New 2 year old spur thighed tortoise

[freda42]

Hello

We purchase a 2 year old spur thighed tortoise 2 days ago. We've set her up in a tortoise table with straw in the bed box, a food bowl, water bowl, flower pot hide and substrate of those hay pellet things. We've got a combined heat/uv light.

She is very quiet. She doesn't come out of her bed box (where there is a heat mat behind a panel in the wall. We take her out and give her food, she has a little nibble of dandelion leaves then heads back inside again.

We've given her a bath and shes done a poo and a wee.

Is this normal - is she just getting used to the new surroundings? She was active when we saw her in the pet shop.

Thank you

[CherryBrandy]

Freda, welcome to the forum and congratulations on your little tortoise. S/he will take time to settle but meanwhile ditch the straw - you don't want them ingested that or having to pull it out their mouths as it will rupture the stomach. ditch the hay pellets too as they can blow up in stomachs and consider natural 'bedding' and or substrate like coco coir. ditch the heat mat - does nothing for ambient temperature - you need uv and heat if indoors maybe a combi bulb which does both like Arcadia D3 - must be D3 or separate uv and heat. Sorry to sound negative, but you little one needs to grow and flourish in right conditions with right food like weeds etc. Keep posting and ask way, no stupid questions to ask just keep asking. I suggest keeping at 26 - 29 degrees, as I find my lot are most active and better for when outside, but we all have different views on that and some keepers do keep in the 30 - 34 range also. CB