Depressed or just cold?

Evie Wonder

New Member
Joined
May 12, 2021
Messages
1
Location (City and/or State)
Zurich
Hi, so new tortoise mummy here.. He's a Greek tortoise and about 5 years old. A friend of mine (well her partner) rescued 25 recently and asked if we'd like to rehome one. My daughter and I took him home on Sunday, and now it's Thursday, we live in Switzerland and are going through a bit of a cold spell this week (12 degrees during the day, 7 at night). 'T-Rex' lives on the balcony in a make-shift enclosure, but he gets grass time outside every day.

He's spent a lot of time in his little house, burying himself in the corner :-( I need to take him out for water and to try to tempt him to eat (dandelion leaves etc). I've done a lot of research before and since he came home.. but I'm worried he's miserable?!

PLEASE HELP!

I was going to get two originally, but then read that males can fight, and I don't want a female because then we could end up with baby tortoises! Plus with two you need twice the space..

I'm so scared one of these days I'm going to find him dead, because he's not eating much or drinking much either (I put him in a shallow dish of water to bathe & hopefully drink every morning), but I'm not convinced he's getting enough. Do I need to buy a heat lamp etc? Should I bring him inside until the weather gets warmer? He was outside with the other tortoises in a large garden before we took him home - and now I feel bad that it's unfair on him and his mental health!

Any advice is much appreciated!

Thank you,
Eve x
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,218
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Hi, so new tortoise mummy here.. He's a Greek tortoise and about 5 years old. A friend of mine (well her partner) rescued 25 recently and asked if we'd like to rehome one. My daughter and I took him home on Sunday, and now it's Thursday, we live in Switzerland and are going through a bit of a cold spell this week (12 degrees during the day, 7 at night). 'T-Rex' lives on the balcony in a make-shift enclosure, but he gets grass time outside every day.

He's spent a lot of time in his little house, burying himself in the corner :-( I need to take him out for water and to try to tempt him to eat (dandelion leaves etc). I've done a lot of research before and since he came home.. but I'm worried he's miserable?!

PLEASE HELP!

I was going to get two originally, but then read that males can fight, and I don't want a female because then we could end up with baby tortoises! Plus with two you need twice the space..

I'm so scared one of these days I'm going to find him dead, because he's not eating much or drinking much either (I put him in a shallow dish of water to bathe & hopefully drink every morning), but I'm not convinced he's getting enough. Do I need to buy a heat lamp etc? Should I bring him inside until the weather gets warmer? He was outside with the other tortoises in a large garden before we took him home - and now I feel bad that it's unfair on him and his mental health!

Any advice is much appreciated!

Thank you,
Eve x
Those temps are way too cold for the tortoise to be living outside. Bring the enclosure inside and give it the proper heating and lighting until warmer weather comes. Here is the correct care info. Most of what you get from vets, breeders, pet shops and "experts" is wrong.

Questions are welcome.
 

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