Quote:
Originally Posted by tomsneade
Hi folks. I am Tom and have just joined this group. I have had a 10 month old hermann tort that sleeps all but 2 hours in every 24 and is sometimes reluctant to eat. Every other day he will happily devour dandelion leave and flowers, then he will show little interest in food for 2 or 3 days. Sometimes he is very lively, sometime quite the opposite ! He looks bright eyed, and bushy tailed and poo's and wees every couple of days. He is in a viv with the temp set at 30 degrees, which is on for 12 hours a day. Just wondering if this is normal behavior . Many thanks. (Just this morning, he woke at 9 am, when his heating/light came on....came out of his bed...basked under the lamp for 1 hour and returned to bed !)
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I agree vivs are not the best places for med tortoises, there is not enough change in temps. They need around 32c under the heat source and around 25c at the other end. When its warm outside the temps are even higher in a viv.
Being only a young tortoise, just like most babies they eat poop and sleep.
You need to keep a record of weight gain, weighing once a month. If your tortoise is gaining 2-3grms a month then thats fine.
Make sure you bathe your tortoise every day for two weeks then every other day. As dehydration is one of the biggest killers.
I would also not have the heat and light on quite so long.
My smaller tortoises have the heat on from 7oclock in the morning (tortoises rise with the light) and goes off around 4-5 oclock, as they are generally asleep by then. They need no heat at night, just the heat of the house.