Hallo!

[Shirley the tortoise]

Hi

I'm Gareth, proud new owner of Shirley the Hermann tortoise, and I live in the UK. Shirley is eighteen months old.

I've had her a week in a tortoise table inside while I work on her outdoor run (still a bit cold to put her outside for another month so I have a bit of time). I bought the tortoise table from the breeder, she has a heat lamp giving reasonable temperature gradient, a little hut, water bowl, and a few rocks for interest/scrambling over. I've given her two baths since getting her.

I'm a bit worried about her though - she hasn't eaten since I got her. I've offered her the following:
Dandelion leaf
Grass
Strawberry leaf
Pansy foliage
Cabbage
Spinach
Lettuce
Mixed salad (including water cress)
Broccoli
Kale
Celery
Carrot peel
And a bit of mango out of desperation

She hasn't touched any of it. Is she just not eating due to her new surroundings or should I be worried? At what stage should I start to panic (i.e. How long is it safe for her to continue to not eat)?

Other than that, I love having a new tortoise.

Gareth

 

[Shirley the tortoise]

This is Shirley.

 

[Heather H]

Hi and welcome there is a great care sheet for Hermanni. What are your temps and humidity? Where did you get her? Can you ask them what she was eating? And try that. You can soak everyday for 15-20 minutes. They often won't eat if they are too hot or too cold.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hello Gareth welcome to the TFO from AZ, USA .If you could please tell us her temps cause my Hermanns would eat a log I think if I feed it to them .

 

[bouaboua]

Hello and Welcome! ! !Good to have you here! ! !

 

[Shirley the tortoise]

Temperature is around 30 in her basking zone, going down to around 20 at the end of her table. She's very active, drinks fine, just doesn't eat. She did actually have a little nibble at a piece of Aloe Vera plant I put in there this morning out of desperation!

I've read dozens of care sheets over the last week, so temperature was one of the first things I checked. Maybe it's just new surroundings.

Here is her table:

 

[Shirley the tortoise]

I got her from a proper breeder, who was mainly feeding her kale over the winter I think, and general weeds and dandelions over the summer.

 

[TortsNTurtles]

Welcome!

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[gingerbee]

Welcome!!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Gareth, and welcome to the forum!

The heat from your light will be better concentrated, and aimed downward, if you mount it in a bell-type fixture like this:

 

[tortdad]

Welcome

 

[Shirley the tortoise]

Update: today Shirley is getting stuck into a big pile of mixed salad leaves. She must have just been getting used to her surroundings this week, and not actually on hunger strike!

 

[Momof4]

Good to hear, but I do suggest buying a dome for your light as Yvonne suggested.