New tortoise, Not eating??

[blackrandomapple]

Hey all, Im new to this forum and im new to keeping tortoise!

I picked up my new little friend today, He is a horsefield tortoise, He is male and about 2 years old!
I have taken him to see my local reptile dealer and all seems ok!

I have him indoors in a vivarium with heat mat, Heat bulb, and uv light,
He has water and i have put some cucumber, lettice, tomato and some dandilions, Proble being he wont eat or drink anything!

Is this normal when they first move in??

N e help would be gr8!
Thanks

[RyanHill and Sons]

hi im new here and to keeping torts,but i know that you need to relook at his accomadation as its a no no to keeping them in viv's,check out some of the stickies about houseing them

[Vicky12]

to RFUK.

Firstly Ryanhill is correct, you should really house your tortoise in a tort table, there are details in the stickied threads on them.

Your tort not eating much isnt too worrying, they can take a few days to settle in to their new homes. Torts wont go hungry, just keep offering little amounts of fresh food everyday and he/she will soon find it.

You would be better off not feeding too much cucumber and tomato and what lettuce are you giving him/her.

Dandelions are fine the more weeds you can offer the better. Again there are stickied threads on what weeds and plants are safe.

[netty.ray]

and lose the heat mat there not good for torts

[Andy b 1]

yep, all bad

[Andy b 1]

Care Sheets

http://www.vet4pets.co.uk/downloads/tortoise.PDF

Care Sheet - Eastern Hermann's Tortoise


all good caresheets ^^^


Hermann’s Tortoises - Testudo hermanni* - Darrell Senneke < very good care sheet, read through them all



it says care sheet for hermanns tortoise but its the same for horsefields

[fantapants]

welcome to the group and congrats on your new tortoise. it can be a little overwhelming joining a group like this nd suddenly feeling like you have got off to a bad start with the equipment. so i will explain a little bit for you, and dont worry, most of us have been in this situation at one time or another!

firstly, the general opinion seems to be that vivariums can be unhealthy for a tortoise in the long term. this is because of poor ventilation and the build up of humidity from urates (wee) and also becasue if the doors are glass, torts dont understand that they cant get through. they see it as an invisible barrier and it really can frustrate them! but dont bin your viv, kkeep hold of it in case your little chap is ever ill. he will be much better off in a viv if he ever needs antibiotics as it will speed his metabolism up and help him kick any infection. an open top table is much favoured in tortoise circles as it is well ventilated. an underbed box will do fine.

secondly,heat mats can be used by reptiles that absorb heat from the belly, but a tortoise sunbathes to absorb heat from above. so again, dont bin the heatmat, use it if he is ever sick. its much better to use a basking lamp and a uvb tube to simulate sunlight and allow him to metabolise his calcium supplements.

thirdly, while a little salad wont do him any harm as a treat, you can provide much more fibrous food in the form of weeds. they enjoy grass, dandies, clover, sowthistle, vetch, and lots of different flowers. there are lots of good tortoise food lists with pictures so you can ID them.

as i said, welcome to the group. dont be bothered by the odd argument breaking out, or the occasional dissagreement. we are all so much in love with our torts we can argue about whats best for them until the cows come home!! there are some very experienced people on here, and everybody tries to help out as much as possible.

dont forget to post some pics of your new tort!

[terrypin]

hi i dont actually keep horsfields myself but i do know they are better kept in an enclosure where they can create microclimates as they become dehydrated if unable to do this.if kept in an open topped structure(tortoise table) this is less likely to happen they need several inches if possible of substrate so they can dig down and create tunnels.i know this doesnt help with your immediate problem so what i would suggest is baths(luke warm water up to his chin so he can soak for about 15minutes), daily at first until you are sure he is well hydrated.i hope he will urinate or pass urates.as to diet horsfields are greedy and need their food controlled i find its easier to control quality so you dont need to be so heavy handed with quantity ,coarse weeds as has been suggested are ideal i find a high percentage of plantain best.can you contact the previous owners as tortoises can become addicted to certain items and this could be the case with yours at least then you can wean him off them and at least he will eat something.
terry

[Tina]

Hi and to RFUK.

Don't worry about him not eating for a few days, it'll take him a while to get used to his new surroundings. You've already been given some great advice on housing, heating and feeding but here's a link which will link you to lots of good articles on these things which will be well worth you having a look at:

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/newbi...ful-links.html

On there you'll find edible plants lists and lots of tips on husbandry.

Good luck with your new tort.