Hatchling Red Foot

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Posted by George Cerese on August 01, 2001 at 15:51:16:

I am hoping that you can offer some information pertaining to 3 week old hatchling we just received a couple of days ago. We have a wonderful vivarium with lots of hiding places and our hatchling seems to keep retreating to the numerous hiding places for very long naps. Last night the hatchling ate food about "quarter sized", basked under the heatlamp for 2 minutes and burrowed herself into the forest floor under a plant and slept over 13 hours. Regretfully we woke the tortoise up this morning to make sure that she was still living and gave it a soaking. I realize that we should not be intervening with the hatchling while in a hiding spot, but we are very concerned about its well being. My wife and I have done extensive research on the Redfoots but there are a lot of contradictions and little or no information in some cases.

My main concerns are how much the hatchling should be sleeping and eating to stay healthy, thrive and stay alive. Also we plan to give the hatchling daily soakings but how and when is the best time to go into the Vivarium and take the hatchling out for these soakings. It seems that presently the hatchling is hiding most of the time, and I would think that going in to get him while in a hiding area would cause stress. Is it better to have a soaking area available in the tank for the hatchling to soak it self when ready? Also the temp in the vivarium is set at approximately 85 degrees but we have not noticed it basking under the heat lamp much to encourage digestion. Can the ambient temp 85F alone encourage digestion or does the tortoise need to bask under the heat lamp to do so?

Thank you,
George

Follow Ups:

Re: Hatchling Red Foot Niki 08/02/01 (0)
Re: Hatchling Red Foot Chris H 08/02/01 (0)
Re: Hatchling Red Foot Bric 08/01/01 (0)
Re: Hatchling Red Foot EJ 08/01/01 (0)

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: I am hoping that you can offer some information pertaining to 3 week old hatchling we just received a couple of days ago. We have a wonderful vivarium with lots of hiding places and our hatchling seems to keep retreating to the numerous hiding places for very long naps. Last night the hatchling ate food about "quarter sized", basked under the heatlamp for 2 minutes and burrowed herself into the forest floor under a plant and slept over 13 hours. Regretfully we woke the tortoise up this morning to make sure that she was still living and gave it a soaking. I realize that we should not be intervening with the hatchling while in a hiding spot, but we are very concerned about its well being. My wife and I have done extensive research on the Redfoots but there are a lot of contradictions and little or no information in some cases. : My main concerns are how much the hatchling should be sleeping and eating to stay healthy, thrive and stay alive. Also we plan to give the hatchling daily soakings but how and when is the best time to go into the Vivarium and take the hatchling out for these soakings. It seems that presently the hatchling is hiding most of the time, and I would think that going in to get him while in a hiding area would cause stress. Is it better to have a soaking area available in the tank for the hatchling to soak it self when ready? Also the temp in the vivarium is set at approximately 85 degrees but we have not noticed it basking under the heat lamp much to encourage digestion. Can the ambient temp 85F alone encourage digestion or does the tortoise need to bask under the heat lamp to do so? : : Thank you, : George

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