Lonely tort?

[Mvptortoise]

Can a tortoise be lonely? Mine just seems to sit in the corner alday

 

[Tom]

No. They don't need or want company, so lethargy might be a sign of some other problem you need to address. If you tell us the species and size, housing situation and temperature and humidity parameters, we can start to try to figure out what else might be going on.

 

[Mvptortoise]

She's a 5.5 inch Redfoot. Almost 100% she is a she. Is was attacked by my male pit about a month ago. Her shell wasn't punchered. But was chipped Dog proofed her out door enclosure. Her enclosure is 8ft long. 4 ft wide 4ft high. Rapped in chicken wire. Her substrate is too soil with pure cypress chips on top. I don't know if this could be a factor but my dog also chipped the bottom of her shell. Alil worried about it The temp and humidity don't stay at a constant

 

[Levi the Leopard]

My tortoises always prefer to be alone. At times they are housed in a group but I set up extra pens to give each of them some alone time.

Could yours be bored? I like to have lots of obstacles like logs or rocks. I keep the pens heavily planted, too! The more your tort has "to do" the better. Try and recreate a natural world and see if that doesn't lead to an increase in activity. Mine are always on the move. Every time I go to check on them, they are in a different spot.

To give you an idea, here is an example of one of my pens:

 

[Mvptortoise]

Her enclosure is bare. I'm going to try that. Thank you for the info and the time

 

[Yvonne G]

That UV light concerns me. If this pen is outside, why do you feel you need that light? It provides no heat, and the UV from the sun float around in the atmosphere and will reach inside that pen even in the shade. Those type lights were meant to be mounted horizontally, like in an aquarium hood. Mounted the way you have it, the harmful rays are concentrated out the end of the light and might be harmful to the tortoise's eyes.

 

[Mvptortoise]

Old picture. I was useing befor I knew anything. The enclosure has a roof on it and I wasn't sure if she was getting enough sun. But the roof now has two hug skylights. But no more uvb just a heat lamb for night. And I think u told me about the light G. Thank u for that

 

[mikeh]

What are the day time and night time temperatures in the pen? Cold temps will make the tortoise inactive.

 

[ascott]

Did you ever treat the tort with antibiotics for the injuries? Being near eaten will dampen the outgoing personality quickly...when did the attack happen?

 

[Mvptortoise]

Yes I treated the wounds. It's been about a 3 weeks now since the attack. Yeah she's very sceadish and shy. But if u hang out with her for alil she gets better lets you pet her and what not

 

[naturalman91]

Yes I treated the wounds. It's been about a 3 weeks now since the attack. Yeah she's very sceadish and shy. But if u hang out with her for alil she gets better lets you pet her and what not

trying buttering her up by feeding her a treat maybe? it should be a only once in a while thing but my tort goes nuts over mango and it seems to boost his confidence with me to i'm not saying he'll let me handle him but i also don't try to handle him to much i know torts stress easily over that kind of thing

 

[Mvptortoise]

Did not know they got stressed from being handled. Huuuuummm noted. I have tried treats. Blueberrys. Strawberrys. Tried spreading them out through her enclosure for her to find. But she would only eat mine

 

[naturalman91]

Depends on the individual tort but i've noticed its more common they get stressed then not i've seen exception's to this rule tho like sulcata's not that they like to be handled but i've seen them come up to people and pretty much ask for there shell to be rubbed or head petted that only seems to happen when they are pretty big already tho