Hello! I'm new to this forum, and I'm excited to hear some thoughts from more experienced tortoise lovers! I have had my lovely Henrietta, a 12-year-old Hermann's tortoise, for about 9 months now. She was a little boy's pet who was dumped at my local pet store when the boy grew up and grew out of her. I have no idea about her care before she came to me. She has some pyramiding on her shell, but otherwise seems very healthy. I feed her dandelion greens, hibiscus flowers, and a number of other things that I collect from chemical-free sources (like my garden). She had a good appetite last February and a truly amazing one over the summer, but I feel her appetite has reduced in the last few weeks. It goes without saying that I have a large, open table for her with a carefully-researched UVB and heat lamp setup; I monitor her temperatures closely and they pretty much stay in the mid 90s in her basking spot and in the 70s around the cooler end. It is autumn here (in Southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S.A.). I don't think I anticipated how much the changes outside would affect her, and I just want to make sure that her decreased appetite is actually because of the changing seasons and not because of any other health or husbandry reasons. Thanks in advance for any input!
Hermann's autumn appetite changes
- Thread starter Rhiannon
- Start date
welcome to the forum! i think your tort is fine
just slowing down for the colder part of the year. here is the heramnns care sheet http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/ also can you post some pics of your tort and his enclosure?
just slowing down for the colder part of the year. here is the heramnns care sheet http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/sticky-hermanns-tortoise-care-sheet-updated.101410/ also can you post some pics of your tort and his enclosure?
You can create a free Photo bucket account, and drop the pics into a thread, or if you have a phone that likes the computer (my phone hates me and the computer) you can take pictures and just drag them into a thread/post from your desktop
lismar is very right, it's time for most tortoises who (can) hibernate to slow down a little, and losing a bit of appetite is usually a 'symptom'. Losing appetite can also be from other things, too, though. How hot are your temps?
lismar is very right, it's time for most tortoises who (can) hibernate to slow down a little, and losing a bit of appetite is usually a 'symptom'. Losing appetite can also be from other things, too, though. How hot are your temps?
My tortoise's basking spot is a little higher than 90 degrees, and the cooler areas are in the low 70s at most (when it's hot outside) and in the middle 60s when it gets cooler and we turn our heat on. Her lamps go off at night, but the coolest our house usually gets down to is 65 degrees.
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