a week. I dont have a thermometer yet, surprised he didn't sell us one LOL ! I will pick up one today.

Sheldon roams around for like 30 minutes then he goes under his log for awhile. He loves the shredded carrots
with his breakfast.

How much food should I be giving him???? I think I made his breakfast too big this am.
In the bowl, it seemed to be as wide as his shell, but then he climbed into the bowl sat in the center
and started eating pushing himself around in a slow spinning fashion. He just went back to eating again
for the 2nd time.

I am guessing he is like 1 to 2 months. I counted lines on his scute, I only see 2.
Thanks for your inquiry
 

Delilah1623

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Joined
Sep 18, 2014
Messages
439
The reptisun 10 you have sounds like the coil bulb. You will be advised it should get switch out, it can damage his eyes. I had one at first and my russian started keeping his eyes closed a lot but got better when I switched to a MVB. Also had a sulcata from Craigslist that they were using a coil bulb and her eyes were puffy but are now better also. Some people are not against them but most on this forum are and after my brief experience will not use them again. .

A screen top will not hold enough humidity for your little guy. Buy a glass top or cover it in foil.

And yes, you need a thermometer ASAP as well as a way to read humidity if you don't already have one.

I feed my guy a pile of greens about the size of his shell. I use a chip clip to make it sort of a Bush and he seems to enjoy eating it that way. Also I would add water to the mazuri to make it into a mush. It'll be hard for him to eat it dry.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

Change out that coil bulb for a tube type UVB fluorescent bulb. And try to figure out how to mount it under the screen. Screening material is a filter and the UV rays can't penetrate.

You want to measure the temperature all over the inside of that aquarium. With a RF tortoise you don't need a "hot side/cool side" and can get by with about 80F overall. Measure down at tortoise level, not up high.
 

tortdad

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Yours is a baby so 80 should be the nighttime low. Shoot for 84 as the day time temp. Knowing the temp and humidity is what's going to keep your baby heathy. Humidity should be constant at 90 or better. Don't buy one of those disc type an analog temp and humidity gauges, they are very unreliable. For $10 you can get a digital "home comfort" meter from Home Depot made by accurite that measures both temp and humidity. I'll post a link to in in a few. You'll find that most of the things you need are better found and much less expensive from hardware stores vs pet stores.
That 20 gallon tank will work for now but expect to make it bigger (much bigger) in 2 or 3 months. Feed every day, soak In Warm water for 20 mins everyday.


0.0.1 Redfoot (Spike)
0.0.1 Cherryhead Redfoot (Bruce Wayne)
1.0 Sulcata (Hal Jordan)
 

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