HBright
New Member
Hello! I am a very worried first-time Testudo Tortoise owner. Our tortoise has not eaten since we brought him home 1 month ago. I have read throughout this forum extensively. I have read about their environment being a factor in their eating habits and I have read about new owner mistakes. We have made changes to his habitat based on what I've read and still no luck. I will try to share all the information I have about him in hopes that someone can help save our tortoise. I will also include photos.
1. We got him at PetSmart (I realize this may not have been the best place but now we have him and we need to save him)
2. We were told he is a baby, less than a year old. He is approximately 4 1/2 in. in length. And so cute.
3. He lives in a 40 gallon tank (3x the size he was in at the pet store).
4. We started him out on the reptile bark the pet store recommended but after reading on here, I have switched his substrate out to coconut coir which has increased the humidity greatly. He also comes out of hiding a bit more now that we have this new substrate.
5. He has a log to hide in where he goes sometimes but most of the time, he just finds a corner, digs and burrows into the substrate and will stay there all day/night unless we move him. If we move him, he just goes to another corner and burrows again. He spends most the time sleeping in his burrowed substrate.
6. His tank is about 80 degrees F and between 60-80% humidity.
7. We have a basking light (also a red one for night) and a UV light which all sit on top of the mesh metal top of the tank.
8. He has a water dish which he is able to climb into and likes to soak in. He also appears to be drinking daily while in there. He will sit in there for 10-30 min and get out on his own.
9. We have been trying to feed him the pellets the pet store was feeding him. I included a picture but they are ZooMed Natural Forest Tortoise Food. We get it wet, mash it up and fill his dish but he won't touch it. He won't go to it on his own and if we place him by it, he crawls right over it. I have tried offering him kale, red bell pepper, romaine (none of which he ever had at the pet store) and he shows no interest. We try hand feeding him (while holding him, place the food by his nose, let him smell it and try to feed him). He rarely opens his mouth when we do this and never goes for the food.
I am heartbroken about all of this and don't know where else to turn. I am scared he won't survive and losing sleep over it. If anyone can help, we would greatly appreciate it!
We live in Washington State, US where our natural humidity is relatively high (85% today)
Thanks in advance,
Heidi
1. We got him at PetSmart (I realize this may not have been the best place but now we have him and we need to save him)
2. We were told he is a baby, less than a year old. He is approximately 4 1/2 in. in length. And so cute.
3. He lives in a 40 gallon tank (3x the size he was in at the pet store).
4. We started him out on the reptile bark the pet store recommended but after reading on here, I have switched his substrate out to coconut coir which has increased the humidity greatly. He also comes out of hiding a bit more now that we have this new substrate.
5. He has a log to hide in where he goes sometimes but most of the time, he just finds a corner, digs and burrows into the substrate and will stay there all day/night unless we move him. If we move him, he just goes to another corner and burrows again. He spends most the time sleeping in his burrowed substrate.
6. His tank is about 80 degrees F and between 60-80% humidity.
7. We have a basking light (also a red one for night) and a UV light which all sit on top of the mesh metal top of the tank.
8. He has a water dish which he is able to climb into and likes to soak in. He also appears to be drinking daily while in there. He will sit in there for 10-30 min and get out on his own.
9. We have been trying to feed him the pellets the pet store was feeding him. I included a picture but they are ZooMed Natural Forest Tortoise Food. We get it wet, mash it up and fill his dish but he won't touch it. He won't go to it on his own and if we place him by it, he crawls right over it. I have tried offering him kale, red bell pepper, romaine (none of which he ever had at the pet store) and he shows no interest. We try hand feeding him (while holding him, place the food by his nose, let him smell it and try to feed him). He rarely opens his mouth when we do this and never goes for the food.
I am heartbroken about all of this and don't know where else to turn. I am scared he won't survive and losing sleep over it. If anyone can help, we would greatly appreciate it!
We live in Washington State, US where our natural humidity is relatively high (85% today)
Thanks in advance,
Heidi