Distressed and not pooping?

[BuckyandCommodus]

Hello everyone,

My sweet little tortoise Bucky and I have been living together for exactly one week today! He's an eastern Hermann and was hatched in 2020, actual date unknown. He weighs 63g

I'm new to keeping torts and I think I've got some improving to do in my husbandry but I'm unsure where to start. I've noticed he paces the front of the enclosure pretty regularly during the day, his basking temp is 30° and the ambient is 26°, he has a T5 UVB with reflector dish. I'm concerned he's doing this because he's stressed or bored, I've included some pictures of his enclosure so please let me know if you see any issues! (Please note the pictures were taken at the end of the day, excuse the sad looking salad!)

The second issue is pooping, the day I brought him home he did a several HUGE poops and I expected to see little action in that department for a day or two considering. But since that first day I've only seen him go once! I'm worried as he's such a small baby. I'm soaking him daily for 15 mins in some nice lukewarm water and he's passed urates each time. His diet this week has been, "mind Your buisness" , "geranium", "Camomille" , "pok choi", "courgette" and some nettle leaves. He's been eating his calcium block and he's even come out for a walk around my room for some gentle exercise. His humidity sits around 68 during the day and he has a mister in the morning to push it to 80 for the first few hours of the day. He's in a 4x2x2 viv exotic with the lower portion of the glass covered in glass stickers of leaves and foliage to help him have some privacy

Do you guys have some feedback for me? I want this guy to have a great time with me, I hope he isn't stressed out

 

[RatQueen_Irene]

It sounds like you're doing quite well so far! He's adorable

I'm not sure what that substrate is, though I can't tell for sure with the lighting? Coco coir is recommended, with enough height to accommodate some digging/burrowing behavior while in the hide. The plastic bin most likely doesn't offer enough cover, and I'm not sure he'd dig in the hay?

He also may benefit from some plant cover, either real tortoise safe plants, or fake plants. I've found that craft store plants are made with the same material as reptile pet store plants, cheaper with more cover, though boiling them is a good idea first. They like to hide in shade especially when young, or under something sometimes when heating up as well. Giving mine the option of direct heat from the lamp or heat while under a leaf, they choose the leaf for around 80% of the time unless just waking up

Here's the most updated caresheet for hermanns with the current info:
Thread 'The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise' https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...ise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/

Here's a link for diet and plant safety:

The Tortoise Table - Home

The Tortoise Table plant database and resource site for Tortoise owners

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

 

[RatQueen_Irene]

They may also eat their poop occasionally! May just not be seeing it. Around a poop every day/few days seems normal, doesn't necessarily have to be gigantic

 

[TaylorTortoise]

Hello everyone,

My sweet little tortoise Bucky and I have been living together for exactly one week today! He's an eastern Hermann and was hatched in 2020, actual date unknown. He weighs 63g

I'm new to keeping torts and I think I've got some improving to do in my husbandry but I'm unsure where to start. I've noticed he paces the front of the enclosure pretty regularly during the day, his basking temp is 30° and the ambient is 26°, he has a T5 UVB with reflector dish. I'm concerned he's doing this because he's stressed or bored, I've included some pictures of his enclosure so please let me know if you see any issues! (Please note the pictures were taken at the end of the day, excuse the sad looking salad!)

The second issue is pooping, the day I brought him home he did a several HUGE poops and I expected to see little action in that department for a day or two considering. But since that first day I've only seen him go once! I'm worried as he's such a small baby. I'm soaking him daily for 15 mins in some nice lukewarm water and he's passed urates each time. His diet this week has been, "mind Your buisness" , "geranium", "Camomille" , "pok choi", "courgette" and some nettle leaves. He's been eating his calcium block and he's even come out for a walk around my room for some gentle exercise. His humidity sits around 68 during the day and he has a mister in the morning to push it to 80 for the first few hours of the day. He's in a 4x2x2 viv exotic with the lower portion of the glass covered in glass stickers of leaves and foliage to help him have some privacy

Do you guys have some feedback for me? I want this guy to have a great time with me, I hope he isn't stressed out

Hello,

sweet enclosure first off! Where did you get that wrapping for the wall? Love the desert look. Diggin the cacti.
Your tort will have some adjustment to make with the move from where he previously was. Sometimes they go under stress when they move from A to B.
I would advise you to let your tortoise be. No handling, just maintain food and water for your tort and watch for poop to make sure you do not leave any in his enclosure. Tortoise hygiene is key! And happiness comes with it with proper diet, lighting adjustments, suitable substrate, and less handling for the first month or so.
Check out Chris Leone’s website on Hermann’s. He has all the knowledge possible on this type of species.

Home | hermannihavenhome

www.hermannihaven.com

 

[wellington]

Basking needs to be 95-100F get yours up. They can not properly digest their food without the correct basking temp which will make them not poop.
Over all/ambient temp should be 75-80 and night can drop into 60's.
In the near future, 1 maybe 2 more years he will need a minimum of a 4x8 enclosure.

 

[BuckyandCommodus]

Thanks so much everybody ! I've done some renovations and temperature adjustments with your advice in mind. We also planted some succulents for him to enjoy and he's having such an enriching time with them. We planted, mother of pearl, house leek, Haworthia and Echeveria !

He also did a huge poop today in his bath, I feel like we're starting to get the hang of each other.

The vivarium desert wrap is custom printed at my local print shop ?

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome ,
The caresheet linked above will help your tort thrive if you follow the advice in it, and The Tortoise Table also linked is a great guide for checking which plants are safe for torts.

Finding good tort food over winter is a problem for us in the UK so we have to rely on shop bought diet, but some are better than others. Check the caresheet for a suggested list of foods that can be bought.
I use the Aldi crispy salad bags (or those from Lidl, Asda, Morrisons, and Sainsburys) as a base and add in things like pak choi, lambs lettuce, kale, spring greens, romaine, carrot leaves etc. for variety. Florette Classic Crispy is a good mix but can be expensive. I pick out all the white stalky bits and soak the salads leaves before to rehydrate them and to wash off any chlorine that may have been used before packing.
You can also occasionally use dried pellets which you soften with water - available in The Range and Pets at Home. Mazuri is popular in the US and now available online in the UK (but there are different types so you'll have to check which one you need).

If you buy plants from a shop or garden centre for enclosures/food they have probably had pesticides and other chemicals used on them so it is generally advised to wash the whole plant and repot it in chemical free soil then leave it at least a year to let any chemicals absorbed by the plant to grow out. If you can get cuttings from plants you know are safe then that is a quicker option you can also grow from seeds specifically for tortoise food online or in some reptile shops.

 

[BuckyandCommodus]

Hi and welcome ,
The caresheet linked above will help your tort thrive if you follow the advice in it, and The Tortoise Table also linked is a great guide for checking which plants are safe for torts.

Finding good tort food over winter is a problem for us in the UK so we have to rely on shop bought diet, but some are better than others. Check the caresheet for a suggested list of foods that can be bought.
I use the Aldi crispy salad bags (or those from Lidl, Asda, Morrisons, and Sainsburys) as a base and add in things like pak choi, lambs lettuce, kale, spring greens, romaine, carrot leaves etc. for variety. Florette Classic Crispy is a good mix but can be expensive. I pick out all the white stalky bits and soak the salads leaves before to rehydrate them and to wash off any chlorine that may have been used before packing.
You can also occasionally use dried pellets which you soften with water - available in The Range and Pets at Home. Mazuri is popular in the US and now available online in the UK (but there are different types so you'll have to check which one you need).

If you buy plants from a shop or garden centre for enclosures/food they have probably had pesticides and other chemicals used on them so it is generally advised to wash the whole plant and repot it in chemical free soil then leave it at least a year to let any chemicals absorbed by the plant to grow out. If you can get cuttings from plants you know are safe then that is a quicker option you can also grow from seeds specifically for tortoise food online or in some reptile shops.

Thank you! It's always great to hear from other UK keepers, luckily my garden is well established and uses absolutely no pesticides at all. He's the most keen on Geranium leaves so far !