Is my tortoise still settling in?

[KieranAmy]

Hi, I bought a baby (6 month) horsfield tortoise 2 days ago (Thursday) and I’m worried he’s not eating as he should. Between now and then he has had a couple of bites of a dandelion head and that’s about it.

He has been offered several foods from dandelions to multi leaf lettuce and prickly pear but doesn’t seem too interested?

Is this still a settling in thing or should I be worried?

Please feel free to ask any other questions relevant

 

[zovick]

Hi, I bought a baby (6 month) horsfield tortoise 2 days ago (Thursday) and I’m worried he’s not eating as he should. Between now and then he has had a couple of bites of a dandelion head and that’s about it.

He has been offered several foods from dandelions to multi leaf lettuce and prickly pear but doesn’t seem too interested?

Is this still a settling in thing or should I be worried?

Please feel free to ask any other questions relevant

It can take several days to a couple of weeks or more for tortoises to get used to a new environment. Just keep soaking the tortoise in lukewarm water daily for 15-20 minutes, then place it in front of a pile of food. If it is in god health, it will eventually begin to eat and act normally.

 

[KieranAmy]

It can take several days to a couple of weeks or more for tortoises to get used to a new environment. Just keep soaking the tortoise in lukewarm water daily for 15-20 minutes, then place it in front of a pile of food. If it is in god health, it will eventually begin to eat and act normally.

Yeah we have been bathing daily and he seems to liven up at bathtime, but not too interested in good at the moment

 

[zovick]

Yeah we have been bathing daily and he seems to liven up at bathtime, but not too interested in good at the moment

Just keep doing what I mentioned and all should work out in time if the animal was healthy from the start.

 

[KieranAmy]

Just keep doing what I mentioned and all should work out in time if the animal was healthy from the start.

How would I know if it was healthy ? Are there any checks that I can do at home that are good measures?

 

[zolasmum]

Yeah we have been bathing daily and he seems to liven up at bathtime, but not too interested in good at the moment

If you are not already doing so, I suggest you cut up his food quite small - the smell will be stronger, and it will be easier to manage for him
Angie

 

[KieranAmy]

Just keep doing what I mentioned and all should work out in time if the animal was healthy from the start.

How would I know if it was healthy ? Are there any checks that I can do at home that are good measures?

 

[TammyJ]

How would I know if it was healthy ? Are there any checks that I can do at home that are good measures?

How about some pictures?

 

[KieranAmy]

How about some pictures?

Hopefully that helps

 

[Tom]

Hi, I bought a baby (6 month) horsfield tortoise 2 days ago (Thursday) and I’m worried he’s not eating as he should. Between now and then he has had a couple of bites of a dandelion head and that’s about it.

He has been offered several foods from dandelions to multi leaf lettuce and prickly pear but doesn’t seem too interested?

Is this still a settling in thing or should I be worried?

Please feel free to ask any other questions relevant

Tell us more about your set up. What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and overnight low?

What substrate?

What heating and lighting equipment?

Pet shops are infamous for terrible care info and selling the wrong products. Here is the correct care info for your species:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

It has only been a couple of days, but if the environmental parameters are off, or if the lighting is wrong, the problem won't resolve itself. Questions are welcome.

 

[KieranAmy]

Tell us more about your set up. What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and overnight low?

What substrate?

What heating and lighting equipment?

Pet shops are infamous for terrible care info and selling the wrong products. Here is the correct care info for your species:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

It has only been a couple of days, but if the environmental parameters are off, or if the lighting is wrong, the problem won't resolve itself. Questions are welcome.

Okay I’ll try my best to answer as best I can be obviously I’ve only had a couple of days


Warm side - 27 degrees Celsius
Cool side - 21 degrees Celsius
Basking - 31 degrees Celsius
Overnight low I haven’t much checked but I imagine about 19-20 degrees Celsius

I live in a hot new build house that doesn’t get very cold

Substrate-

I am using pets at home tortoise terrain (link below)

https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/tortoise-terrain-10-litre

Heating and lighting -

This is the bulb I have been recommended and using currently

NEOREP Mercury Vapour Lamp 80W D3 Heat Light UVA UVB E26/27 Thread – Neo Reptile Products

www.neorep.net

 

[Tom]

Okay I’ll try my best to answer as best I can be obviously I’ve only had a couple of days


Warm side - 27 degrees Celsius
Cool side - 21 degrees Celsius
Basking - 31 degrees Celsius
Overnight low I haven’t much checked but I imagine about 19-20 degrees Celsius

I live in a hot new build house that doesn’t get very cold

Substrate-

I am using pets at home tortoise terrain (link below)

https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/tortoise-terrain-10-litre

Heating and lighting -

This is the bulb I have been recommended and using currently

NEOREP Mercury Vapour Lamp 80W D3 Heat Light UVA UVB E26/27 Thread – Neo Reptile Products

www.neorep.net

-Basking needs to be closer to 36-37.
-Warm side could be a little closer to 30 during the day.
-Mercury vapor bulbs are not a good way to go for several reasons.
-There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

-That substrate should never be used. Whoever thought it was a good idea to encourage tortoises to eat sandy substrate by putting little white bits of calcium in it should be flogged. That is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. You need to remove that ASAP.

Sadly, pet shops, vets, and online sources give terrible information and then sell you the wrong products. Here is the correct care info for you, and questions are welcome:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Marmar#1935]

Hi, I bought a baby (6 month) horsfield tortoise 2 days ago (Thursday) and I’m worried he’s not eating as he should. Between now and then he has had a couple of bites of a dandelion head and that’s about it.

He has been offered several foods from dandelions to multi leaf lettuce and prickly pear but doesn’t seem too interested?

Is this still a settling in thing or should I be worried?

Please feel free to ask any other questions relevant

Have you tried apples? Sweet potatoes? Raspberries or strawberries? They can only have it in moderation so once a week in small increments. We have a variety of tortoises and they love it! Little carrot sticks they love too in addition to the spring mix

 

[KieranAmy]

Have you tried apples? Sweet potatoes? Raspberries or strawberries? They can only have it in moderation so once a week in small increments. We have a variety of tortoises and they love it! Little carrot sticks they love too in addition to the spring mix

We have tried prickly pair, multi leaf lettuce, coriander, thyme, dandelion, rose petals. It doesn’t seem too interested.

Based off advice given here, I changed my substrate out for standard topsoil and have already seen a huge improvement. Still not eating but way more active