Eat and sleep

Bprsimon

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Hi guys. I'm a new owner to Herman tortoise. He/she is now 3months old. Gaining weight ok. Question is. Sleeps a long time and sometimes don't eat much at all. Is that normal or something to think about. Many thanks
 

Maggie3fan

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Hi guys. I'm a new owner to Herman tortoise. He/she is now 3months old. Gaining weight ok. Question is. Sleeps a long time and sometimes don't eat much at all. Is that normal or something to think about. Many thanks
Sounds to me like he's simply acting like a baby..and babies sleep a lot...what are you feeding him?
 

Bprsimon

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Nottingham
Sounds to me like he's simply acting like a baby..and babies sleep a lot...what are you feeding him?
Thanks for the reply. He's having dandelions, plantain, florette crispy and clover so far but more advice would be much welcoming thanks.
 

wellington

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Please give us a run down of enclosure, substrate, basking area temp and type of bulb. Over all temp and night temp.
List all bulbs and heat sources used.
Posting pics of enclosure and lighting helps a lot too.
Yes, as Maggie said, baby tortoises sleep a lot. But if lighting and/or heat is off then that could be a reason.
Also this time of year, hibernating species, even if not allowed to hibernate, all seem to sleep more and eat less.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome!

A lot of new keepers make the mistake of having a very open enclosure for babies. Baby tortoises are prey, and as such, they stay out of the open. I think you'll find him a lot more exploratory if you add a whole bunch of 'things' to his enclosure - plants, a big rock, etc. Give him lots of cover so he isn't so visible to the big, bad predator. (he isn't actually 'sleeping,' he's hiding.
 

Bprsimon

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Joined
Nov 7, 2021
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Location (City and/or State)
Nottingham
Please give us a run down of enclosure, substrate, basking area temp and type of bulb. Over all temp and night temp.
List all bulbs and heat sources used.
Posting pics of enclosure and lighting helps a lot too.
Yes, as Maggie said, baby tortoises sleep a lot. But if lighting and/or heat is off then that could be a reason.
Also this time of year, hibernating species, even if not allowed to hibernate, all seem to sleep more and eat less.
Hi. His substrate is now fully from a Coco brick
Basking temp is 34 and temp at night 18/20. The bulb is light / heat sorry don't know much about it.
 

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wellington

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I agree with Yvonne but the enclosure looks to small. For his size and more so to have A more accurate varied temps, room for plants and more room for exercise it needs to be the size of 2 of those tubs.
The basking spot should be 95-100F I believe that's 38c.
 
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