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Hey, what's going on guys? Welcome to another episode of Camp Kennon. Today we're going to do something a little bit different than previous episodes. I'm actually going to answer the five most popular questions that we get on the Camp Kennon channel videos. So stick around because on the other side of the intro, I'm going to answer your questions. This is Camp Kennon. The first question we get all the time here at Camp Kenan is why does my tortoise sleep all the time? Well, there's a couple of reasons why tortoises sleep. Some reasons are good. They're
part of the animals behavior. Some, however, could be because the animal's sick. Let's start with normal behavior and what to look for. Right now, we're outside. It is extremely hot. Tortois most of the time are kpuscular. Now, kpuscular means that animals are active at dawn and dusk. And that's because the temperatures are cooler for them to move around because we know that they're reptiles and their body temperature is the same as their surroundings. So, they have to do behavioral things to kind of make their bodies feel good. Now, one is get out of the sun when they're too
hot. That's what these radiated tortoise are doing right now. They're in a nice shady tree. They're cooling down. Another reason tortoises sleep or hide all the time is because they'll burrow down into your substrate that you may have for them. And that's because they're looking for something called a microclimate. That means that if it's very dry at the surface, if they dig down a little bit into the soil, it's actually more humid and it feels better for them. They feels good on their skin. It's like going to the spa. So, what you need to do is see if this is normal behavior.
One thing I recommend is give a light misting in your terrarium or enclosure. And that sometimes stimulates the tortoises to wake up because they know after a rain it's cooler, more humid. It's a good time to move around, even if they're a desert species. Remember, desert species encounter rain from time to time. Also, they'll come out whenever the temps drop. So, that's one reason. Check and see if it's behavioral or if you notice your tortoise never comes out or is always basking or always hiding, never doing anything else in between, then I would be concerned and I want to
make sure that the animal was healthy. And I would uh recommend you take it to a herp qualified vet or someone that knows about reptiles that you can have them look at it and make sure there's no pathogens or viruses or anything that might be making the animal sick and thus keeping it lethargic. But for the most part, your tortoise is going to sleep a lot. And another thing, guys, before I go on this question, make sure that if you have baby tortoises, they sleep a lot. Babies sleep a lot. They also hide a lot because they're afraid of becoming food. So,
watch out for that as well. Let's get on to the next location and the next question. Well, the next question we get is kind of related to the first, and that has to do with the animals behavior. Why is my animal not eating? Now, there's a lot of reasons why it's not eating or drinking, and there are a few that could be problematic. First things first, if you just got a baby tortoise or a new tortoise, it may still just be getting used to its new habitat. And that happens. Now, believe it or not, tortoises have extremely long digestive tracks, and they can
keep food in there so long that they can extract a lot of nutrients from very low nutrient-rich food. So, they don't need to eat every single day. So, if you got a tortoise on a Monday and it didn't eat for a full week, I wouldn't be that concerned. Now, if it goes beyond that, that's when you have to start wondering, is there something wrong with the animal? Uh, did I just get it? Is it getting acclimated? Or was my animal eating a lot and then just stopped? So, first thing is it could be an animal that hibernates. So, if you have any of the European tortoises uh or box turtles, those
animals do go into a hibernation. So, if you're living up north and the temperatures have cooled off, these animals know that and start to stop eating. Does that make sense? Sure does. Start to stop eating. The other thing is that it could just be sick. Now, if it's sick, you're going to want to make sure you get your pet to a qualified reptile vet. I can't stress that enough. I know little tricks, but I don't feel safe to tell you guys all the tricks because it's more important that you get the animal to a qualified vet. Now, as far as the not drinking thing, there are a lot
of false rumors about tortoises that come from desert areas like the sculcata here that you see. Uh they say that they don't need water, and that couldn't be further from the truth. You should always do soaking for your baby tortoises at least twice a week for 10 to 15 minutes or until the animal defecates inside of a little shallow water dish. You're also going to want to make sure there's always fresh, clean water available for him. Now, if it's not drinking, it can't open its eyes, that is a clear indication that something is wrong with the animal. Anytime a tortoise is not
opening its eyes, that's a problem. Go to a vet. And that's what we'll leave it at. So, there's a couple of reasons why your animal may not be eating or drinking, but this one has no problems. We're going to let him go and finish up this hibiscus. The next question I always get is, can I come down there and visit or can I volunteer? And this is a tough one. I wish I could have everybody come visit and help me out here at Camp Kennedy. But the fact is that my facility is at my home. And we have this thing in the grown-up world called insurance. And uh well, insurance doesn't want me to operate as a public facility. So I have
to respect the insurance because that's what keeps me in my home. And I also have to respect the law about not operating a public business here in a residential area. However, I do have really exciting news. I work closely with the Bush Wildlife Sanctuary, which you guys have seen videos on the show. And we are going to be doing a small section of Bush Wildlife. That is a little Camp Kennon section. So, what I'd recommend is if you're ever going to be down in Jupiter, Florida, which is in South Florida, head on over to the Bush Wildlife Sanctuary. Visit them at bushw
wildlife.org. o rg and become a volunteer there because I'm always there. I always love to help out and hopefully we'll have a camp kennon that you can visit with some amazing rhino iguanas and different species of tortoises right there for the whole of the public to enjoy. That's coming soon. He's not a volunteer. I promise it's my buddy Kyle. You may remember him from some of the crocodile videos. He's got a really cool facility just down the road. Now, the next question on the list is, "Kenon, do you worry about predators?" And absolutely I do. In my early days, I lost a
lot of eggs to raccoons. They are smart, they're wily, and they can do a lot of damage to both the eggs and young tortoises. So, what I've done is I've taken the best precautions I can to stop groundbased attacks. Okay? So raccoons, they climb over the fence at night and they just have a smoresborg with my tortoise eggs. So what I did is I put three electric wires up along the entire 2 and 1/2 acres. So if a raccoon comes over, he's going to get a little rude awakening. I don't like to kill any animals, but I sure don't mind shocking the heck out of some raccoons trying
to feed off my little babies. The other thing you have to look out for are crows. Now, they're tougher to combat. So, the crows I just try and scare away, but you're going to get some problems with eggs being eaten. The thing I recommend to you, though, is to make sure if you have baby turtles or baby tortoises that they live in a nice predator proof enclosure. I've actually had baby tortoises in this one. Right now, it's Solomon, my monkeytail skink. And obviously, this keeps him here at Camp Cannon, but it also keeps him safe because he would be an
easy picking for a really hungry hawk or a hungry raccoon. So my recommendation is for any animal, any baby tortoise, you want to make sure you have completely enclosed predator proof habitat. So yeah, definitely worry about the my little guys getting eaten. So you just do the best you can. Now, the final question made me and my family laugh because so many people think and ask me, "Am I rich?" And I had to really think about that one. I'm definitely not rich in money, but I've been fortunate enough to have a fun job that did pay me well enough that I can afford this home. And I have to tell you, I am rich. I'm rich in spirit. I'm rich in
ideas. And I'm rich because I get to spend my life with these animals. And here's the kicker, guys. Any one of you can do it, too. It's just a matter of staying passionate about something you love, following through, and being okay with being poor if you're doing something you love. My dad once taught me, it's not about following the money, it's about following your passion, and the money will find you. So, I'm not rich in money, but I am definitely the ruler of my tortoise and reptile kingdom. So, that answers hopefully all your questions.
But, you know, now that I think of it, I'm sure you've got tons more. So, I'll tell you what we're going to do in the comment section below. Why don't you ask questions? Go nuts, guys, because at the end of the season, we're going to pick out the next top five questions based on the comment section below. Thanks so much for spending some time with me here at Camp Kennon. I really enjoy communicating with you all. So, I'm going to go up survey my kingdom and I'll be talking to you again soon. Stick around next week, another new video. I'll see you later.
