pavlvsrex
New Member
Hello. This is a long one. I'm trying to care for two young tortoises about the size of a full hand in my garden in Istanbul Turkey over the winter. They were given to me by a former neighbour in the middle of summer. I've seen many larger tortoises (native to this part of the world) living quite happily in apartment block gardens in this city, however my two are quite small and I was worried about their hibernation (or freezing to death in a city where decent snowfall is not uncommon).
Over the summer and autumn they were quite happy plodding about in the rather large garden. I offered them herbivore tortoise pellets which they refused, however they ate foliage in the garden and greens I tossed their way as well as a bit of fruit here and there. As it got much colder (5 to 7C) I noticed they had both stopped eating, but were still slowly pottering about and not making any effort to dig a hideaway.
Recently I noticed that the smallest had buried itself under leaf litter rather than dig a hole, and the slightly larger one was moving 30cms a day across the garden despite 3 to 5C temps and heavy rain. Then he stopped moving for a few days.
We were then advised that construction work may begin in the garden quite soon and the apartment block may have to be demolished due to it having failed an earthquake resilience test. I was also concerned that the caretaker would gather the leaves (and tortoise) to throw in the bin (no amount of reminding him would be enough. They just don't care here) so a few days ago I bought a little crate and some fresh soil to keep them in on our glassed off balcony (always above freezing, between 5 and 10C usually) as the temps here were expected to drop below zero. I put a shallow tray of fresh water but no food. Both seemed to be asleep at the time.
Yesterday I noticed that one had been turned upside down, and the other was wide awake despite temps of about 7 degrees. The upside down one had floppy legs and a tucked in head and was unresponsive. There has been no change today. I've offered food to the woken up fellow, but his bigger friend is still limp. My question is essentially did I screw up by taking in the non-hibernating tortoise?; and, how can I see if he's still alive? There is no smell emanating from him, and no discharge at all.
I really appreciate any advice. I'd much rather leave them in the garden to fend for themselves but didn't want to have them thrown in the bin or worse, concreted over for a new car park over the winter.
Thanks
PN
Over the summer and autumn they were quite happy plodding about in the rather large garden. I offered them herbivore tortoise pellets which they refused, however they ate foliage in the garden and greens I tossed their way as well as a bit of fruit here and there. As it got much colder (5 to 7C) I noticed they had both stopped eating, but were still slowly pottering about and not making any effort to dig a hideaway.
Recently I noticed that the smallest had buried itself under leaf litter rather than dig a hole, and the slightly larger one was moving 30cms a day across the garden despite 3 to 5C temps and heavy rain. Then he stopped moving for a few days.
We were then advised that construction work may begin in the garden quite soon and the apartment block may have to be demolished due to it having failed an earthquake resilience test. I was also concerned that the caretaker would gather the leaves (and tortoise) to throw in the bin (no amount of reminding him would be enough. They just don't care here) so a few days ago I bought a little crate and some fresh soil to keep them in on our glassed off balcony (always above freezing, between 5 and 10C usually) as the temps here were expected to drop below zero. I put a shallow tray of fresh water but no food. Both seemed to be asleep at the time.
Yesterday I noticed that one had been turned upside down, and the other was wide awake despite temps of about 7 degrees. The upside down one had floppy legs and a tucked in head and was unresponsive. There has been no change today. I've offered food to the woken up fellow, but his bigger friend is still limp. My question is essentially did I screw up by taking in the non-hibernating tortoise?; and, how can I see if he's still alive? There is no smell emanating from him, and no discharge at all.
I really appreciate any advice. I'd much rather leave them in the garden to fend for themselves but didn't want to have them thrown in the bin or worse, concreted over for a new car park over the winter.
Thanks
PN