Hiya

Well my little baby 'Enry Tortoise (21 mths) arrived on Tuesday, he seemed fine, once he warmed up was racing (as much as he could) around his house, yesterday we had visitors he was a bit shy and now today he is eating the play sand and has the runs!!!

He ate on the first day watercress with romaine lettuce, i only gave him one bit of watercress all day yesterday and today he had watercress with romaine lettuce.. each time I have put a little bit of Nutrobal on the food... he tried to eat the false plant and the water bowl!!!

I am waiting for the wild flower/weed seeds to grow as there arent any clean areas around where I can get them from....


I am so worried... in case I have made him ill.... Please can anyone help.. I am thinking maybe he is stressed or in shock!!

Jeni & Enry

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calm down! first of all get rid of the sand, and just put kitchen roll down until the runs have stopped! collect a sample of poo if you can and take it to a local vet to get checked for parasites ( not urgently, just whenyou can!) Right, now you have stopped him eating the sand, so thats good. Remove anything that he could eat and put him in a little warm water, just up to his chin. this will keep him hydrated. He is probably fine, just a change of environment and diet. What was she eating before?? you should be able to find some weeds from someweher, if not then florette salad in a bag from asda etc will do him for now. remove substrate, bath, feed salad. let us know how you get on

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my bright red hair is very SHORT........where did it go!

Tinkerbruce... THANK YOU

Oh thank god... I have gotten rid of the sand, he has had a bath and given him some salad... I have no idea what he was on before, I am assuming weeds/wildflowers as I got him from a breeder, I will have to phone and find out...

He has me so worried, I have wanted a tortoise since I was 7 and 32 now and so worried....

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Jeni

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Hi, can you tell us what species your tort is then we can give you some advice on a better substrate and diet for when he has settled down?

The diarrhoea could easily be caused by a change in his diet if he was being fed weeds before. It would be a good idea to speak to the breeder and find out what he was being fed.

Hope he improves soon.

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Enry is a Horsfield, I am using Hemp substrate which I got from the breeder!!

This is him by his plastic plant he hides behind...




All advice is gratefully accepted!!

Thank you so much!!

Jeni

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Hemp is okay but a better substrate for a horsfield would be a topsoil and playsand mix so that he can follow his natural instincts to burrow and tunnel. I know some people use plastic plants in their tables but there is always a risk that your tort could eat some of it then have trouble passing it. Where is the sand in your table if you're using hemp as bedding?

Below is a link to a reliable edible plant/weed lists, you might find you have some of these growing in your garden which you can then just supplement with supermarket greens:

Diet and healthy growth

There is also a sticky at the top of the Shelled section with pics of edible plants which is very useful.

Hope that helps a little

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Hi

Quick question just to check. Has he got a slate feeding area or some sort of food dish? He's obviously more likely to ingest sand if eating staight off the substrate - which doesn't appear to be sand from your picture.

Is he pooing sandy stuff or just normal poo but 'loose'?

Hiya

The pen is half sand half hemp and he has a feeding bowl he can walk on to but he walks off with food after having a good munch... he seems to be hungery all the time, I am feeding a pile of food about the size of him and what ever he leaves I remove after about 2hrs but like I said he tends to take food and hide it under the hemp!!

I have completely emptied the pen and put kitchen roll down, given him a little bath and he is not happy at all the last two days he was asleep by now, but he is wandering around just wanting to eat... tried my finger!!!!!

I have just turned off the lights but he is still going!!!!

He has poo'ed loads, Tues - twice on the way home then again in his pen, Wed - once in his food bowl, Today - Once, then a wee, then the runs.. he has very dark (black) poo and the runs was the same but loose!!

Never thought I would post about tortoise poo or care so much about it!!!

Thanks

Jeni

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He's not going to want to settle down if he has nothing to dig down into or hide under. Does he have hides in his table? I'd be tempted to put some hemp back in so at least he can dig down into that... sand isn't really a good idea as he may eat it and become impacted, the dryness could also irritate his eyes.

I would seriously think about a change to topsoil and sand, here's a pic of an ideal horsfield set up:




Also does he have a water bowl that is big enough for him to get into?

I wouldn't panic... I still think it's most likely a change in his diet... and he hasn't pood that much really. Did you buy him directly from the breeder?

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Thats a nice set up is that yours tina