E Hermann's no longer eating and it keeps trying to get out

[Oobleckof1898]

Hello, we have a Eastern Hermann's yearling for about a month now, and for the past week it's been trying to climb out of its box, and just ignores its food. During it's first 2 weeks it was eating, basking, and digging whenever it thought no one was looking, but now it spends all its waking hours pacing and clawing against the walls and trying to climb out the corners regardless if it sees us. I tried to change the arrangement of its box but that only seemed to make him (I'm assuming it's male) more 'eager' to escape.
He's less than 5 inches long, his box is 5 feet by 2 feet, his basking spot is 89-95 degrees F and has a Reptisun 5.0 UVB bulb, I use reptibark as the substrate, I cycle between Spring Mix, Dandelion greens, and Collared Greens for his diet with Calcium supplements and Vitamins, and soak him twice a week. The only real correlation I can think of is that last weekend I bathed him outside of his box to wash dust off his shell, so I either scared him too much, or excited him about the world outside his box.

 

[Tom]

What type of UV bulb? Tube type or cfl screw in type?

 

[Oobleckof1898]

What type of UV bulb? Tube type or cfl screw in type?

Cfl screw-in

 

[Minority2]

Cfl screw-in

It could be clawing, trying to get away from that light. Those things can permanently blind tortoises.

 

[Tom]

Cfl screw-in

Those sometimes burn their eyes. Some tortoise try to hide from them, and others try to run. Get rid of that bulb ASAP. They are poor sources of UV anyway and the 5.0 type make almost no UV anyway.

Show us a pic of your enclosure for more tips and give this a read for current and correct care info:

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

 

[Oobleckof1898]

It could be clawing, trying to get away from that light. Those things can permanently blind tortoises.

what UVB light would you recommend then?

 

[Minority2]

what UVB light would you recommend then?

T5 florescent long-tubed shaped reptile rated uv(B) bulbs like the T5 reptisun 10.0 or the Arcadia 12%.

 

[Oobleckof1898]

Those sometimes burn their eyes. Some tortoise try to hide from them, and others try to run. Get rid of that bulb ASAP. They are poor sources of UV anyway and the 5.0 type make almost no UV anyway.

Show us a pic of your enclosure for more tips and give this a read for current and correct care info:

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

Again the overall space is 5ft by 2 ft, the cardboard in the scond pic is there to create a hiding spot for the cool side, The lamp on the left is a ceramic heat emitter for night time, the middle is its basking light, and the right lamp is the UVB bulb.

 

[Minority2]

Again the overall space is 5ft by 2 ft, the cardboard in the scond pic is there to create a hiding spot for the cool side, The lamp on the left is a ceramic heat emitter for night time, the middle is its basking light, and the right lamp is the UVB bulb.

Never use clamps. Clamps will eventually always fail. Plenty of stories about failing clamps and dead tortoises on the internet if you wish to look for them. Get rid of them and use something a lot more reliable like a dedicated metal stand or wood stand.

Lamp fixtures should be faced directly below the tortoise, preferably above 10-12 inches to prevent the light from shining in their eyes. Fix that.

Humidity should be at least 80% and above for a pre-adult tortoise. Adult tortoises while may not need as much humidity can still benefit from having high humidity levels. Have the cardboard completely cover the entire top of the enclosure to keep stable temperature and humidity levels. Cut out sections to allow lamp fixtures to shine through. That will save a lot of time from having to constantly raise the humidity level up.

The grey resin dish is a flipping hazard. As is the metal rectangular one because of it's lack of weight. Buy something heavy like a terracotta plant saucer instead.

 

[Oobleckof1898]

Never use clamps. Clamps will eventually always fail. Plenty of stories about failing clamps and dead tortoises on the internet if you wish to look for them. Get rid of them and use something a lot more reliable like a dedicated metal stand or wood stand.

Lamp fixtures should be faced directly below the tortoise, preferably above 10-12 inches to prevent the light from shining in their eyes. Fix that.

Humidity should be at least 80% and above for a pre-adult tortoise. Adult tortoises while may not need as much humidity can still benefit from having high humidity levels. Have the cardboard completely cover the entire top of the enclosure to keep stable temperature and humidity levels. Cut out sections to allow lamp fixtures to shine through. That will save a lot of time from having to constantly raise the humidity level up.

The grey resin dish is a flipping hazard. As is the metal rectangular one because of it's lack of weight. Buy something heavy like a terracotta plant saucer instead.

How would I prop up the lights though?

 

[Minority2]

How would I prop up the lights though?

There's a bunch of different options.
1. small metal linked chains.
2. bungee cord.
3. hooks.
4. zip-ties

Pretty anything that is capable of holding the weight of the individual lamp fixture would be fine. Build a wood stand and connect it from one side to the other and then hang your fixtures overhead support that's connected to both stands.

 

[Tom]

How would I prop up the lights though?

You make an overhead bar with 2x4s or PVC and hang the fixtures from that.

In any case, turn the cfl off immediately. They can go weeks with no UV while you sort this out. Get him out in the sun in a safe enclosure for UV in the meantime. A couple hours a week is all you need.

All of this is explained in the care sheet.

 

[Oobleckof1898]

You make an overhead bar with 2x4s or PVC and hang the fixtures from that.

In any case, turn the cfl off immediately. They can go weeks with no UV while you sort this out. Get him out in the sun in a safe enclosure for UV in the meantime. A couple hours a week is all you need.

All of this is explained in the care sheet.

May I have some pictures of overhead setups as examples please? I'm not the most handiest of individuals to be honest, the box was the first time carpentry project I've even done.

 

[Oobleckof1898]

Quick Status Update, turned off the UVB light, brought Cantaloupe (my tortoise) outside for some sunlight for 40 min ish then brought him back in. He seems less frantic and is eating again for now.

 

[KarenSoCal]

May I have some pictures of overhead setups as examples please? I'm not the most handiest of individuals to be honest, the box was the first time carpentry project I've even done.

Here are a couple examples.
You basically build this out of 2x4's or PVC pipe and fittings.


Or this guy did it like this...


And finally...

 

[Oobleckof1898]

Quick update number 2: Cantaloupe will still eat when presented food and sleeps normally, but he still spends most of his time awake pacing the walls and climbing the corners even with the UVB light turned completely off ever since the start of this thread....

 

[Canadian Mojo]

I had luck with interrupting the line of sight along long walls with our Redfoot. My hypothesis is that he feels too open and exposed if he can see a long distance.

...That or it's a case of "screw you gramps, I want to see what's on the other side of this wall."

More cover for your guy might be the solution since, by all accounts, they really like to hide when they're young, and a couple plants, etc. near the walls will help create an nice closed in feeling for him.

 

[Minority2]

I had luck with interrupting the line of sight along long walls with our Redfoot. My hypothesis is that he feels too open and exposed if he can see a long distance.

...That or it's a case of "screw you gramps, I want to see what's on the other side of this wall."

More cover for your guy might be the solution since, by all accounts, they really like to hide when they're young, and a couple plants, etc. near the walls will help create an nice closed in feeling for him.

I don't think tortoises are worried about being too open and exposed in a captive environment because they can always return to their hides or burrow if needed. I think it has more to do with feeling closed off because of the short width of the enclosure. They know they're trapped and want to escape.

 

[Oobleckof1898]

I don't think tortoises are worried about being too open and exposed in a captive environment because they can always return to their hides or burrow if needed. I think it has more to do with feeling closed off because of the short width of the enclosure. They know they're trapped and want to escape.

So I would assume that the solutions would to be either build a bigger box and or let him outside more? Have any methods on how I can carry my tort without scaring him too much? I get the feeling he doesn't liked getting picked up too often so how can I make the experience less stressing for him?

 

[KarenSoCal]

Pick him up and put him against your chest. His feet will be against you, so he won't feel like he's dangling in mid-air.