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Hi my husband brought me a tortoise on Friday just gone. He is a Hermann tortoise born in 2001. My husband made him a table top enclosure with a compartment with two bulbs at the entrance of this compartment (UVB + infrared.

I have placed both food and water in his enclosure but he doesn’t seem to have touched any of it. He spends nearly all of his time in his compartment under shredded paper! I have picked him up and placed him by his food and water but he just walks over it and back to the compartment again. I was a bit worried so my husband helt a strawberry in front of him (the pet shop owner, where we got him from, said he loves strawberries) and the tortoise did eat it all.

How can I get the tortoise to eat and drink without hand feeding him!?!

Please help!!!!!!!!!

gwyneth Wrote:How can I get the tortoise to eat and drink without hand feeding him!?!

Please help!!!!!!!!!

Just give him some time to get used to his new "digs." Tortoises really don't appreciate change and your new tortoise has just undergone a drastic change. He will come around in a couple days. Every time you walk by his habitat put him in front of the food. You might try putting him into a bowl of water for a good soak. He could be dehydrated. Put him into a dish-pan and put tepid water up to the middle of his sides. Just enough water so that he doesn't have to strain to keep his head up. Then leave him there for about 15 or 20 minutes.

Yvonne

emysemys@pacbell.net Wrote:

gwyneth Wrote:How can I get the tortoise to eat and drink without hand feeding him!?!

Please help!!!!!!!!!

Just give him some time to get used to his new "digs." Tortoises really don't appreciate change and your new tortoise has just undergone a drastic change. He will come around in a couple days. Every time you walk by his habitat put him in front of the food. You might try putting him into a bowl of water for a good soak. He could be dehydrated. Put him into a dish-pan and put tepid water up to the middle of his sides. Just enough water so that he doesn't have to strain to keep his head up. Then leave him there for about 15 or 20 minutes.

Yvonne

Thanks for the advice. How often do you bathe tortoises? i havent read that anywhere before?

giving him a nice bath will help kick start his engines.. im sure as Yvonne has said once he settles in he'll be fine.

Hi once my tortoise has settled in to his new habitat, how often can i give him strawberries, tomatoes and rocket lettuce? these are meant to be his favourite food! How often can i give him dock leafs?

hello gwyneth,
welcome to TFO.
if you can, post some pics of your enclosure.

also, check this thread: http://tortoiseforum.org/new-and-have-so...-1355.html

it was started by a newbie, and everyone gave good advice.

also, read the hermann's caresheet on this site: http://tortoiseforum.org/hermanns-tortoi...-1000.html
you'll see that fruit is not the greattest food you can offer
hermann's are vegetarians, that need alot of fiber.
keep asking us questions

oh, and the baths on warm, shallow water help with hydration.
2/3 times a week will sufice.

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TestudoGeek Wrote:hello gwyneth,
welcome to TFO.
if you can, post some pics of your enclosure.

also, check this thread: http://tortoiseforum.org/new-and-have-so...-1355.html

it was started by a newbie, and everyone gave good advice.

also, read the hermann's caresheet on this site: http://tortoiseforum.org/hermanns-tortoi...-1000.html
you'll see that fruit is not the greattest food you can offer
hermann's are vegetarians, that need alot of fiber.
keep asking us questions

thats for the advice - there is alot out there!
I read up on different sites but they kind of contradict each other which is very confusing. I got Thomas (my 6 yr old Hermann) on friday and put him in his new enclosure. hes got his lights and infrared bulb during the day. he is spending nearly all day under his paper in his hide away compartment. i've bathed him today like you suggested and then placed him by his food. he just walked over it, sat under the infrared bulb for 5mins and then.....yes hide in his paper! i gave him strawberries and dock leaves yesterday so i cant give him them again or can i? i want Thomas to be happy in his new surroundings and kept well and proper. What are my next steps? I want to carry on as i've started so these first few days with me need to be right!

gwyneth Wrote:thats for the advice - there is alot out there!
I read up on different sites but they kind of contradict each other which is very confusing. I got Thomas (my 6 yr old Hermann) on friday and put him in his new enclosure. hes got his lights and infrared bulb during the day. he is spending nearly all day under his paper in his hide away compartment. i've bathed him today like you suggested and then placed him by his food. he just walked over it, sat under the infrared bulb for 5mins and then.....yes hide in his paper! i gave him strawberries and dock leaves yesterday so i cant give him them again or can i? i want Thomas to be happy in his new surroundings and kept well and proper. What are my next steps? I want to carry on as i've started so these first few days with me need to be right!

gwyneth, thomas looks good.
What are the temperatures inside the enclosure?

fruit should only be offered once or twice a month, as a treat.
for regular food, here are a few suggestions (as seen on the post I mentioned earlier):

GREENS
The following greens are easily found in most local stores:

Romaine lettuce (occasional)
Red and green leaf lettuce (occasional)
Curly Endive
Escarole
Radicchio
Turnip greens
Mustard greens
Collard greens
Spring Mix
Cabbage (only occasionally)
Chicory

VEGETABLES
Zucchini
Winter squash
Pumpkin
Yellow squash
Carrots

OTHER GOOD CHOICES (always make sure no systemic pesticides were used)
Hosta
Sedum
Mulberry leaves
Hen and Chicks
Ice Plants
Hibiscus (flowers and leaves)
Prickly pear flowers, fruit and pads (burn the spines off)
Dandelion
Cornflowers Plagiobothrys ssp
Forsythia (flowers and leaves)
Dayflower Commelina diffusa (flowers and leaves)
California Poppy
Plantain (not the banana type fruit….the weed plantago major)
Mallow (flowers and leaves)
Henbit
Rose (flowers and leaves)
Chrysanthemum flowers
Grape leaves
hawks bit
mulberry leaves and fruit
thistle
nasturtiums
wild rose flower and hips


keep offering these safe foods. Thomas will eventually get hungry enough to try them.
Another trick is to rub strawberry (since he seems to like it) on the new food, to get the scent on them. This will trick him to ingest it.

gwyneth, welcome to the forum Just keep up the good work and I am sure he will start eating in a few days. He still is getting use to his new home.

Thanks for all your advise everyone. Someone mentioned tempertures in the enclosure - Thomas' lights come on at about 8am, i checked the temperture at the bottom end of his enclosure and it was 12c before i put the bulbs on. when the lights are on the same place at the bottom of his enclosure is 20c during the day then i switch his lights off at 8pm. Is this OK?
Does anyone know if tortoises are colourblind or not? My daughters daft question not mine!!!!!!!!!!

gwyneth,
those temps are to low and might explain why he's not developing an appetite.

you need to set up a temperature gradient inside the enclosure:
1) on the hot end, beneath the heat & UVB lamps, you have to aim at 30ºC.
2) on the cool end aim at 20ºC

This gradient allows the animal to thermoregulate.
Torts, like all reptiles, are cold blooded and need a morning warm up to even think about food.
remember that no warmth = no digestion

Night time temps can drop to 15ºC, sometimes lower.
If indoors, just let them drop to whatever the room temp is at night.

i have just put an additional thermometer in Thomas' enclosure where he hides and that area is 28c and 20c at the bottom end. I havent got any room heating on yet but when the room heating comes on obviously his enclosure should get warmer still. The room heating goes off at ten o'clock pm - would it be more beneficial to Thomas if his lights go off at 10 pm when the room heating goes off.

A 12H routine is enough (8h to 20h is what I have).

it's the basking area (ground level, directly beneath the heat lamp) you need to focus on. It should be up on 30ºC and not lower.

20c on the cool end is just fine. no need to warm up the room.