Hi. My daughter just purchased a long awaited greek tortoise from a pet store. We live in the Portland area of Oregon. We have had him for two days and he is not yet eating or coming out of his hide. We took him out to look at and see if he was ok and he walked around a little and then pooped, but if he goes back into his enclosure he goes directly into his hide (burrows under timothy hay and reptibark). When should I be concerned about his not eating? He is in a 3.5'x2' enclosure with "repti bark" for substrate. Have ceramic heat emitters with UVA/UVB bulb and infrared for at night. Temp is 95 on warm side and 75 on cooler side. Have shallow water dish and food dish. Have offered spring mix, rose petals, clover leaves/flowers and timothy hay/grass and dandelion greens. He is about 4" across. Eyes and nose look good, clear of any discharge and not swollen. Does he just need some quiet time? Is there something I should offer to encourage eating? Thank you so much, I have already gotten tons of great info from reading posts on this forum. Cyndi
New Greek Tortoise Owner-he is in hide
- Thread starter cyndis503
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Probably just a little spooked.Give him time to get use to a different place and he will start coming out . especially when he gets hungry....They are smart, he wont starve himself.Maybe put some food where he can see it from the hide.Thats what I did.
Jeremy
Jeremy
Hi Cyndi, and welcome to the Forum!
He may just need a little time to settle in. Double check your temperatures and make sure he's warm enough.
He may just need a little time to settle in. Double check your temperatures and make sure he's warm enough.
Thanks for the replies, temps still holding steady at 95 degrees on warm side under basking lamp and about 75 on cooler side. I saw him moving just a little, but still hasn't come out. I put fresh food items in his dish and placed some directly in front of the hide. BTW, can they back up if they get into a corner or stuck in their hide? I originally had the hide against a wall of the enclosure but then moved it to the middle so he could walk all the way through and not have to turn around or back up.
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