Hi I'm new to this forum my tortoise isn't eating

PrincessGG

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Farcet, Peterborough
Hi I inherited my tortoise from my mum who got her from my nan. They didn't give her a great diet and I've been slowly slowly been trying to eat better. Two years ago she had eggs and was quite poorly. We decided to give her a chance and last year she came out of hibernation and was the best we've seen her. She hibernated well and this year we got her eating well but now she's just stopped about a week ago, I'm bathing her daily but she's just stomping over everything I give her. We estimate her to be between 80 to 85. Sorry for the long post but I'm trying to do my best by her. Thank you
 

Tom

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Hi I inherited my tortoise from my mum who got her from my nan. They didn't give her a great diet and I've been slowly slowly been trying to eat better. Two years ago she had eggs and was quite poorly. We decided to give her a chance and last year she came out of hibernation and was the best we've seen her. She hibernated well and this year we got her eating well but now she's just stopped about a week ago, I'm bathing her daily but she's just stomping over everything I give her. We estimate her to be between 80 to 85. Sorry for the long post but I'm trying to do my best by her. Thank you
If the routine doesn't have any significant changes recently, then I'd suggest an x-ray. This will confirm or deny several possibilities. Don't let the vet give the tortoise any "vitamin injections". Most vets don't know much about tortoise care and will give you bad advice and do detrimental things. Just get the x ray.
 

PrincessGG

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Thank u for replying I will do that. She had an xray 2 years ago when the Vet said she was at deaths door as she had some kind of mass and she wouldn't last another month and we should put her to sleep, this was the tortoise expert ! That's when we decided to give her another chance and she bounced back better than ever. I feel very responsible for her as I promised I'd look after her
 

wellington

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What kind of tortoise and what are her temps? A basking temp of 95-100 is needed to properly digest the food. If she doesn't have that she will stop eating.
 

PrincessGG

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May 28, 2021
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Farcet, Peterborough
She is a mediterean Herman's and I recently got her a Basking lamp (and she lives in a very large packing crate) but she moves away from it and spends most of the day laying in the sun, she only goes out when it's 16 degrees and above. Like I said it wouldn't have been my choice to have a tortty but I promised my mum I'd look after her so it's all new to me. Thank you
 

TeamZissou

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What type of bulb did you get?

They need an ambient temperature of about 21-29 C with a basking area of around 36-37 C. They need those temperatures to be able to digest food and tend not to eat unless they are met.

Check out this thread. Though it's called "how to raise any temperate species" it could also be called "how to house any temperate species."
 
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