Hiro__Protagonist
New Member
Hi folks,
This forum was recommended to me by people on reddit's r/tortoise and I am really desperate for some help. This is a long story, so I will try to give all relevant detail:
I decided that a tortoise would be a good pet for us. We wanted something beautiful that didn't need lots of walks or vet visits and could be comfortable in an enclosure in the house. I researched a bit and decided that for our home, a smaller size tortoise would make sense. I searched further and found some lists of tortoises that were easy to raise and narrowed my list down to a russian, an eastern hermann's or an indian star tortoise. I found what looked like a reputable dealer with a snazzy website, and although they did not have russians or eastern hermann's in stock, they did have small Indian Star Tortoises.
I did not want a hatchling as I thought the care would be too hard, so I chose a "well started baby" which should have been about 8 months old. Wanting to be sure that I started our new pet off right I also ordered a complete tortoise house kit from the same seller including a house, food, bedding lights, humidifier, etc. I waited until the correct day to be sure the tortoise came on the right day, and made my order. Apparently this sort of thing is common knowledge in the reptile community, but apparently there are lots of unscrupulous dealers.
The first issue occured when the tortoise was supposed to arrive on a tuesday and didn't. I wrote to the dealer, who despite having charged me, had never sent me tracking etc. They said "oh, sorry, going out soon" and then on Friday "he'll be there today." On Friday the 26th of June, William arrived. He came in a small deli container, and nothing else of any kind arrived. No house, no food, nothing. We put him in a plastic file box, ran out to the store to get some coco fiber bedding (recommended on another care sheet) and put a temporary incandescent light for him. We kept him warm, took him outside to get warm, and ordered a tortoise house for him from amazon.
He did not eat the dandelion and plantain greens we offered him, and having absolutely no experience with tortoises, we opted to pick him up and feed him. He ate from our hands, not well, but he ate. We gave him a little bath each morning and felt like he was doing OK. It was in the 70s in his cage at night, and since one forum had said 80 to 90 in the day and 70 at night, we thought this was fine. His humidity was in the 60% range (Maine is humid this summer).
The other items from the dealer never showed up, so i ordered the same wooden cage from amazon. It was expensive, but reasoning it would work for him for his whole life, I just got it. We filled it with the coconut bedding and when his other items continued to be mysteriously delayed, we went out and got him a ceramic heat bulb and the UVB light recommended by our local pet store (coil type). We tried to keep his huge house warm and still took him outside often to get sun in his smaller, plastic bin during the day.
Each day he ate less and less. We also noticed that he was more lethargic and was not opening his eyes. Finally on Sunday the 5th, he did not eat at all. When he continued to be lethargic on Tuesday, we took him to the local vet. Once we showed up, she let us know that she did not have lots of experience with tortoises and that this was a "notoriously difficult, exotic species." She, and people on the forums on reddit, let us know that he was very dehydrated and that that was the main problem.
I freaked out, went out to all the local pet stores and got him a complete new home. I got a glass enclosure in a bid to keep as much humidity as possible in. I got rid of the coil UVB light (it literally has a tortoise pictured on the box) and got a bar style light. I replaced the bedding with reptibark, got him a basking incandescent, and made sure his humidity never goes below 80%.
He still has no interest in food and barely opens his eyes. The only time he is at all active is when we bathe him each day. he opens his eyes and moves around, but then goes back to immobility once his 20 to 30 minute bath is over. The dealer finally told us that he should be given an amount of food three times bigger than his shell so when he gets out of the bath we put him on a giant pile of soaked mazuri LS tortoise chow and cut up dandelions, plantain and kale leaves. He still is not eating at all and if left alone he does not move at all.
Please help us, I am happy to answer any questions at all and his new house looks like this.
This forum was recommended to me by people on reddit's r/tortoise and I am really desperate for some help. This is a long story, so I will try to give all relevant detail:
I decided that a tortoise would be a good pet for us. We wanted something beautiful that didn't need lots of walks or vet visits and could be comfortable in an enclosure in the house. I researched a bit and decided that for our home, a smaller size tortoise would make sense. I searched further and found some lists of tortoises that were easy to raise and narrowed my list down to a russian, an eastern hermann's or an indian star tortoise. I found what looked like a reputable dealer with a snazzy website, and although they did not have russians or eastern hermann's in stock, they did have small Indian Star Tortoises.
I did not want a hatchling as I thought the care would be too hard, so I chose a "well started baby" which should have been about 8 months old. Wanting to be sure that I started our new pet off right I also ordered a complete tortoise house kit from the same seller including a house, food, bedding lights, humidifier, etc. I waited until the correct day to be sure the tortoise came on the right day, and made my order. Apparently this sort of thing is common knowledge in the reptile community, but apparently there are lots of unscrupulous dealers.
The first issue occured when the tortoise was supposed to arrive on a tuesday and didn't. I wrote to the dealer, who despite having charged me, had never sent me tracking etc. They said "oh, sorry, going out soon" and then on Friday "he'll be there today." On Friday the 26th of June, William arrived. He came in a small deli container, and nothing else of any kind arrived. No house, no food, nothing. We put him in a plastic file box, ran out to the store to get some coco fiber bedding (recommended on another care sheet) and put a temporary incandescent light for him. We kept him warm, took him outside to get warm, and ordered a tortoise house for him from amazon.
He did not eat the dandelion and plantain greens we offered him, and having absolutely no experience with tortoises, we opted to pick him up and feed him. He ate from our hands, not well, but he ate. We gave him a little bath each morning and felt like he was doing OK. It was in the 70s in his cage at night, and since one forum had said 80 to 90 in the day and 70 at night, we thought this was fine. His humidity was in the 60% range (Maine is humid this summer).
The other items from the dealer never showed up, so i ordered the same wooden cage from amazon. It was expensive, but reasoning it would work for him for his whole life, I just got it. We filled it with the coconut bedding and when his other items continued to be mysteriously delayed, we went out and got him a ceramic heat bulb and the UVB light recommended by our local pet store (coil type). We tried to keep his huge house warm and still took him outside often to get sun in his smaller, plastic bin during the day.
Each day he ate less and less. We also noticed that he was more lethargic and was not opening his eyes. Finally on Sunday the 5th, he did not eat at all. When he continued to be lethargic on Tuesday, we took him to the local vet. Once we showed up, she let us know that she did not have lots of experience with tortoises and that this was a "notoriously difficult, exotic species." She, and people on the forums on reddit, let us know that he was very dehydrated and that that was the main problem.
I freaked out, went out to all the local pet stores and got him a complete new home. I got a glass enclosure in a bid to keep as much humidity as possible in. I got rid of the coil UVB light (it literally has a tortoise pictured on the box) and got a bar style light. I replaced the bedding with reptibark, got him a basking incandescent, and made sure his humidity never goes below 80%.
He still has no interest in food and barely opens his eyes. The only time he is at all active is when we bathe him each day. he opens his eyes and moves around, but then goes back to immobility once his 20 to 30 minute bath is over. The dealer finally told us that he should be given an amount of food three times bigger than his shell so when he gets out of the bath we put him on a giant pile of soaked mazuri LS tortoise chow and cut up dandelions, plantain and kale leaves. He still is not eating at all and if left alone he does not move at all.
Please help us, I am happy to answer any questions at all and his new house looks like this.