KayAlfGeo
New Member
Hi everyone!
Long post alert, sorry about that.
This is my first post here, wow it has taken me a long time to work out how to post a new thread :-O
I am hoping to get a little bit of advice from a fellow horsefield owner please. I have a little horsefield, he is roughly about 20 months old so is still a little boy and we had him June this year (2018). This is my first tortoise and he just isn’t what I expected at all. He does very little. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t expecting him to be doing cartwheels but he will literally sit under his lamp for a majority of the day, he ‘may’ take a few mouthfuls of food occasionally, however some days he doesn’t seem to eat at all (not that I am sat next to his table all day but he doesn’t appear to have touched his food). He will then take himself to bed in his log hide, usually towards the end of the day but sometimes goes early! Other than this, he doesn’t move around his enclosure to explore. His weight was 45g when we had him, within 2 - 3 weeks he went up to 49g, and then slowly dropped to 36g (once he had had a big wee). He doesn’t poo a lot at all! His weight fluctuates at the moment between 36g and 45g due to water weight (he gets bathed twice a day for 10- 15 mins each time). I have a 5* outside enclosure for him complete with a large bathing area so he can enjoy the lovely weather we are having in England at the moment, occasionally he will eat more being outside but most of the time it doesn’t make a difference and he stays in his hide! I have this week allowed him to safely have a little stroll in the actual garden on the grass (his outside enclosure is a large cage with sand/soil substrate). It has kept him awake for the longest amount of time since I have had him as he has been busy walking around. He has an occasional nibble but nothing to get excited about! He sticks his nose up at strawberries, dandelion leaves, cucumber....all the treats. He likes romaine lettuce and kale. Where am I going wrong?? I even drove out a few miles to find him dandelion flowers the other day! Is his weight normal for his age? Sometimes also he seems to have watery eyes, one in particular. I can only describe it as it sometimes looks like there is a little water bubble in it??
Wow, I’ve written a lot. So sorry! I just have nobody to ask, the shop I had him from just told me to stop weighing him so regularly but I am paranoid about him keep loosing more weight, I am a worrier.
Thank you if you have actually took the time to read this far, much appreciated
Long post alert, sorry about that.
This is my first post here, wow it has taken me a long time to work out how to post a new thread :-O
I am hoping to get a little bit of advice from a fellow horsefield owner please. I have a little horsefield, he is roughly about 20 months old so is still a little boy and we had him June this year (2018). This is my first tortoise and he just isn’t what I expected at all. He does very little. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t expecting him to be doing cartwheels but he will literally sit under his lamp for a majority of the day, he ‘may’ take a few mouthfuls of food occasionally, however some days he doesn’t seem to eat at all (not that I am sat next to his table all day but he doesn’t appear to have touched his food). He will then take himself to bed in his log hide, usually towards the end of the day but sometimes goes early! Other than this, he doesn’t move around his enclosure to explore. His weight was 45g when we had him, within 2 - 3 weeks he went up to 49g, and then slowly dropped to 36g (once he had had a big wee). He doesn’t poo a lot at all! His weight fluctuates at the moment between 36g and 45g due to water weight (he gets bathed twice a day for 10- 15 mins each time). I have a 5* outside enclosure for him complete with a large bathing area so he can enjoy the lovely weather we are having in England at the moment, occasionally he will eat more being outside but most of the time it doesn’t make a difference and he stays in his hide! I have this week allowed him to safely have a little stroll in the actual garden on the grass (his outside enclosure is a large cage with sand/soil substrate). It has kept him awake for the longest amount of time since I have had him as he has been busy walking around. He has an occasional nibble but nothing to get excited about! He sticks his nose up at strawberries, dandelion leaves, cucumber....all the treats. He likes romaine lettuce and kale. Where am I going wrong?? I even drove out a few miles to find him dandelion flowers the other day! Is his weight normal for his age? Sometimes also he seems to have watery eyes, one in particular. I can only describe it as it sometimes looks like there is a little water bubble in it??
Wow, I’ve written a lot. So sorry! I just have nobody to ask, the shop I had him from just told me to stop weighing him so regularly but I am paranoid about him keep loosing more weight, I am a worrier.
Thank you if you have actually took the time to read this far, much appreciated