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Hermanns not drinking

2K views 31 replies 10 participants last post by  jeweled lady 
#1 ·
Hi, I have a Hermanns tortoise and he doesnt seem to drink very often, I find it a bit of a struggle to get him to actually drink from his water bowl! Any ideas on how to encourage him? I think he gets enough water through his food and I have tried wetting it a little just for a bit extra water.
I also just built him a big new tortoise table after doing a lot of research on vivariums :gasp: turns out i was housing him very inappropriately in the past, I think i got really bad advice, I was told that a UV tube and a heatmat with Chipsi was sufficient for him, and I only just learnt it wasnt a few weeks ago!
 
#3 ·
Yeah I do, thanks! I was just a bit worried cause I feel like there was something I do wrong that makes him not want to drink!
I think hes been really excited and has been scratching at the sides of his new table today cause its so much better than what I used to house him in! He's sleeping in a plant pot right now! I feel a lot better because he seems so much happier in his new home !
Thanks for the advice and generally for making me feel better about it
 
#4 ·
I've only had my tortoise since yesterday but I've been doing a lot of reading this past month and I've read that they can actually drink through their nostrils so sometimes it's not obvious they're actually drinking. So if you see his head under water when bathing him then chances are he's probably drinking.
 
#5 ·
Ah okay! He doesnt seem to enjoy baths very much, sometimes he really enjoys it and other times he scratches to be out!
I've also been reading a lot and doing research lately, and i feel terrible about the way he used to be housed! I think i'm actually going to take him to see a vet because occasionally he makes a sort of sniffing noise as if he has a blocked nose.. maybe a respiratory infection because of the viv? Anyway i'm just glad he will be happier and looked after better from now on!
 
#6 ·
Did you just change his habitat? when I first got Henry he was in a viv ( blasted pet shops!) I never once saw him drink in the viv when i first moved him from his Viv to his table he wasn't drinking so i continued to bathe him daily, these days he is in and out of his in his water bowl takeing good long drinks. I think he was just unimpressed with the big change over. . If its a new set up he might just need some time.
I'm a newbie myself this is just my personal experience.

Tracey
 
#7 ·
Yeah, I could post some photos here tomorrow of his new enclosure? I think Iv done a fairly good job! I just need a few extra bits like plants and maybe another hide and then I'l be happy with it, do you guys use bedding? I was thinking of maybe getting some Readigrass just for more textures mainly!
 
#10 ·
Yeah, I have 70/30 soil and sand :) I just also put in a little area of slate and some Chipsi i still had leftover, dont really know if thats a good idea but i'm trying it out.
Also, I was just gonna put the Readigrass around the hide for a bit of extra digging space!
 
#11 ·
ive never fancied readigrass, but i did try hemp and henry being henry managed to drag it everywhere, even after a total soil change bits of it still turn up! When i looked at the readigrass it said it had a fair bit of protein so i was worried he would eat it.

tracey
 
#12 ·
yeah, i'm not really sure, iv heard of people using readigrass, hamster bedding, shredded paper and hemp for bedding but i'm really not sure what to go with! i might just try the readigrass and if he does eat it then i could just take it out. What do you feed yours? I've just started growing my own weeds but they are obviously going to take a while, i'm running out of weeds in the garden!
 
#15 ·
yeah that article was why i took the hemp out. To be honest Henry has seemed equally happy with just soil in his hides. I used to pile it up in there, but he would spend hours walking over the same bit to make it flat, so i feel he is happy with his hides.

tracey
 
#16 ·
Ah okay, at the moment I only have 2 hides, he only seems to use one though because the other one is quite open and is right in the corner, its probably the coldest area of the enclosure aswell, he seems very happy with the plant pot though! I'm really glad iv moved him into the new space!
I think i'm going to post photos up here tomorrow of the new space, just to see if people could give an opinion on it or if anything needs changes or added too if you dont mind!
 
#17 ·
I have a warm hide and a cool one - he spends most of his time in the warm one, the cool one he uses in the morning after he has eaten, no idea why. but its amazing what creatures of habit they are, i get up at 7am and he is waiting on his feeding slate, with a look like where you been! When i get home from work he comes over and says hello, he drinks from his water bowl reguarly, he has his own little clock, he comes out about 11pm gives me the big yawn to tell me to turn the living room lights off. bossy little boy!

tracey
 
#18 ·
Haha, it is actually quite strange how well they get to know you!
Hopefully my little one should get used to his new home pretty soon! At the minute I think hes a bit confused because I've had to move him around a lot whilst I was setting up the new structure.
What do you feed yours? Is there anything you feed him every single day? At the minute I feed dandelions and other weeds (which I have checked are okay on the sticky) and about 4 days a week I vary between the little dry pellets and some Nutrobal added in, with occasionally some cucumber if he hasnt been drinking much!
 
#19 ·
I feed him an assortment of mixed weeds , some floretti salad mix and every other day one pellet of grassland tortoise food. I bought the weed seed mix but i have toxic thumbs when it comes to plants so it didnt grow, hence the variety. Differnt things different days, some days i just find it all dragged around the habitat and not eaten, he only eats what he wants so i try to vary it a bit for him. once a fortnight he might get a slice of tomoatoe or strawberry which he loves but are very naught foods.

I'm fairly certain grassland tortoise food is one of those taboo suplements( its high in fibre) but he was having runny waste and the vet said he didnt have worms so i wanted to bulk his food up a bit.

Tracey
 
#20 ·
Yeah, Iv been feeding mine pretty much the same and he really enjoys it, I used to feed him tomato pretty often but then I learned why not to, theyre junk for tortoises! And yeah, Iv considered the grassland stuff before but at the minute i use those strange dry things along with his weeds and salad mix! Do you ever sprinkle Nutrobal or calcium supplements on its food? Iv been doing it every other day and he seems to actually enjoy his food more.. not really sure how though!
 
#21 ·
Someone mentioned tortoises drink through their nostrils. This is not correct, nostrils are for breathing through. Inhilation of water would kill them! When a tortoise drinks a good part of the head goes in the water, so they tend to blow bubbles but it is actually their mouth where the water goes.

If you have just got new tortoises, the important thing more than a new table is getting them out into the fresh air where they can soak up high UV from the sun.
 
#23 ·
Tortoises will also take in water from their tail ends so even if they arent dunking their heads for a drink dont worry too much. If they are dehydrated one of the first signs you will see is Urates, which is a white poo basically - if it is slimy and like toothpaste all is fine but if its gritty at all then the tortoise is dehydrated - hope that helps : victory:

Personally if you are feeding weeds & flowers I'd not bother with any form of pelleted form. If pellets are to be used they are normally used during the winter period when weeds may be difficult to find and then only used every couple of weeks and not as a regualr source of food. Fresh ad varied is the best way to feed the tortoises.
 
#24 ·
That's OK, this is something new to me and we can always learn.

I checked out what you said on SH. Still not convinced from what is said because it's just observations from people on their tortoises, not a scientific explanation which is what is needed as regards shutting off the trachea. You must remember, being a reptile, they can slow their resperation and not actually breath while having their heads submerged.
 
#25 ·
When my tortoises drink, whether adult or hatchlings, their heads go under the water, and can stay there for what seems ages. Its usually around two or three minutes at a time.
I also think they can take water in from the nose, or close something off, for their heads to stay under so long.
 
#26 ·
As I say, I am not convinced and not wishing to contridict our good friend Mrs.M, I wonder if the nose thing and tail thing is really true and not just an "old wives tale", or someone has read something and it gathers momentum and others read it and really think it is true. I need to see scientific evidence to believe both these stories because they go completely against the way the body is meant to function, i.e, urine and faecal bodily functions are flushed out from the tail or cloaca, if they drew water in, they could pull in contaminents which could cause bladder infection.

So has anyone got hard scientific evidence to give us.
 
#27 ·
Ive had my tort for 16 months now, and i cant ever remember seeing him drink. I do bath him and let him have a soak, and he also trots through his water. He eats and poops fine, and its not white.
Ive also heard that the tortoise pellets are not good for torts, as it makes them grow to quickly, or something like that, does anyone know if this is true? Think ill make a pellet post to see how many ppl actually use them.
 
#29 ·
Tortoises that are kept in vivs and tortoise tables can become dehydrated because they are constantly under artifical heat. Kept outside, they tend not to drink so much but we have had months of real hot weather and I have noticed mine have drunk more this year than any other.

As regards tortoise pellets, I would stear clear of most that can be bought, they are basically just cereals and not a natural food for tortoises. there is plenty of greenstuff available at this time of year.
 
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