New Hingeback owner - Need advise .Please help!

[16rash]

Hi,

i have adopted a hingeback tortoise last week, May 15. He is 15 yrs old and has been identified as Hingeback Erosa species. its been more tahn a week, he has not eaten anything. As advised by others, i am keeping humidity of 80-90% and temp are between 74-82F.substrate is cypress mulch and peatmoss.

I have tried feeding him live mealworms,earthworm, banana,strawberry,sweet potato, mushroom,greens and many other things but he has not even smelled the food .he is spending most of the time in the hide(pic uploaded).

Is he stressed out due to new enclosure/travelling(cleveland to columbus 4 hours drive) ? or am i dping something wrong ?please advise what should i do .
Uploading pic of his enclosure
Thanks!

 

[wellington]

What's the basking temp? @Jacqui may be able to help

 

[16rash]

i am not using any specific light for basking.just one CHE 150 watts. Temp under the CHE is approx 85F and around the enclosure varies from 70F-80F.
i dont have a UBV light .his enclosure is near the window. I open the window in the morning hours and almost half of the enclosure get natural sunlight.

 

[Jacqui]

So he was a pet or is this a fresh caught wild one?

 

[16rash]

I was told that he was surrendered by their previous owner because they could not take care of him anymore. I adopted him in an adoption event at Herps Alive Reptile rescue center, Ohio.

 

[Jacqui]

Try giving him a warm soak with some babyfood (like the mango/banana one) mixed in the water. Deep enough he can completely be in the water and a depth of about where the two shells meet.

Make the fruit really really ripe and keep trying the foods. The strawberry, banana, melons, papaya, mushrooms are the over all favorites. Place the good right infront of his hide.

Try a day with no bright light and maybe try lowering the temp just a little bit.

Are you doing a lot of "visiting" or is he normally left totally alone with quiet and no vibrations.

 

[Jacqui]

I was told that he was surrendered by their previous owner because they could not take care of him anymore. I adopted him in an adoption event at Herps Alive Reptile rescue center, Ohio.

Was he eating for them?

 

[16rash]

He is alone in Guest room we go in the room like 2-3 times just to change the water or food.

No light in the room, only natural light.No UVB or any other light source either. Only 1 CHE. i will keep trying different fruits and worm/mushroom.

Can i force soak him? would that stress him out more?

 

[16rash]

Was he eating for them?

Yes, atleast i was told that he was eating fine. collard green,sweet potato,strawberry and carrot.

 

[Jacqui]

He is alone in Guest room we go in the room like 2-3 times just to change the water or food.

No light in the room, only natural light.No UVB or any other light source either. Only 1 CHE. i will keep trying different fruits and worm/mushroom.

Can i force soak him? would that stress him out more?

I would give him one soak and see how he handles it.

 

[16rash]

I would give him one soak and see how he handles it.

Sure Jacqui. i will soak him in the evening. need to get baby food also. Thank you !

 

[juli11]

Could you post a picture of the tortoise? For me it looks more like homeana but I'm not sure..
Important for new homeana is that you raise the humidity very high 95-100%. Temperature should be around 28-30 degrees. You also have to soak it in warm water.
On this way my WC animals start eating.. But give them time..

 

[juli11]

What could help too is to give them dogfood mixed with earthworms.. But only at the beginning for them that they start eating.. Actually dogfood is a really bad food

 

[wellington]

Could you post a picture of the tortoise? For me it looks more like homeana but I'm not sure..
Important for new homeana is that you raise the humidity very high 95-100%. Temperature should be around 28-30 degrees. You also have to soak it in warm water.
On this way my WC animals start eating.. But give them time..

28-30 celcius you mean. Should be sure to use the world celcius when your give the kind of temps your giving. We use degrees/farenheit in this country and the temps you gave in degree, well would freeze the tortoise.

 

[juli11]

28-30 celcius you mean. Should be sure to use the world celcius when your give the kind of temps your giving. We use degrees/farenheit in this country and the temps you gave in degree, well would freeze the tortoise.

Yes ok right but I thought it's clear if I wrote such lows temps that it is in Celsius.

 

[wellington]

Yes ok right but I thought it's clear if I wrote such lows temps that it is in Celsius.

Yes, it should be. But then should some other things that are posted but aren't. I personally think if your going to do it in celcius, then do it in celcius, otherwise do the conversions and do it in Fahrenheit
. Don't forget, we have people from all countries and kids. They only know where your from if they look at your name. They are reading a thread, concerned, sometimes in a panic, should not have to back track to see where your from. My opionion anyway.

 

[juli11]

Ok I'll notice it m

 

[16rash]

Could you post a picture of the tortoise? For me it looks more like homeana but I'm not sure..
Important for new homeana is that you raise the humidity very high 95-100%. Temperature should be around 28-30 degrees. You also have to soak it in warm water.
On this way my WC animals start eating.. But give them time..

Hi Juli11, Here is the closeup pic of the tort .It was identified as Kinixys Homeana, not Kinixys Erosa . Sorry that was a mistake on my part. i will see if i can edit my original post. Thanks!

 

[juli11]

Ok perfect. So try my way combined with jacquis way. That should work. But many homeanas need some time for acclimatization before they start eating

 

[16rash]

Hi All, quick updates on Zura. i soaked him today for 20 mins,warm water mixed with mango baby food. first few minutes he was relaxed and sitting . about 5 mins later he started struggling to come out of the tub and was making some weird sound.finally i had to take him out and placed in his enclosure. put ripe mango /banana and mushroom. i hope he eat something today. humidity is 90% and temp if 76F.