I really hope that I'm worrying for nothing but over the last couple of weeks Sammy hasn't been eating anything like his usual amount and on some days he barely eats anything. I give him a choice of food each day and I give him different things each week to try to make sure that he gets all of his vitamins but now he's not even interested in his favourites (chicory and red pepper). The only environmental change has been that the ambient temperature of the room that his table is in has gone up with the better weather, nothing else about his set up has changed.
Not Eating Like He Was
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What else are you feeding your Horsfield? Chicory is not ideal and peppers shouldn't be fed. How do you know it is his favourite? Most probably the colour is attracting him?
Get him onto some weeds and flowers from the garden. Take a look at the Tortoise Table website. Is he outdoors?
Add some information as to his set up, lighting, heating, substrate etc and then we can give more help, plus photos.
Get him onto some weeds and flowers from the garden. Take a look at the Tortoise Table website. Is he outdoors?
Add some information as to his set up, lighting, heating, substrate etc and then we can give more help, plus photos.
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He’s prob objecting to being indoors.mhorsfields are a burrowing species and really struggle to adapting to indoor living above ground. Their evolution has taken millions of years so Best get him outdoors ASAP. This is how I keep them
www.tortoises.net/russians.htm
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Your diet for your tortoise is not great, as peppers are fruit and can upset their gut flora, chicory is fed sparingly. Weeds are what they eat in the wild and what is good for them. Sowthistle, dandelion, plantains, campanula and flowers are good too. www.tortoises.net has a great list with pictures of what should be fed to tortoises.
Also your tortoise should be outside this time of the year, they are roaming animals and like to do so:0)
Temperatures that are high, will dehydrate your tortoise and put them off their food. My tortoises are outside 24/7, and hide away when its midday and hot, they roam around when the temps drop:0)
He's on ProRep Tortoise Life substrate in a table.
He has a mercury vapour bulb; his basking spot was 37C, hot side 35C and cold side 25C but I think that might have been getting a bit warm for him when the ambient temperature goes up so I've switched to a lower wattage one today to see if that helps.
As far as food goes at the moment he's mostly getting a mix of pak choi, chicory, watercress and rocket with some Florette summer mix, dandelion leaves, carrot and red pepper. I sometimes mix in some dry leaf and flower mixes and he seems keen on rose leaves and petals at the moment. I have tried him with weeds from the garden but he only really seems interested in the clover, he just walks over the rest.
He has a tortoise pool for his water that he's able to get in and out of whenever he wants.
He has a piece of cork bark that's propped up on the side of the table that he has dug a small pit under that he sleeps in every night.
I do try to get him outside for at least a part of every day but with him being so small I'm not comfortable leaving him out alone even with chicken wire over the top of the enclosure as I'd never forgive myself if a bird took him or if he managed to find a way to escape; He also (apart from the clover) won't eat any of the other weeds in the enclosure and I don't want him to starve.
And just as an added thing to my original post, his weight seems to have stalled over the last month or so as he has been varying between 65g and 61g when before he would be putting on a bit every week or two.
He has a mercury vapour bulb; his basking spot was 37C, hot side 35C and cold side 25C but I think that might have been getting a bit warm for him when the ambient temperature goes up so I've switched to a lower wattage one today to see if that helps.
As far as food goes at the moment he's mostly getting a mix of pak choi, chicory, watercress and rocket with some Florette summer mix, dandelion leaves, carrot and red pepper. I sometimes mix in some dry leaf and flower mixes and he seems keen on rose leaves and petals at the moment. I have tried him with weeds from the garden but he only really seems interested in the clover, he just walks over the rest.
He has a tortoise pool for his water that he's able to get in and out of whenever he wants.
He has a piece of cork bark that's propped up on the side of the table that he has dug a small pit under that he sleeps in every night.
I do try to get him outside for at least a part of every day but with him being so small I'm not comfortable leaving him out alone even with chicken wire over the top of the enclosure as I'd never forgive myself if a bird took him or if he managed to find a way to escape; He also (apart from the clover) won't eat any of the other weeds in the enclosure and I don't want him to starve.
And just as an added thing to my original post, his weight seems to have stalled over the last month or so as he has been varying between 65g and 61g when before he would be putting on a bit every week or two.
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Those temps are far too hot for a horsfield.
Needs to be more like 30c -32c.
Putting him/her outside is the best thing you could do for your tortoise. Being aware of birds etc is fine, but stopping your tortoise from being outside because of this is not.
I have kept tortoises for over 36yrs and never had a tortoise gone because of birds. I have had one tortoise escape from their enclosure, but my garden is secure from my torts escaping, so it was just a matter of finding them. Birds, foxes etc are to make you aware of their problem, but using common sense you can over come these problems.
Your tortoise has become a picky tortoise, just like us they prefer junk foods (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber etc) if your tortoise has good food to eat, then his will is stronger than yours:0) They know you will feed the foods he wants if he holds out long enough:0) If the good foods are there they will not starve, as they will eat when they are hungry.
It took me three months once to get a tortoise I rehomed to get to eat good foods. Its not easy, but its possible. You have to be stronger minded than your tortoise:0)
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Agree, giving in to poor diet is only going to get worse. At this size your tortoise should not be picky. Remember they don’t hatch picky, humans make them this way. He really does need to be outdoors, but if not possible immediately he needs to be in deep soil and with much lower temps. Horsfields are an aestivating species so will shut down at high temps. Make sure he’s well hydrated, adjust temps and wait for him to become a tortoise. Gaining weight weekly is dangerous and will cause deformities, so forget about growth and concentrate on getting him healthy.
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If it is too hot, they wont eat or drink. They also wont move around much:0(
33c is still far too hot for horsfields. Their habitat in the wild is much colder than med torts. And they are only active for around 6 months of the year.
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