Hermanns losing weight

[Nelda Blodgett]

A few months ago I got a 3-4 year old female Hermanns from across the U.S. I have a 2 year old male and they have separate enclosures.

My female has had Undigested food in her poop and has been examined by the vet twice and had fecals done. It was determined that she was stressed from the changes.

She went from a large outdoor enclosure to a smaller indoor 2x6 enclosure. She was housed with a group of Hermann’s and now she is alone. She was used to hibernating/brumating and she won’t where I live. They are inside all winter.

Her basking lamp is 90-95. Cool is 70. When she paces and climbs we give her the run of the tort. safe room with access to a basking lamp. She usually explores till she goes to sleep then we move her back to her box.

I have been giving her bene-bac once or twice a week. It expires this month. Mazuri once or twice a week.
Cucumber occasionally to increase appetite. 20 min. oaks every 2-3 days.

She weighed 379 grams when I got her in July.

July- 379
Aug. - 369
Sept. - 348
Oct. - 329
Nov. - 315

What else can I do for her. I am really concerned. I have a great exotic vet who ownes a tortoise but honestly there are no herp. Vets in my area and I find more experience on here. Please help! Changing boxes is not an option at this point.

 

[wellington]

Be sure to feed her every day.
What else do you feed? Cucumber and mazuri is not enough. Cucumber is mostly water
Set the room up for her enclosure. A 2x6 is way too small for a tortoise of that age. Specially one that was living outside in a bigger enclosure. If you can't do bigger and better for her, rehome her.

 

[Nelda Blodgett]

S

Be sure to feed her every day.
What else do you feed? Cucumber and mazuri is not enough. Cucumber is mostly water
Set the room up for her enclosure. A 2x6 is way too small for a tortoise of that age. Specially one that was living outside in a bigger enclosure. If you can't do bigger and better for her, rehome her.

he eats both types of plantain, clover dandelion, hibiscus, sedum, chia etc. Now that it’s getting colder out they are getting spring greens, green leaf and red leaf lettuce etc.

 

[Nelda Blodgett]

S

he eats both types of plantain, clover dandelion, hibiscus, sedum, chia etc. Now that it’s getting colder out they are getting spring greens, green leaf and red leaf lettuce etc.

She sorry

 

[wellington]

S

he eats both types of plantain, clover dandelion, hibiscus, sedum, chia etc. Now that it’s getting colder out they are getting spring greens, green leaf and red leaf lettuce etc.

Try adding more. Endive, ridicchio, arugula, cactus pads, smaller amounts of kale, mustard and collard greens. Feed daily enough that she can graze off and on all day.
The biggest thing is she has to have a bigger enclosure. The stress will make her sick and could kill her.
Adults take much longer to adjust to their new homes compared to babies. But you have the added stress of a tort that lived outside and now lives in an enclosure that is only big enough for a hatchling. You have to do better.

 

[Tom]

A few months ago I got a 3-4 year old female Hermanns from across the U.S. I have a 2 year old male and they have separate enclosures.

My female has had Undigested food in her poop and has been examined by the vet twice and had fecals done. It was determined that she was stressed from the changes.

She went from a large outdoor enclosure to a smaller indoor 2x6 enclosure. She was housed with a group of Hermann’s and now she is alone. She was used to hibernating/brumating and she won’t where I live. They are inside all winter.

Her basking lamp is 90-95. Cool is 70. When she paces and climbs we give her the run of the tort. safe room with access to a basking lamp. She usually explores till she goes to sleep then we move her back to her box.

I have been giving her bene-bac once or twice a week. It expires this month. Mazuri once or twice a week.
Cucumber occasionally to increase appetite. 20 min. oaks every 2-3 days.

She weighed 379 grams when I got her in July.

July- 379
Aug. - 369
Sept. - 348
Oct. - 329
Nov. - 315

What else can I do for her. I am really concerned. I have a great exotic vet who ownes a tortoise but honestly there are no herp. Vets in my area and I find more experience on here. Please help! Changing boxes is not an option at this point.

I agree with he larger enclosure. I would not let the tortoise roam on the floor. Its not safe and its too cold.

You said across the country. If that means SoCal, then I think your temps are too cool. Its going to be in the 90s here the next couple of days, but dropping into the low 40s at night. 80s after that, and sunny all the time. Your temps may be too cool. Try bumping them up a bit.

If this tortoise is used to brumating, and this species should be brumated, why would you not brumate her? Is she eating much? Since July is enough time for her to settle in, but if the accommodations are not correct, it would cause something like this.

Review these threads to see if there is something we are all missing:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

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

 

[Nelda Blodgett]

Be sure to feed her every day.
What else do you feed? Cucumber and mazuri is not enough. Cucumber is mostly water
Set the room up for her enclosure. A 2x6 is way too small for a tortoise of that age. Specially one that was living outside in a bigger enclosure. If you can't do bigger and better for her, rehome her.

I agree with he larger enclosure. I would not let the tortoise roam on the floor. Its not safe and its too cold.

You said across the country. If that means SoCal, then I think your temps are too cool. Its going to be in the 90s here the next couple of days, but dropping into the low 40s at night. 80s after that, and sunny all the time. Your temps may be too cool. Try bumping them up a bit.

If this tortoise is used to brumating, and this species should be brumated, why would you not brumate her? Is she eating much? Since July is enough time for her to settle in, but if the accommodations are not correct, it would cause something like this.

Review these threads to see if there is something we are all missing:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

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

We are in East Tennessee. I’m afraid it’s to cold and wet here for her to survive. Especially after dropping all that weight. I have two brand new enclosures 2x6. Should I combine them with an entrance and keep her with my two year old. Should I try to trade her for a baby. ( Although I doubt someone would take her with failing health. I am so afraid that anything I do at this point will make her worse off.

 

[wellington]

Do not put her with another. Tortoises should never live in pairs.
Can you make the room you let her walk in, into her enclosure?
Otherwise yes, connect the two 2x6 enclosures but just for her. Do not put another tortoise in it.
Add the greens I listed to her diet and feed mazuri 2-3 times a week as it usually puts weight on tortoises. Once she has settled in better and starts gaining, you can cut the mazuri back some.
I think if you can get her a bigger enclosure and give her some time, she should settle in better. It will take some time.
Soak her daily to keep her hydrated.

 

[Nelda Blodgett]

Thank you so much. I will arrange her lights in the room . It is totally free of clutter and safe for her. She loves to roam around. I’ll add a place for her food and water and sage hides. She was doing so much better when the weather was nice. She has a huge enclosure outside for Spring. I just worry about predators at night and temp. In the winter. Which is why I winter them inside.

 

[Tom]

We are in East Tennessee. I’m afraid it’s to cold and wet here for her to survive. Especially after dropping all that weight. I have two brand new enclosures 2x6. Should I combine them with an entrance and keep her with my two year old. Should I try to trade her for a baby. ( Although I doubt someone would take her with failing health. I am so afraid that anything I do at this point will make her worse off.

When they are housed indoors, the conditions outside don't matter. With the correct indoor enclosures, they could live in the North Pole or the Sahara desert. Two 2 x 6 enclosures either side-by-side or end-to-end should be enough space. The floor is a mistake. Keep the tortoise in its enclosure, but make the enclosure large enough. 4x8 should be your goal for next year, or this year if possible.

Read the threads I linked for you to make sure the indoor enclosure is set up and lit correctly. That is the best thing you can do for this tortoise. Also in those threads is a way to extend the outdoor time well into fall and start it back up earlier in spring with a temperature controlled shelter.

Is she eating much? She may be self regulating in preparation for brumation, even though you don't intend to brumate her.

 

[TammyJ]

I think you might set up a large part of the room as her new enclosure, instead of letting her roam on the floor, which is wrong and probably too cold anyway. You could just use blocks or planks of wood and partition off a section of the room, and put a frame over it and cover it with a plastic sheet or set up one of those portable greenhouse type enclosures with all the right substrate, lights, humidity etc., and then concentrate on keeping her there without any more moving around, and see to her diet.

 

[Nelda Blodgett]

I think you might set up a large part of the room as her new enclosure, instead of letting her roam on the floor, which is wrong and probably too cold anyway. You could just use blocks or planks of wood and partition off a section of the room, and put a frame over it and cover it with a plastic sheet or set up one of those portable greenhouse type enclosures with all the right substrate, lights, humidity etc., and then concentrate on keeping her there without any more moving around, and see to her diet.

 

[Nelda Blodgett]

The ambient temperature in the room is 73. We have no pets or children. For now it’s the best we can do. I have moved both lights to the right height and will put them back in her enclosure later in the day.