New Horsefeild Tortoise (Plymouth England)

[Tortoise Tom]

Hello I am a new tortoise owner I have acquired a 3 year old horse field off a friend who said he didn't have time t look after it. I have tried to read up on them as much as possible but it's all so confusing. So any help would be greatly approciated . I don't know much back ground information on him but he keeps going into his bedroom and doesn't want to come out I have checked that the tortoise table is warm it's currently at 85 degrees fare hits directly under the lamp. He's also not eating I have tried a veriaty of foods for him salads etc. I think he may want to hibernate, the lady in the local pet shop said that he wouldn't want to hibernate as he has the correct heat and they only do this when it gets cold. But as I have no experiance with tortoises I am unsure. I gave him a soak in warm water this afternoon and cleaned his table, he stayed out for a little while then went straight back into his bedroom .

thanks for reading again any help would be brilliant Tom

 

[Lyn W]

Hi Tom and welcome from another UK member
if you can post pics of your torts enclosure then that will help experienced members help you to make changes that could be affecting your tort's behaviour.
To start with if you have any coiled or long thin loop type bulbs the remove asap as these damage torts eyes so they hide away from them. What are you using for night heat?
There is a caresheet for Russians (Horsefields) in the Species Specific section which will tell you all about diet, substrate, temps humidity etc ( www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is also good to ID tort safe plants for food and enclosures)
The Beginners Mistakes will tell you what to avoid
The Enclosures thread will give you great ideas fro a happy tort home.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

I am in England I have attached a couple of pictures with this post .

Thanks for the reply will read the other posts right away

 

[naffee1990]

Hey there has the tort been hiding as youve got it in a new house ??

 

[Lyn W]

Just a few quick questions
Is that straw or sphagnum moss in the hide?
What are you using for substrate?
Do you have night heat?
Is that a uvb bulb if so what sort?

Sorry for the interrogation but it all helps figure out whats going on with the little one.

 

[naffee1990]

Get rid of the sawdust as it can cause respitory problems and the light should be more central in the table also it it a mercury vapour bulb ??

 

[Speedy-1]

Hi and welcome !

 

[Tortoise Tom]

It is a new house for him.
In the hide it's: aspen bedding reptile terrarium substrate
The substrate in the rest is: Komodo tortoise Eco terrain
He doesn't have any heat at night and I leave the lamp on for about 13 hours a day.
The bulb is: solar glo 125 watt uv light heat.
All of this came with him .

It doesn't say any thing about Mercury vapour on the box the bulb came in.

I will move his lamp more central right away

What do you think within regards to hibernating ?

Thanks Tom

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Tom, and welcome to the Forum!

It would be a good idea to buy one of those point-and-shoot temperature thingeys (I sure wish I could ever remember what they're called). You will need to measure the temperature all over the floor of the habitat.

Be thinking about getting a bigger indoor habitat. Russian tortoises, even though they're a small species, need a lot of room.

Most of the time, because tortoises are territorial, it really stresses them to be moved out of their territory and plunked down in a new territory. That might be one reason for the hiding. The other thing is yes, it's time for them to hibernate. Since you sound like you don't want that to happen, then (after you've made sure your temperatures are good all over the floor) every time you walk by the habitat, take him out and place him in front of the food...or in the water. Don't allow him to hide all day.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

Thanks for the advice will grab a temperature gun from work tomorrow . What sort of temps am I looking for I was thinking around 80 , I will look to get a bigger enclosure . It's the same enclosure he has lived in would the move still unsettle him. Sorry if some of these questions sound silly, it's just there so much info that contradicts it's self. Ok I will do that, as I have read it's not necessary for them to hibernate I would like to hibernate him in the future but once I know he has na good healthy diet etc .

 

[Yvonne G]

With a full grown or bigger-than-baby Russian, it should be about 100F directly under the light fading to about 80F on one end and room temperature on the other end. Besides not enough floor space, that's another reason you need a bigger container for the habitat. It's hard to get a temperature gradient from one end to the other in a smaller enclosure.

 

[Lyn W]

It's a digital temp gun Yvonne is talking about they are great for spot checking temps. I bought mine from Amazon for about £8 - don't know if B&Q etc sell them.
If there is sand and /or white bits in your substrate then that really isn't recommended because if ingested on food etc it can cause the gut to become impacted which can be painful and mean an expensive trip to the vets. See what the caresheet recommends ( pellets aren't any good either)
I'm not sure about the aspen bedding it may be too dry for a Russian but see what other Russian keepers say.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

Ok brilliant thanks for all the advice everyone lots to do and check

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Tom

 

[MaryandTrouble]

Welcome! I'm fairly new to the forum and to tortoise life as well. So I love meeting other people who are new as well as we can all share things as we learn them!

 

[Tortoise Tom]

Welcome! I'm fairly new to the forum and to tortoise life as well. So I love meeting other people who are new as well as we can all share things as we learn them!

Hay what what species of tortoise do you have ? If you have a horse field what substrate are you using ?

 

[Tortoise Tom]

Hello everyone I've been reading about the amount of light Russian tortoise require as you can see further down in the thread I have picture of his tortoise table a little small will be making a bigger one . Do you think he'd benefit from another light source , thinking maybe a tube light down the centre ? Also I am worried about temperatures at night as I love in the uk and it's getting cold what sources do people use to provide a heat over night ? Thanks for reading Tom

 

[GeorgeUK]

Welcome Tom, from another UK (Preston) based member
You'll find so much information on here & the people are great too!

 

[Tortoise Tom]

Welcome Tom, from another UK (Preston) based member
You'll find so much information on here & the people are great too!

Yeah so helpful ! Do you provide your torts with over night heat? And what first do you feed them ? Good to hear from another uk based member

 

[Lyn W]

Welcome Tom, from another UK (Preston) based member
You'll find so much information on here & the people are great too!

I know Preston well George, my sister went to Harris College/Poly/Uni (whatever its called these days) and my BiL is from Leyland spent a lot of time up that way before they moved away. There is another new member from your area but can't remember her name at mo.