8 week old Russian tortoise not eating

[Net04]

Hello-

A very young Russian Tortoise, nearly two-months-old, joined our family two weeks ago. The tortoise, Largo, spends nearly all of its time hiding and pretty much never basks. I believe it is too cold and therefore will not eat. I am certain that Largo has not eaten a bite of food since we brough him/her home. We have a zoomed mercury vapor uva/uvb bulb, so I a confident that It has what it needs to warm itself and stimulate digestion/appetite. We have also soaked Largo for 15 minutes a day since we brought him/her home. Oh, and I check Largo's enclosure for poop several times a day and I have not found any. Largo came from a responsible hobby breeder, so I know he/she was thriving when we got him/her.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome!

If you cover Largo's enclosure, the heat from the light will penetrate to inside the hiding place and he will be warm enough.

Call the breeder to ask what foods they offered. Then you should offer those same foods. Chop up the food into small pieces and after his soak in the a.m. place him in front of the food then quickly step out of his sight. Everytime you walk by the enclosure, take him out of the hiding place and place him in front of the food. It's all new and scary to him. He's prey and has no idea if its safe for him to be out in the open or not. You can also try placing the feeder right in front of the opening to the hiding place so he doesn't have to fully expose himself to eat.

 

[wellington]

What are the temps? Guessing or assuming doesn't work. I temp gun works great and they are not expensive. A tortoise has to bask under a heat source that reads 90-100 at tort level or they can not digest their food properly and will not eat. These temps need to be known.

 

[Net04]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I forgot to mention that he was eating kale before he came to live with us. I had been putting fresh kale in twice a day.

The temp on the basking rock is reading at 96 degrees, and his hiding hut temp is is just above 67 degrees (taken when the light was on).

The good news is that as soon as I made my original post Largo decided to eat two fresh dandelion leaves and several bites of kale. Ahhhh! Just like my Son, as soon as we decide an illness warrants a visit to the pediatrician, he is fine.

Hopefully he will continue to eat...I am guessing Largo was just stressed.

If you have any other tips for raising a baby tortoise I would love to read them. We read as much as we could before Largo hatched and was ready to live with us, but real life experience is far more valuable.

Thanks again!

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome,
They do take a little while to settle in after change.
Kale alone is not a good diet for any tort. They need a varied diet including weeds like the dandelions he enjoyed. (make sure they are from safe chemical free areas)
If you haven't already seen it have a look at the caresheet for Russians which tell you all about diet, temps, humidity and substrate etc.
www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is a good guide to tort safe plants for food and enclosures.
The Beginners Mistakes thread (link below) will help you and the Enclosures thread is full of good ideas.
Ask as many questions as you need someone will soon reply.

 

[Jodie]

I keep baby enclosures warmer than that. I agree with Yvonne, and think he will do better if you trap more heat in with him. The low in my enclosures is about 75F.