horsfield tortoises

[munchies]

hi I am a newbie to this site and i recently bought 2 horsfield tortoises [6 months old] and one is walking around the tortoise table but the other one just likes to sleep !? is this normal ?? it is eating and drinking but then it likes to go to sleep ??
any advise will be greatfully appreciated..

[Tina]

Hi and to RFUK. Hatchlings do take a while to settle in and feel confident and they do sleep a lot! Did you buy them from a breeder or a shop? If a shop it will be worthwhile taking a poo sample (from both torts) to your vet to check they don't have any parasites as the majority of pet shop horsfields are imports and tend to have a high parasite load.

How are you keeping them - viv or table, what temps, what substrate, what is their diet, are you bathing them every day (very important to do this with hatchlings)?

If you look at the top of this page there's a sticky which has a number of reliable links with advice on housing, feeding etc and this site in particular has an excellent hatchling care guide:

Tortoises

[munchies]

Thank-you Tina for your reply..we got them from a petshop/garden centre [baytree garden centre spalding]..they said they were from a wholesalers [who have them imported] so I will get them checked out...
They are in a tortoise table with substrate of cork bark litter with hay in there bedding which they love, they have a repti glo 5 UV lamp and heating at between 85 - 90 .. they have a warm bath every morning and have been eating, hay, dandelion [leaves and flowers], grass, clover, and they love romaine lettuce ??...is everything we are doing okay ?? or is there anything we seriously have to change??

They are both very lively today, they must be getting used to us now..
thanks again,

[Tina]

Horsfields love to dig, burrow and make tunnels so an ideal substrate for them is a mix of topsoil (60%) and playsand (40%). The 5 uv bulb is not ideal, a 10 would be better. Do you have a basking light for them as well in the same area as the uv? Temps to aim for are 32degs C - 34degs C under the basking light (measured as though at the top of the torts shell) and around 20degs C in the cooler end.

The very best diet for them is a good variety of edible weeds/plants, the link I put on the post before has a great list of edible plants. Dandelions are great, clover and romaine lettuce are fine too as part of a mixed diet, hay isn't a normal part of a horsfields diet though they'll probably enjoy snuggling down into an area of it at night. Their food needs to be sprinkled with nutrobal (for vit's) and limestone flour (for calcium) every day, it's very important they get enough calcium while they are so young. Another thing which helps with calcium intake is a piece of cuttlefish in their table, this wears their beak down as well when they chew it.

I'm glad they seem to be settling in with you.

Pop into the shelled section and say hello and post some pics of your torts, I'm sure everyone would like to see them and will offer any help you need.