Is my herman's tortoise not very well

Yorik

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Hi we recently brought a 10 year old female Hermanns tortoise. We have had her now for about 4-5weeks.

When we first brought her home she was eating fine, now she does not seem so hungary and always seems to bury herself for days and we wake her to give her bath to make sure she is hydrated. I'm just wondering if she has a health problem that we are not aware of? her eyes seem a little cloudy around the edges.

I've attached photos of her this morning in the bath.
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dmmj

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Any discharge from the nose?
 

Yorik

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Any discharge from the nose?
Hi, there is nothing coming from her nose. Also I forgot to mention in my post I’m concerned about her beak being to long? She is left in our garden.
 

Lyn W

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Hi, are you in Hampshire UK?
There is a great caresheet for Hermanns in this section which will tell you all about diet, temps, humidity substrate etc.,
Is your tort left out in the garden full time? If so what sort of enclosure is he in and does it have heating for night and colder days?
It is still pretty chilly in the UK for a tort to be outside all the time, but this may help you.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/outdoor-accommodation-in-a-colder-uk-climate.140866/
A vet used to dealing with torts will be able to file the beak, I believe they use something like a Dremel tool the trick is keeping the torts head out without hurting him.
If you put cuttlefish bone in your torts enclosure that will help them keep their beaks filed down when they nibble.
 

dmmj

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Feeding on a rough surface also helps with the beak
 

Yorik

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Hi, are you in Hampshire UK?
There is a great caresheet for Hermanns in this section which will tell you all about diet, temps, humidity substrate etc.,
Is your tort left out in the garden full time? If so what sort of enclosure is he in and does it have heating for night and colder days?
It is still pretty chilly in the UK for a tort to be outside all the time, but this may help you.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/outdoor-accommodation-in-a-colder-uk-climate.140866/
A vet used to dealing with torts will be able to file the beak, I believe they use something like
Hi, are you in Hampshire UK?
There is a great caresheet for Hermanns in this section which will tell you all about diet, temps, humidity substrate etc.,
Is your tort left out in the garden full time? If so what sort of enclosure is he in and does it have heating for night and colder days?
It is still pretty chilly in the UK for a tort to be outside all the time, but this may help you.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/outdoor-accommodation-in-a-colder-uk-climate.140866/
A vet used to dealing with torts will be able to file the beak, I believe they use something like a Dremel tool the trick is keeping the torts head out without hurting him.
If you put cuttlefish bone in your torts enclosure that will help them keep their beaks filed down when they nibble.


Hi and thanks for your reply. At the moment Tilly our tortoise is just left to roam in the garden and yes we are in Hampshire. She normally buries herself in the garden somewhere to sleep at night. YesterdY it seems she is starting eat well again as it was warmer. If it gets to cold we put her in our green house, we do not have an enclosure for her. Just a small hut with straw in that sometimes she will go to sleep in..

Any idea what a vet would charge to file her beak down?

She feeds on concrete so I’m hoping this will file her beak down with time, when we brought her her beak already looked to long, it does not seem to be a issue as she is now feeding fine. Will keep an eye on it.

Thanks once again
 

Lyn W

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I think you should consider putting some heating in her shed or the green house so that she has somewhere to go to warm up when our temps are chilly - which is most of the year.
As you can see from the link I gave you LInda's Greek tort, Joe had somewhere warm to go to recharge his batteries on colder days. The UK climate is colder than where most species originate and if their core body temperature is too low they won't eat and their digestive systems can't function properly - it will probably affect their immune system too. The caresheet for Hermanns will tell you the temperature range they need to thrive rather than just survive and @JoesMum will be able to tell you more about keeping an outdoor tort, but reading her thread will be a good start - your tort will need some help from you to stay healthy.
if you have any reptile specialist vets near you they would be the best to deal with your tort for all problems. I don't know how much they charge for beaks but I assume there would be a consultation fee as well and because she is outside all the time it would be worth getting her a full health check and take some fresh poop to have it checked for parasites which could cause health problems. Your best bet is to google herpetologist.reptile vets in your area and ring around for costs.
 

katieandiggy

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Yes I think you need to make a little heated kennel for your tortoise. At the moment we are only having the odd day here and there where the sun is hot enough to full warm up your tortoise.

Joesmum thread is really good about keeping your tortoise outside in the UK
 

Yvonne G

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She's probably too cold. They have to be able to warm their inner core in order to digest food. If they can't get warm clear through, they won't eat.
 

Yorik

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72A8AD00-F918-46E4-80B5-1522D5C76A90.jpeg CC159B21-D1E0-4D91-973B-741F6208F675.jpeg I’m going to put her in the green house tonight temp in there is 21c . It will get down to about 17-18c in green house late in the night. I’ve read through the post by joesmum. It’s a great post. I’m pretty new to all this and appreciate all your help. She’s currently in the corner of garden buried again
 

katieandiggy

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View attachment 273088 View attachment 273089 I’m going to put her in the green house tonight temp in there is 21c . It will get down to about 17-18c in green house late in the night. I’ve read through the post by joesmum. It’s a great post. I’m pretty new to all this and appreciate all your help. She’s currently in the corner of garden buried again

That is going to be a good start. Have you got any way that you can set up a basking bulb within the greenhouse for during the day? Those night temperatures are fine but during the day your tortoise needs a basking lamp around 35c to be able to heat up its inner core and digest food. One of the most common causes of a tortoise that hides away or being less active.
 

Yorik

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Hi during the day the green house can get upto 35c, I thought that would be to hot for her? So do you recommend leaving her in green house all day? If so I will get some good dirt in one side to let her have a space to burrow if needed.
 

katieandiggy

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Hi during the day the green house can get upto 35c, I thought that would be to hot for her? So do you recommend leaving her in green house all day? If so I will get some good dirt in one side to let her have a space to burrow if needed.

A lot of UK tortoise keepers use a green house as part of their set up, you just need to make sure it doesn’t get too hot.

35c as a constant temperature would not be good, they need to be able to be cool too.

The best thing is if you can provide a lamp inside the greenhouse but keep the door open so your tortoise can come and go as it pleases and warm up when it needs to.
 

Lyn W

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Just a thought - have you checked that all of your plants are torts safe - i.e not toxic to them and chemical free (no pesticides, fertilisers, slug pellets etc) ?www.thetortoisetable.org.uk is a good guide. Your tort would love a patch of weeds to nibble on.
Also is the net on the pond secure and strong enough to take the weight of your tort should she climb onto it. Some torts are great climbers and If it sags or tears if she gets caught in it she could drown. I think I would change it for a more solid metal grid cover or put a higher barrier around it to be on the safe side.
 

JoesMum

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Hi

Just a flying visit as I am out this evening. I live closer to you than most and, for the last few weeks, it hasn’t really been that warm overnight even if temperatures recover by day.

You really need to sort out that early morning basking in particular to set your tort up for the day.

Feel free to message me if you need to :)
 

Yorik

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Hi

Just a flying visit as I am out this evening. I live closer to you than most and, for the last few weeks, it hasn’t really been that warm overnight even if temperatures recover by day.

You really need to sort out that early morning basking in particular to set your tort up for the day.

Feel free to message me if you need to :)
Thanks will do
 

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