Here are the photos... first is lino dry and then washed off a bit.Hello tortoise experts. I am new to this and very excited and want to do a great job. I am a little nervous about the kind of tortoise that I have inherited. Here is a photo. Help!
Photo coming from my laptop in just a second
He also probably needs a good soak and some warmth. Have you been keeping him warm and hydrated?
he is outside, in Tucson. Plenty of sunshine, very active. Maybe I've been too interactive. Should I hibernate him? He's pretty tiny. fits in the palm of my hand. I will keep the plants coming..... He has a place to bathe and drink. Not really interested, covers a LOT of territory. he has a space around 300 sq ft. always cruising the edges.
You have a tropical species. They are not a desert species and they do not hibernate. They hatch during the African rainy season. It needs to be like New Orleans where this baby is, not Tucson. They can literally dehydrate and do permanent damage to their internal organs in one day in hot, dry conditions like yours. He needs to be inside with a proper set up and he needs to be soaked.
Please read the links I posted above for you before its too late for this little guy. He's cruising the perimeter of your large enclosure because he is not comfortable there and he is looking for a way out of the death trap he's fallen into. His survival instinct is telling him to find cover and cooler temps. Not getting eaten or cooked by the sun is a priority over feeling thirsty. This will supersede his urge to stop and take a drink. You need to put him in a tall sided opaque tub with warm water about half way up his shell for 15-20 minutes every day. These tortoises do not live above ground and exposed when they are babies or adults in the wild, even though captive raised adults get pretty comfortable above ground in their yards.