Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is a baby I usually dont by red tails but for a Columbian I thought the colors on this one were really cool well see if it stays that way. Anyway how long would you recommend before you would try to feed him? I dont want to stress him by offering the food to soon before he acclimates. Also he doesnt use the hides he has a hide in the hot end as well as the cool end. He just huddles in one corner what can I do to help him acclimate? Thanks for your help.

I'm not sure how long you've had your new animal but it doesn't really take that long for it to acclimate as you may think. Just because you have hides in both hot and cool temperature areas doesn't necessarily mean they are at the correct temperature. Maybe the corner where it's hanging out is the proper temperature so you may want to place one of the hides there. I have many animals that never use a hide. I'm also not sure if you bought the animal locally at a pet shop or if it was shipped to you. Shipping is much more traumatic than a ride home in the car. Either way waiting a maximum of two days after you got it should be sufficient for feeding purposes if you've left it alone to acclimate with minimal handling. If you're still concerned about feeding it's not a bad idea to start off with a smaller than usual food item and be sure not to handle afterwards for two days and even then not for an excessive amount of time. If the animal is healthy with proper husbandry conditions it should be fine.