I got my iccul marginaed tortoise on saturday and brought him home safe and he is now in his new home ! I decided to call my new tortoise Skippy ! as i have no idea what sex he is as he is still too younge to tell .

Skippy is still spending a lot of time hiding and sleeping but also he is not eating to much and doesnt go under his basking lamp much and im slightly worried that he may get too cold ! Most times when i go to check him he is stone cold ! so i put him uder the heat lamp . am i doing the right thing ? Are they like oter animals and sleep a lot when they are babies ? e.g like a puppy would.

thnx ! !

xox

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I have rather large Leopards so I dont know about babies. However any tortoise will need a settling in period - they do get stressed and can stop eating when they are moved.

I'm sure Tina and some of the others will be able to advise you more about diet temps ect.

Congrats on your new tort - Skippy is a lovely name

They can take a good few days to settle in so I wouldn't worry too much at this stage. I'd wake him up in the morning and pop him under the basking light until he learns to do this for himself - which he will - it's just a strange environment for him at the moment. They do need to warm up before they will eat - what temps do you have under the basking area and at the cool end of the table/viv? What sort of diet are you giving him and is it different to what he was eating before you got him? If it is then it will take a little while for him to readjust.

Little ones do spend a lot of time sleeping... mine wakes up, basks, has something to eat, digs down and sleeps all afternoon indoors but is far more active outdoors. Now the good weather is here you should provide a safe, predator free enclosure outside and you'll find that he'll be a lot more active.

Are you bathing him in lukewarm water every day as well? This, along with keeping them hydrated and encouraging them to pass urates and poo, sometimes encourages them to eat afterwards.

Good luck with Skippy - post us some pics when you can - we all love admiring each others torts.

Oh and by the way we all worry ourselves silly over the smallest of things so we won't find any questions you have odd.

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Oohh thnx guys

no i havnt been bathing them everyday ! i thought u only did that once a week !! right well i will be giving him bath every night now

skippy is starting to eat a little more now im so pleased that his cos it was worying me soo much ! skippy still sleeping a lot tho but i dont mind him sleeping a lot i was just getting worried that he wasnt eating enough and was going to get dehydrated.

will post some pics of little skippy once i get my camera back of my friend who is currently borrowing it.

thnx !!

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You need to bath young torts everyday in handwarm water, adults can be bathed once a week, but youngsters can get dehydrated really easily.

Yes young torts do sleep a fair bit so I wouldn't worry too much. Mine are much more active when they are in the garden on a lovely sunny day, this last weekend they were still on the go at 8pm!

I have to ask, what does iccul in your first post mean?!!!

Isn't that what Ashley Peacock in Corrie says !!!!

Sorry I don't get it... Am I being thick!

I think she means little... though I don't watch Coronation Street so don't know who says it on that

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Not soap addicts then girls!!!

As Tina says - it means little

I watch Corrie... I'm watching Emmerdale right at the moment!!

I can see it now, though you see I would have put ikkle!