Need help with my baby tortoise

astra

New Member
Joined
May 20, 2026
Messages
1
Location (City and/or State)
Iraq
Hi, I need help with my baby Greek tortoise. I don't know much about tortoises and I’ve only had mine for 21 days, and she was healthy at first, but for the past 5 -6 days she stopped eating and became very sick.I’m new to tortoise care. The seller told us they were easy to care for, but after researching online I realized they need much more care than I knew. She rarely drank water since I got her, except sometimes during baths, and mostly stayed hydrated from cucumber. I usually feed her watercress and lettuce. I also noticed her tongue looks white, which I learned can be a sign of dehydration I tried to get her to drink but it didn't work .Now she is breathing very heavily, almost gasping every few seconds. She barely moves, and her eyes are slightly swollen. We live in an apartment and don’t have an outdoor space for her, so I keep her near the window for sunlight and let her out of the tank to move around when I can. I don’t have proper heating or temperature-control equipment so I think that might caused her to get sick all tho it was sudden because she was okay with it before.

I searched online and learned warmth might help, so I made warm compresses using warm water in plastic bags covered with cloth and I but her above it to keep her warm. Since starting that yesterday, she moved a little more than before. Today I tried soaking her in warm water, but she couldn’t even keep her head raised, so I stopped because I was worried it would make things worse. Today I replaced the compresses because it says doing it for a day is enough so now I tried placing small warm bags beside her so she can move away if she gets uncomfortable, but she still won’t eat or drink. I’m doing my best to help her, but I’m really worried she may not survive.Unfortunately, there are no vets near us, so I can’t get medical treatment for her. I’m also a student with exams coming up, and I can’t focus because I’m so worried about her.If there is anything else I can do to help her, please tell me 🙏🏻 . I really don’t want her to die. If I had known she needed more care than I could provide, I wouldn’t have gotten her. I'm trying my best to help her with what I can and know. These tiny creatures are so precious, and it would break my heart to lose her like this 💔.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
68,654
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
The main thing you need is a heat lamp set on a timer. They have to be able to warm up each day. Outside they would move in and out of the sun to warm up or Coll off in the shade as needed. Indoors through a window doesn't help much if they are too cool. The glass filters out all the UV, and some types of enclosure can over heat in direct sunlight, so be careful.

Here is what you need to know, and there is a temperate species care sheet to click near the bottom:
 

The_Four_Toed_Edward

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2024
Messages
6,352
Location (City and/or State)
Finland
Welcome to the forum!

The main thing is to keep your tortoise warm. Like Tom said your first cause of action is to look for a basking lamp.

Here is a cheap way to make a "hospital tank":
 

TammyJ

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Messages
9,287
Location (City and/or State)
Jamaica
Please try to follow all the very good advice you have been given!
Good luck.
 

Critter-Keeper

New Member
Joined
May 10, 2026
Messages
10
Location (City and/or State)
Christchurch New Zealand
Hi, I need help with my baby Greek tortoise. I don't know much about tortoises and I’ve only had mine for 21 days, and she was healthy at first, but for the past 5 -6 days she stopped eating and became very sick.I’m new to tortoise care. The seller told us they were easy to care for, but after researching online I realized they need much more care than I knew. She rarely drank water since I got her, except sometimes during baths, and mostly stayed hydrated from cucumber. I usually feed her watercress and lettuce. I also noticed her tongue looks white, which I learned can be a sign of dehydration I tried to get her to drink but it didn't work .Now she is breathing very heavily, almost gasping every few seconds. She barely moves, and her eyes are slightly swollen. We live in an apartment and don’t have an outdoor space for her, so I keep her near the window for sunlight and let her out of the tank to move around when I can. I don’t have proper heating or temperature-control equipment so I think that might caused her to get sick all tho it was sudden because she was okay with it before.

I searched online and learned warmth might help, so I made warm compresses using warm water in plastic bags covered with cloth and I but her above it to keep her warm. Since starting that yesterday, she moved a little more than before. Today I tried soaking her in warm water, but she couldn’t even keep her head raised, so I stopped because I was worried it would make things worse. Today I replaced the compresses because it says doing it for a day is enough so now I tried placing small warm bags beside her so she can move away if she gets uncomfortable, but she still won’t eat or drink. I’m doing my best to help her, but I’m really worried she may not survive.Unfortunately, there are no vets near us, so I can’t get medical treatment for her. I’m also a student with exams coming up, and I can’t focus because I’m so worried about her.If there is anything else I can do to help her, please tell me 🙏🏻 . I really don’t want her to die. If I had known she needed more care than I could provide, I wouldn’t have gotten her. I'm trying my best to help her with what I can and know. These tiny creatures are so precious, and it would break my heart to lose her like this 💔.
If you can’t get her the heat and right lighting, I suggest you contact the seller asap and see if they will take her back. She needs a proper set up, asap
 

COmtnLady

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
5 Year Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2020
Messages
4,566
Location (City and/or State)
Colorado
Please post pictures of her enclosure. It is so much easier if we can see exactly what you have and then make suggestions.

The Plastic Bin adaptation linked above is a good thing to make and have. First it will be easier to heat those few cubic feet of interior, and to maintain the level of humidity your hatchling needs. Then it makes a perfect hospital or emergency tank to have on hand.

Don't allow her to run around on the floor. There are SO MANY ways a tortoise can be hurt, or even killed, on a floor. No matter how closely you try to watch, your tortoise will find something she should not swallow (hair, threads, bits of sand or gravel, really bad things like pins, screws, nails, or bits of broken glass or plastic, buttons, so much more), plus they can be stepped on, kicked, smashed by a door, bitten by a dog, cat, or other animal, fall down stairs or off of other ledges., get lost.

- - AND (!!!), the floor is the coldest part of a room! Heat rises! When it is warm for you, the floor will be several degrees cooler. Right now you need to be keeping your baby around 95f/32C. The floor is entirely too cold and dangerous. All species of tortoise need to be in warmth and humidity for the first two to three years of its life. Yours is too cold right now, the floor is the last place she should be.




:tort: All of us are suddenly struck by what we have taken on at first, then we learn and get really good at caring for these beautiful creatures. You will do fine. Soon it will stop being overwhelming and you will a very good tortoise keeper!

Good luck with your exams! What is your area of study?

Keep your hatchling warm and soak her for a half hour or longer, every day, while keeping the water at 32C all the time she's in it (you have to watch the temperature closely because the water should only be as deep as where the top and bottom shells come together, and that is so shallow it cools down quickly. Keep it 30-32C, for 30 to 60 minutes, watching all the time and re-warming the water as needed.











.
 
Last edited:

Littleredfootbigredheart

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2023
Messages
7,732
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Are there any updates on your baby?🙏i second everything mentioned above, thought I’d pass on these links you’ll hopefully find helpful!

This thread covers covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc), correct levels, importance of a closed chamber for younger tortoises(only way to maintain the humidity you need)appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a really handy diet link to check out! If going with a greenhouse, the lower the ceiling height, whilst still allowing for recommended bulb height, the better, but I’ll add more ideas for closed chambers below

This covers a bunch of closed chamber options

Lastly, this one here is good to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying😊

I hope they can help in some way! And I hope your baby is doing better!🐢❤️
 

New Posts

Top