Feeding tortoise

[tortoiseweed]

Feeding tortoise

I'm a new owner of a 6y m Hermanns tort. He's been with us about 2 weeks and seems to be settling well. I'm just worried about how much he is eating, or how little he's eating.

Are tortoises good at self regulation in regards to food? He ate plenty Sunday and I thought it was a good sign of improvement and that he was settling in. Monday I was told he ate good amounts (I was at work all day) yesterday and today he's had 3-4 (in total) dandelion and lambs lettuce leaves - medium / smaller size.

He does have some weeds growing in his run with some evidence of nibbling on. I add fresh food daily.

From dandilions, lambs lettuce, plantain, mallow etc and tortoise friendly flowers- which he doesn't even look at. - just a few examples of what he gets.

I've grown torotise grazing pots as well.

I've read that they should eat the amount of their shell upside down? By that standard he's definitely not eating alot.

He's an out outdoor tortoise - always has been. And the weather is over cast (UK). He has a heated house. Ambient temp 25 c +. Cooler sides 20c. basking spot 30c he has uva and uvb strip light. Humidity 50-60 indoors.

He goes freely between house and run.

He has a soak every 2-3 days. Some times he tolerates it. Soaking 15 mins plus. Other days he won't entertain.

He's soaked this morning pass stool, urine and urates

Any thoughts and advice would be much appreciated

Oh and he's at the vets Thursday just for general check up

Stress from moving ? To much change? Stubborn?

 

[Tom]

Feeding tortoise

I'm a new owner of a 6y m Hermanns tort. He's been with us about 2 weeks and seems to be settling well. I'm just worried about how much he is eating, or how little he's eating.

Are tortoises good at self regulation in regards to food? He ate plenty Sunday and I thought it was a good sign of improvement and that he was settling in. Monday I was told he ate good amounts (I was at work all day) yesterday and today he's had 3-4 (in total) dandelion and lambs lettuce leaves - medium / smaller size.

He does have some weeds growing in his run with some evidence of nibbling on. I add fresh food daily.

From dandilions, lambs lettuce, plantain, mallow etc and tortoise friendly flowers- which he doesn't even look at. - just a few examples of what he gets.

I've grown torotise grazing pots as well.

I've read that they should eat the amount of their shell upside down? By that standard he's definitely not eating alot.

He's an out outdoor tortoise - always has been. And the weather is over cast (UK). He has a heated house. Ambient temp 25 c +. Cooler sides 20c. basking spot 30c he has uva and uvb strip light. Humidity 50-60 indoors.

He goes freely between house and run.

He has a soak every 2-3 days. Some times he tolerates it. Soaking 15 mins plus. Other days he won't entertain.

He's soaked this morning pass stool, urine and urates

Any thoughts and advice would be much appreciated

Oh and he's at the vets Thursday just for general check up

Stress from moving ? To much change? Stubborn?

Hello and welcome!

Sounds like a great set up. Overcast weather will suppress their appetite in some cases.

The indoor basking area should be around 36-37 at tortoise shell height. Measure by placing a digital thermometer on its back directly under the lamp and letting it cook there for an hour or more. Adjust the temperature by raising or lowering the bulb height or wattage. Don't use mercury vapor bulbs, spot bulbs or halogens. Use regular incandescent flood bulbs.

Soak for at least 30 minutes. It's fine if he starts trying to climb out. We call that "the tortoise treadmill" and it is good for them. They need the exercise. Much like a horse, tortoises rely on locomotion to help keep things moving through the GI tract.

Be careful with the vet. Most vets know very little about tortoise care and often dispense the old wrong info. Vets learn tortoise care from the same old wrong sources that everyone else learns from. There is no semester on tortoise care in vet school. Vets are good for surgery and properly dosing meds when needed, but have a dismal track record on set up and maintenance. Personally, I wouldn't go. The stress of travel is likely to do more harm than good. Perfect your set up, and the tortoise should be fine.

Check this out for more info:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[tortoiseweed]

Hello and welcome!

Sounds like a great set up. Overcast weather will suppress their appetite in some cases.

The indoor basking area should be around 36-37 at tortoise shell height. Measure by placing a digital thermometer on its back directly under the lamp and letting it cook there for an hour or more. Adjust the temperature by raising or lowering the bulb height or wattage. Don't use mercury vapor bulbs, spot bulbs or halogens. Use regular incandescent flood bulbs.

Soak for at least 30 minutes. It's fine if he starts trying to climb out. We call that "the tortoise treadmill" and it is good for them. They need the exercise. Much like a horse, tortoises rely on locomotion to help keep things moving through the GI tract.

Be careful with the vet. Most vets know very little about tortoise care and often dispense the old wrong info. Vets learn tortoise care from the same old wrong sources that everyone else learns from. There is no semester on tortoise care in vet school. Vets are good for surgery and properly dosing meds when needed, but have a dismal track record on set up and maintenance. Personally, I wouldn't go. The stress of travel is likely to do more harm than good. Perfect your set up, and the tortoise should be fine.

Check this out for more info:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Thankyou

I guess I hadn't considered the impact of overcast weather. Just assumed with him having basking uva and uvb that it would be sufficient.

But he has eaten more on the sunnier days. The weather is set to improve fingers crossed.

I will adjust thermostat to read from hight of shell today to see what I'm working with as it's current at substrate level.

Thankyou for your advice and further reading

 

[TammyJ]

Hi and welcome to you and your tortoise!
Please, please don't take your tortoise to any vet unless you think he is sick!
And above all, if you do take him to a vet anyway to make yourself feel better, don't let them give your tortoise any kind of injections.
Speaking from sad experience.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello! I’m late to this thread, but welcome from a fellow uk member! Thought I’d pass some links on you’ll hopefully find useful!

This thread covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, definitely double check bulb types, folks unfortunately sold the wrong ones often), correct levels, appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and the tortoise table link

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it, I have a huge back log I need to add

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Now that housing thread discusses an open top set up, which is fine for adult tortoises, but I will say, knowing how cold our uk winters get, for those who don’t brumate their temperate species, they can really struggle keeping their temperates where needed, a cover can come in really handy for maintaining your heat, the most efficient closed set ups are melamine/pvc vivs

Visual inspiration

Hi guys! I’ve had some lovely messages complimenting me on my care sheets I made for all the visuals they include! That makes me so happy because as a visual learner myself, that was my goal🥰 I’ve recently had some requests for some more visual inspiration for set ups that can house babies/...

tortoiseforum.org

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

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

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Really hope they can come in useful for you