Help Please

[KirbyInKent]

Hello,

I am a fairly new tortoise owner, I adopted Otis (then Marjorie) roughly 2 years ago, he is a 26 (est.?) year old marginated male tortoise. Last year he did not hibernate as he had a respiratory infection and was unsafe to do so, but this year he had a successful hibernation!
He has woken up and looks visibly underweight, his legs are skinny and his eyes are slightly sunken but he appears to be eating fine, he was never big on drinking but I am bathing him regularly to keep him hydrated. He is urinating and pooping normally
I have been waiting to put a shed up to house him outdoors (he was sleeping in the greenhouse last summer but due to the high winds here in Kent it unfortunately came crashing down!!!) but in the meantime he has been in my living room with heat lamps and cushions (spoilt boy loves a fluffy pillow).
I came home and realised he has chipped the front of his shell, and I'm basically panicking that his shell has declined since being in hibernation? Is this something that can happen? I will attach pictures ASAP, but I'm worried there are new dips and concave parts in his shell and I'm not sure if they have always been there? I also might just be freaking myself out really.
I have also noticed he is pacing the fence when in the garden, which is something he did do last summer. The garden is a good size (50ft x 25ft) and he has the run of it, but he just sticks to one side and paces. Is the garden too small? Any tips for helping him explore the rest of the garden?

Long story short, I think I need a bit of reassurance from other marginated owners, I'm still fairly new to this and am trying to do right by my Otis!

If someone would also mind giving me a list of good UV bulbs and strengths for his new enclosure outside that would be great! I recently read that some UV can hurt their eyes, and want to make sure I'm not doing this to Otis.

Thanks in advance!

(And PS, he does have purple spots; last summer he attacked a freshly painted fence and it hasn't scrubbed off! Again, any advice on getting this off would be great, I was kind of adverse to using any sort of soap etc.)

 

[MarginatedMooney]

I'm not a very experienced tortoise keeper so I was hoping someone else would respond that would be more helpful. But I can try to help based off of what I know.

From what I know, it seems normal that the tortoise would look thin after hibernating. As long as they're eating and pooping, they should be fine. Feeding them more than normal and feeding pellets to help them gain weight would help.

I see the chipping on the front of the shell there. I don't know much about that but I think it would mostly be cosmetic? Is it part of a bigger problem like not enough calcium or UV? I don't know. Hopefully someone else can help with this.

50ft x 25ft definitely sounds like a big enough space to me. I don't know why he would only stay in one part of the garden but I wouldn't worry too much.

It sounds like you need a more permanent solution to cold days and nights. Either an indoor enclosure or a night box outside. There are lots of examples of both of those on this forum.

As far as UV bulbs, avoid any screw-in type bulbs. T5 HO fluorescent tubes are the best. Arcadia and ZooMed are some of the best brands.

I hope this helps and I hope your tortoise is doing well!

 

[Yvonne G]

That's a GREAT photo array of Otis! Good job!!

If Otis is getting three or four hours outside, he doesn't need a UV light. But my choice is the T5 tube type fluorescent bulb.