I don't think Buddy is eating

[Polly]

We've had Buddy a month now and i have not seen him eating at all. I have seen similar threads on here but I still don't know if this is 'normal'.
He has a table with coconut coir substrate which is dampened every other day.His basking area is typically 35 degrees for 15 hours on a timer and cool area drops to 15 degrees on a cold day like today. His sleeping area is kept to around 20 degrees on a thermostat.
The table is planted out with an assortment of succulents, cress and a rosemary that he likes to climb on.
He has fresh mixed salad leaves (lambs lettuce, lollo frisse and rosso, rocket, pea shoots etc, and Christmas cactus leaves and cuttlefish bone available all the time and refreshed a couple of times a day.
He has a warm bath and an opportunity explore away from his table everyday which he seems to appreciate. he is sociable and inquisitive and likes to be handled. He'll lean into a head and neck rub and if he want you to stop, he'll push fingers out of the way or walk off.
I did see evidence some time ago of the cress being eaten but not in the past few days and we have never seen him eat and never taken food from out fingers, which puzzles me as so many people say how driven by fod their tortoise is, some to the point of being greedy.
He scatters the food as he climbs over and through it but the leaves don't appear bitten. The colour and texture of the substrate makes it near impossible to see if he is passing any waste, although most days he'll pass water while out and exploring so i know he isn't dehydrated.
is it normal for a tortoise to eat so little, or nothing at this time of year, or am i doing something wrong.
Thanks for your help, or assurance
Neurotic first time tortoise mum x

 

[Yvonne G]

15C and 20C are both way too cold for a young tortoise. Buy a CHE:



(Ceramic Heat Emitter) and keep it on all the time. You may even have to cover buddy's habitat to keep the cold air from the house out and the warm air inside. Tortoises won't eat if they can't warm up their inner core to at least 80F.

What kind of light do you have over the habitat?

 

[Polly]

Hi Yvonne,
we have a heater under the sleeping area and part of the outer area with the thermostat in the sleeping area set at 20 degrees (I've just measured the sleeping area at 24). I understood the sleeping area needed to be cooler than the basking area. The basking area has a heat lamp and UV lamp and slate coasters to help retain heat. He does wander between the different areas and seems lively enough, basking on the slates and sleeping in the dark area.
If i turned up the thermostat and moved the heater a little more under the living area, would that help? we could cover part of the living area but, that would make it darker and would it heat the sleeping area too much?

 

[Yvonne G]

Actually "under" heat really isn't all that good. It only seems to heat up the substrate. The tortoise needs to live in a warm environment, not a warm substrate with cold air around him. You have to figure out how to heat from above and cover the whole thing, lights and all, so the lights and CHE are UNDER the cover.

Here's one of my "hokey" covers: