My tortoise won't move or eat!

PSLIMO

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Hi All,

After tossing ideas around for an outdoor enclosure I finally put one together and put Shelly out in the real world for the first time.

The first day she walked around exploring her new 14' x 14' area and I put her in her hide for the night. The second day I opened it up and she came out for a while only to return and hasn't moved from the hide for 2 days. Today I physically took her out and she immediately returned to back side of her hide. Something must be drastically wrong. Any ideas?

The weather here has been humid in the upper 80's. Her hide is a modified precision pets dog house with 1" foam board insulation that's been fiber glassed over. It has a Vivarium 120 watt radiant heat panel with a WiFi thermostat that keeps it at a steady 82 degrees.

What can be wrong???

Phil

shell1.jpgshell2.jpg
 

Maro2Bear

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Torts don’t like being taken out of their old familiar & thrown into a totally new environment. Hes sulking & mad & wants to make sure it’s a safe location.

Hang in there, I’m sure it will soon realize that it is once again in a safe place.

continue your daily routines - soaking, feed8ng, etc
 

ZenHerper

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Same as for our brains:

Familiar = Safe

Unfamiliar = Unsafe

I've visited New York City. Walked all around and looked at stuff. But then I went home. Where I like it. And I know where everything is. I'd be in a right (wrong) state if someone dragged me out of the house one morning and left me in NYC...not because it isn't great (and in some ways Better), but because it is not My Place.

If she's not eating, and you still have your indoor set up, try feeding her there.

Otherwise, keep to your usual schedule of care with her and give her a few weeks to get her bearings.
 

Yvonne G

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I've found moves work better if you take time and do it gradually. Move the tortoise to the new area for a couple hours, then back to the old area, giving the new area more time each day.
 

PSLIMO

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It's the third day and she hasn't left the hide. I physically took her out and put her by a food dish and she ate nothing but stayed out of the hide seeking shade by a bush in the corner of the enclosure.

How long do you guy's think I should let her try to adapt before I move her back inside and try to feed?

Any other suggestions or am I just overreacting and should give it time?

Phil
 

Toddrickfl1

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My opinion, she's sulking. I recently moved my Redfoot from the enclosure he was in to a much larger nicer enclosure and he refused to eat for a week after the move. They just don't like change.
 

Lokkje

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Your tortoise has a beautiful shell pattern.
 

Yvonne G

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My tortoise parter reminded me of this term yesterday - soft release.

Since tortoises don't do well with changes to their circumstances, it's much, much better to do a soft release whenever possible, that is, put him in the new area for a couple hours today then back into the old area. Do the same tomorrow, but for three hours. And on and on daily until he's out all day. If you plan for him to shelter outside at night be sure he's in the shelter.
 

PSLIMO

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Hi Yvonne,

I still have her inside enclosure running and can easily bring her in and put her back out progressively longer each day if that's what your experience tells you.

Please advise,

Phil
 

Marimar7270

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Hi All,

After tossing ideas around for an outdoor enclosure I finally put one together and put Shelly out in the real world for the first time.

The first day she walked around exploring her new 14' x 14' area and I put her in her hide for the night. The second day I opened it up and she came out for a while only to return and hasn't moved from the hide for 2 days. Today I physically took her out and she immediately returned to back side of her hide. Something must be drastically wrong. Any ideas?

The weather here has been humid in the upper 80's. Her hide is a modified precision pets dog house with 1" foam board insulation that's been fiber glassed over. It has a Vivarium 120 watt radiant heat panel with a WiFi thermostat that keeps it at a steady 82 degrees.

What can be wrong???

Phil

View attachment 296617View attachment 296618
He/she probably not knowing if its safe to come out keep offerening food and soaks or deep dish where he/she can go itself....if in a wk nothing has changed take to the vet.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Yvonne,

I still have her inside enclosure running and can easily bring her in and put her back out progressively longer each day if that's what your experience tells you.

Please advise,

Phil
Yes, that's much easier on the tortoise.
 

PSLIMO

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I took your advise and brought Shelly back in late this afternoon. Hard to believe she seemed to know where she was at and walked around as usual. It's around 8PM here and she went into her hide as usual for the night like she never left. Hopefully in the morning she'll be eating again and I'll put her back outside for the day and then back in after several hours.

If I use your plan and increase the amount of time outside daily, once she starts eating outside hopefully things will be good 24/7 outside. These truly are amazing animals and I'm learning more about them daily.

I'm planting the seed mix from Carolina pet supply and hope to have lush 14' x 14' eating area for her to thrive in.

Thanks all for the advise,

Phil
 

PSLIMO

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Well, it's been a few days and these truly are remarkable animals that are very in tune to their surroundings. Tortoises definitely have better memories than I would have thought.

When she's put in her inside enclosure it's business as usual and goes right back to her schedule. Unfortunately, although she appears to be more at home in her outdoor enclosure for the several hours a day she still hasn't eaten out there.

Thanks for the "soft release" advise and it looks like it'll just take more time to get acclimated. At least she gets to enjoy the larger enclosure and get real sunlight.

shelly.jpg
 

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