Horsfield Tortoise advice

[LozTuz]

Hi Everyone you were all so helpful on here last time I had to ask for advice so I'm back.

Firstly the advice is for my little Horsfield who I have named "Willie"(too young to have sex so could be a girl).

Willie is about 18 months old (educated guess could be a month here or there) and is still very tiny weighs 39g and his shell length is 6.8cm although he has gained weight since I have had him (weighed 18g) but he has hardly grown in shell length at all maybe 0.8cm.
I am getting a little concerned about this lack of growth.

secondly, from April till the end of August, he was active and eating well, last few weeks he has slowed right down eating but only a few mouthfuls here and there. still getting up in the day but mainly just basking for a bit and then getting back to his little sleepy spot. I wondered if this is possibly him starting to slow down for the winter. I live in the UK and although he has his heat bulb I was told on here that they can still sense the change in outside temp (temp of household) and the temp in the UK has dropped last few weeks.

any advice would be fab.

thanks in advance

Loz and Willie

 

[LozTuz]

Also, he just doesn't seem himself at all.
His eyes do not look as bright and as wide as normal
picture with me holding him was today after his soak and the other picture was from about 3 weeks ago, his eyes look wide and bright but now they don't.

 

[TammyJ]

@zolasmum

 

[Raquel1978]

I agree his eyes look a little puffy in the picture.. Could you give more details about his set up his temperatures, diet etc I'm sure people with more knowledge will be along to help soon..

He does seem small for his age I have a 13month old Herman's who is 148g so hopefully someone can be along soon to help you..

 

[LozTuz]

He lives in a tortoise table temp is currently 30c warm end and 22c in the cool area.
diet is weeds plus mixed leaves such as lambs lettuce, hearts of romaine and on a Sunday i add some pellets but he only ever eats a couple but seems to prefer the greens.
i add vitamin powder to his food twice a week and calcium powder every other day.
I've added a picture of his enclosure.

 

[Maggie3fan]

too much calcium powder, our experts are gonna want to know how you are keeping him...lighting, size of his enclosure...I'm not sure what you mean by 'heat bulb'. He should have a basking bulb for UVB and a che for heat. His UVB bulb should be on 12 hours a day not giving him the chance to know the outside weather...anyhow an expert will show up soon, I am not one, but he sounds too cold, in a small enclosure and needs a better diet

 

[Raquel1978]

He lives in a tortoise table temp is currently 30c warm end and 22c in the cool area.
diet is weeds plus mixed leaves such as lambs lettuce, hearts of romaine and on a Sunday i add some pellets but he only ever eats a couple but seems to prefer the greens.
i add vitamin powder to his food twice a week and calcium powder every other day.
I've added a picture of his enclosure.

Similar set up to how I started but then found out as she was so young she needed a enclosed closure so I bought a mini greenhouse from amazon and popped it over the top made a few little adjustments and she has been thriving ever since..

 

[LozTuz]

Basking bulb is what I have yes sorry just used the wrong term.
enclose is 4.5ft.

 

[LozTuz]

Similar set up to how I started but then found out as she was so young she needed a enclosed closure so I bought a mini greenhouse from amazon and popped it over the top made a few little adjustments and she has been thriving ever since..

its strange cos he has been fine until now and ive had him over a year.
would you be able to show me what you mean with the greenhouse over it?
what about the heat?
sorry to ask you so questions?

 

[LozTuz]

Hi Everyone you were all so helpful on here last time I had to ask for advice so I'm back.

Firstly the advice is for my little Horsfield who I have named "Willie"(too young to have sex so could be a girl).

Willie is about 18 months old (educated guess could be a month here or there) and is still very tiny weighs 39g and his shell length is 6.8cm although he has gained weight since I have had him (weighed 18g) but he has hardly grown in shell length at all maybe 0.8cm.
I am getting a little concerned about this lack of growth.

secondly, from April till the end of August, he was active and eating well, last few weeks he has slowed right down eating but only a few mouthfuls here and there. still getting up in the day but mainly just basking for a bit and then getting back to his little sleepy spot. I wondered if this is possibly him starting to slow down for the winter. I live in the UK and although he has his heat bulb I was told on here that they can still sense the change in outside temp (temp of household) and the temp in the UK has dropped last few weeks.

any advice would be fab.

thanks in advance

Loz and Willie

haha just read this back.....to young to sex not too young to have sex...although I guess that might apply aswell.
I'm sorry to anyone on here reading my posts or replies but I'm dyslexic and do struggle with getting things down and rereading for mistakes.

 

[Maggie3fan]

Basking bulb is what I have yes sorry just used the wrong term.
enclose is 4.5ft.

You just used the British term, and I misunderstood. You need to ask as many questions as you have! That's why some are here. I think that you can't make a constant temperature without some sort of a cover...here is my green house over a 6 foot tort table, holding Layla, the Redfoot...

haha just read this back.....to young to sex not too young to have sex...although I guess that might apply aswell.
I'm sorry to anyone on here reading my posts or replies but I'm dyslexic and do struggle with getting things down and rereading for mistakes.

You are FINE, stop worrying...

My problem is I am not a Horsefield keeper or expert, and I am not sure that your tort needs high humidity...so please understand, it's still the middle of the night here...I'm up, but alone here I guess...@Yvonne

 

[zolasmum]

I agree with Maggie that you are giving him too much calcium - a tiny pinch once or twice a week is enough - if you sprinkle it on, he may object to the feel of the powder, so rub it into the food. Do you give him dandelions ? Most tortoises really love both the leaves and flowers - well washed, of course. Zola also loves radicchio - not always easy to come by here - where in the country do you live ?
The weather has been so variable here that several UK tortoises on this forum have been having problems adjusting recently - Zola lives in Devon, by the way, and the weather here has been quite weird. But he is 24, and fairly used to weird weather conditions.
Please do ask all the questions you need to ask - people really want to help.
Angie

 

[LozTuz]

I agree with Maggie that you are giving him too much calcium - a tiny pinch once or twice a week is enough - if you sprinkle it on, he may object to the feel of the powder, so rub it into the food. Do you give him dandelions ? Most tortoises really love both the leaves and flowers - well washed, of course. Zola also loves radicchio - not always easy to come by here - where in the country do you live ?
The weather has been so variable here that several UK tortoises on this forum have been having problems adjusting recently - Zola lives in Devon, by the way, and the weather here has been quite weird. But he is 24, and fairly used to weird weather conditions.
Please do ask all the questions you need to ask - people really want to help.
Angie

thank you for your help I will reduce the calcium, which I'm sure he will be happy about as never tucks into the food with it on as he does the days without.
he loves dandelions but they are getting harder to find this time of year. I live in Birmingham and the weather here has been not very summer-like. I know the person above said the outside weather shouldn't affect him because he has a basking bulb but I do notice when the house is colder the temps in his table do drop slightly, still warm in there but a couple of degrees less which they must be able to feel.
i just hope he is ok i really love him

 

[Raquel1978]

its strange cos he has been fine until now and ive had him over a year.
would you be able to show me what you mean with the greenhouse over it?
what about the heat?
sorry to ask you so questions?

Something like the picture Maggie posted is perfect it needs to be large enough to fit over your house and also have all the lighting inside tiny little changes can really make alot of difference.
I also noticed your tortoise house looks a little dark I bought led pure white strip lights very easy to put in the house and as soon as I put them in mine she instantly become more active.
I understand what you mean about him being fine but you did say you thought he was a little small so maybe he hasn't been as fine as you thought.

One thing I've learnt from reading posts from this site is that tortoises are extremely resilient and something could have been going on awhile before the tortoise shows symptoms.

I live in Wales (UK) so in the colder weather I will slightly lower the basking lamp to get the temperature right.

 

[zolasmum]

The greenhouse cover will probably be a big help, so try to get something as soon as you can. As for food, Here is a picture of Zola on his radicchio, which is his all-time favourite food. We have to drive a long way to a fruit and veg suppliers on the moors to get it, but it lasts for weeks in the fridge, so I get several heads at a time - it is fairly expensive, I know. You can find little bits in mixed salad bags at supermarkets, to try him on, but in Birmingham,you may be able to find whole ones. Sometimes they just call them red lettuce -actually, I think it is the colour which attracts Zola as much as anything - but they are actually a sort of chicory.
It might be worth looking out for some.
Angie

 

[LozTuz]

thank you everyone for the advice.
here is Willie just now sitting on top of some of that red lettuce. haha he does eat it aswell but he loves lambs lettuce always eats that first or his weeds and flowers.

 

[LozTuz]

thank you, everyone.
I really hope he is going to be ok...

 

[LozTuz]

one last thing...should I
be concerned about his size?

 

[Yvonne G]

No. Russian tortoises are a small species.

 

[zolasmum]

thank you, everyone.
I really hope he is going to be ok...

Willie is so sweet - he looks great - don't worry about his size - some tortoises grow slower than others, and some are just naturally small. Just keep a record of his weight - also, if you sit him on a piece of paper and go round his shell with a pencil on to the paper, you will have a record of his size and shape. Cut round it and lay it on the next one you do, and you will be able to see his progress.If you do that each time, you will be able to see easily if he has grown. You may be surprised !
Angie