Sulcata tortoise hatchlings not moving much

[Emma_Bruffy]

I just got these 2 hatchling sulcata tortoises this morning. I'm probably just overreacting because these are my first tortoises but they haven't been moving. Is this normal for 5 hours after we unboxed them. Their substrate is forest floor(cypress mulch) and reptisoil mixed. They also have mazuri tortoise ls diet but they haven't eaten yet. I'll put a pic of thier bin

 

[casportpony]

@azurbanclucker might have some advice for you.

 

[azurbanclucker]

I just got these 2 hatchling sulcata tortoises this morning. I'm probably just overreacting because these are my first tortoises but they haven't been moving. Is this normal for 5 hours after we unboxed them. Their substrate is forest floor(cypress mulch) and reptisoil mixed. They also have mazuri tortoise ls diet but they haven't eaten yet. I'll put a pic of thier bin

Yes, it's normal. It depends on a number of factors including their age, how much they've been handled, general stress levels, what their habitat setup is, and so on.

Pics! we need pics of the torts and your setup. I can help you get them situated if I can see what yo'ure working with.

For now, first things first. Grab a casserole dish and put enough warm water (82-85F) in it to come up to their chins (a few centimeters if they're really new hatchlings, a bit more if they're older and bigger. Soak them in this warm water for 20 minutes. Hatchlings need daily soaks to make sure they're getting proper moisture, as well as they will go potty in the water. they may come out as they warm up, they may not. It's fine either way, the important part is that soak. Pat them dry with paper towel and put them in the warmest part of their enclosure.

Get some Kale or chard and chop it up into small bits (half the size of your pinky nail). feed them that and supplement with mazuri in a mash (consistency of peanut butter). thepellets are hard for hatchlings to chew and adding the moisture is again very important for their little bodies. They may not eat today or for a couple days, but keep offering the food. Depending on when they hatched they will likely still have some of the absorbed yolk to keep them going for up to 2 weeks. They WILL eat once they're comfortable and hungry.

I'm going to attach the PDF that I sent home with all of the people who adopted our sulcatas when we were breeding. It has a lot of good info in it. and should help. I'm also available for questions and advice.

Good luck!

 

[Emma_Bruffy]

This is the setup right now, they still have an egg tooth so I think they are new hatchlings. They actually did move from the spot I put them to under the heat light, but now they are sleeping under it. For some reason byc isn't letting me put pics up so I'll just film a short video and share the YouTube link. Thanks for the help, I'm so new to this

 

[Emma_Bruffy]

Ok it posted, I soaked them and they didn't really move while being soaked, it looked like they were sleeping. I gave them some small chopped up kale, one ate one bite but the other ate like 5 bites

 

[Emma_Bruffy]

The tub is pushed into a metal dog crate by the way. The heat lamp and uvb lamp are attached to the top at about 15 inches off the substrate

 

[azurbanclucker]

OK first off those terracotta dishes are way too big and too deep for the size of the enclosure and your torts. If they climb in they'll get stuck. I would use butter dish lids or some kind of smaller lid with half the depth of what you have until they're a year old or double their size. One for food, one for water. And soak them separately.

Example for one: This is a 4-ish inch wide lid from a panko bread crumb container. Perfect size for food and water. They're gonna tip it. It's the way of things. Keep the water topped off and feed them once a day at a regular time. they'll figure it out. They'll also graze on the substrate. Again, this is normal.

Which bulbs do you have in the lights right now? Is one a UV and one heat? Do you have a thermometer in there? Ground temp needs to be 70F or above at all times. Ideally 80-85 in winter and 75-80 in summer. You don't need the whole floor to be that warm, but definitely put a heating pad under their sleeping area. Your basking area should be about 95F so figure out how close you need the heat lamp to be to keep one area that warm away from the sleeping area.

Aside from that, keep up on the soaks, give them a couple days to acclimate, and check on them periodically. The fact that they got up and moved to a warm spot on their own is a good sign, they'll adjust.

 

[Emma_Bruffy]

It's an aquaculture 10.0 uvb bulb and a aquaculture 75 watt heat bulb

 

[Emma_Bruffy]

Right now the temp is 80 and the humidity is 55%

 

[azurbanclucker]

Right now the temp is 80 and the humidity is 55%

That'll do.