Tortoise not eating

[16rash]

i am facing the same problem.my Russian doesn't eat on his own. we got him from petsmart 2 weeks ago.they kept him in vivarium and feeding him lettuce.

i am trying to feed him variety of greens but he is not eating. first 2 days he ate mustard greens,dandelion greens and radicchio but gradually stopped eating.
Am growing pansy/petunia/forget me not and dandelion.

if we feed him, he will eat otherwise he just dont go near food dish .

Few things about his enclosure- Substrate is organic topsoil/play sand/coco coir. i sprayed water on substrate every 2-3 days to keep it lil moist. about the temperature, basking temp is 95 F, around basking spot,temp is 75.cooler end is 65F. UVB lamp is new and is on almost 14 hrs a day.switch off the lamp during night as central heating is on.temp during night is 60-65F.

He is very active, dig and climb whole day. i soak him 2 times a week(though he hates it). poops/pee daily.

Dont understand why he is not eating Any inputs are highly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm pretty sure your tortoise (at least, the tortoise in the avatar picture) isn't a Russian.

It sometimes takes a tortoise a couple weeks to settle into his new environment. They are territorial and it's upsetting to them to be moved from one place to another.

Read the care sheet, and make any adjustments to your care and enclosure, and see if this makes a difference:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/

 

[16rash]

Hi Yvonne..i had the doubt about his species since i got him. Petsmart marked his as Russian.then i asked few experienced people helping me identifying the type of tortoise.some said Hermann and other Horsefield . ..a week ago,i found on internet that Russian have 4 Toes where as hermann are 5 Toes..and mine has 4 Toes..so i presumed him to a Russian..

Attaching few closeup pics of Eddy..please help me in identifying him.thank you!!

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

That is a Hermann's, definitely not a Russian.

 

[ArielDeRensis]

I'm having the same issue with my Russian, he will only eat when I first put it in front of him and it's only a little bit. He goes to the bathroom regularly, though he isn't always every active.

 

[16rash]

That is a Hermann's, definitely not a Russian.

Thanks Sarah.how did you differentiate between these 2 species?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

The OP's tort is a Hermanni,

Russians like to hibernate so if they are kept up certain things need to be done. He needs to be a little warmer, the light needs to be on for 12 or 13 hours everyday. They don't eat quite as much in the winter. But Russians like weeds and dandelions, stop treating him like a baby and hand feeding him. That's bad.
Feed him weeds and dandelions, not produce and I'll bet he'll eat on his own.
BTW, a lot of torts won't eat while you are watching. I'd put his food down and put him in front of it, then leave. He'll eat when he gets hungry enough....

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Thanks Sarah.how did you differentiate between these 2 species?

They look very different. It's like the difference between a Ford and a Chevy, they look different than each other. Russians and Hermanni look completely different....