How long can my baby hermann's tortoise go without eating?

annasofiajorgensen

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Joined
Sep 29, 2020
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18
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Denmark
Hello you all, thank you so much for your last answers about my 2 tortoises who unfortunately turned into 1 due to our circumstances/space.
How long can my baby Hermann's tortoise that is 5 months go without eating? I have had him for about 2 weeks, and I have tried getting him accostumed to wild plants that are good for him, but he has only eaten clovers and dandelion leaves out of all the plants I am offering him. I want him to eat the other food as well, but he won't. I also soak pre alpin testudo herbs and original and he won't eat that either. I know that adults can survive without eating for a very long time although it is not preferable that they do so. I would like him to eat other food as it is not good, especially not for a baby, to eat the same food for more than 14 days, actually max. 14 days. So ... How long can he go without food? I would like to give him only other food now and hope that he will eat it in a couple of days. What do you think?
I have planted pre alpin testudo but they won't come out yet, otherwise I would give him from them also.
In case anyone is going to ask, I have humidity between 60-80%, mostly 70-72% in the table as a whole and in the colder end, and I use this lamp: Solar Glo MVB Lamp 125w. I also have one new that is 80w for the winter months to keep it as natural as possible, like it will be a bit of winter for him like it would in his homeland. I keep the temperatures under the lamp 32-37c and the humidity is low there although I spray often, usually it can go down to even 40-50%. The temp in the cooler end is 22-24c. At night the temps are 21-22c. The tortoise table is 60x50cm but we are building a bigger one that is 113x113cm.

Have a great day!
Kind regards,
Anna Sofia
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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When your baby first hatched, the breeder should have taken the time and effort to introduce it to a wide variety of good foods. Few breeders do this. They drop in some easy grocery store greens and don't give it much thought. This puts the burden on the new owner. You. Tortoise eat what they've eaten before. New foods are sometimes not recognized as food.

The way to introduce new foods is to mix in tiny little amount with old favorites. Mince up the dandelion and clover and wet it with some water. Then mince up some of the new food super fine, or use a tiny amount of the soaked Pre-Alpin. The amount of new stuff should be less than 1-2% of the pile initially. Gradually, add in more and more of the new stuff as the tortoises begin to accept it. Be persistent and go slow. This process can take weeks or months. Also note that Fall is the hardest time of year to do this because they usually want to hibernate, even when we are keeping them warm and well lit indoors. They just "know" what time of year it is and what they should be doing. So don't get frustrated if it isn't going as well as you want. This new food introduction is a long process, not a single event.

Also, I would not use MVBs. They stop producing UV prematurely, are delicate and temperamental, expensive, and they cause pyramiding. Read this for more info:

Questions are welcome.
 

annasofiajorgensen

New Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2020
Messages
18
Location (City and/or State)
Denmark
Hello, thank you so much for the advice and I am sorry for the late reply! I have been trying to do as you say, and I have mixed pressed cucumber (I pressed it in a garlic presser) together with the Pre Alpin Fibre and Pre Alpin Herbs that I have grinded a bit in a coffee grinder along with my plants that have started to grow from my Testudo Saatgut which is a high quality seed mix for Mediterranean tortoises - it is the same brand as Pre Alpin and contains all the plants that a tortoise would come across in its natural environment. So he has eaten much more of Pre Alpin Testudo now.
I know it is not good to give them too much cucumber, but I am gradually decreasing the amount I put in. I also sometimes don't press any cucumber in it but instead soak the Pre Alpin in cucumber water that I have pressed from a cucumber. And of course everything is organic!
His stools and urates have a really good consistency - the urates are like toothpaste and his stools are just the right consistency with enough of fibre so I am very happy about that.
We built a new enclosure for him also and also bought a 10.0 UVB fluorescent bulb that is 30 cm above the ground and sends UV rays all across his enclosure. We also have a 150W heat lamp which makes it between 32C-37C in his enclosure. 24C in the cold end. Is this a better alternative for the MVB bulb? And of course he also has plenty of hiding places - 3 half branches with a hole in them, 2 places with moss and 2 with hay. He prefers to sleep in the moss and cool down in his 2 water bowls and in the corners under the roofs that we have two of across from each other. Is it okay to have 2 water bowls? We have one in the cool end and one in the warm end and he uses them both.
He seems to thrive better in the new enclosure also, which is 113x113cm2. He loves to climb and walk around and he is so curious when I come over to his enclosure and frequently comes over to me, although I haven't had him for long. I don't know why, but he loves to stand in my hand and walk over it when I'm there fixing something in his enclosure. I know I am not supposed to handle the tortoise but he frequently stretches his neck really far out when I come over and lets me rub it a little, so I am not sure what he is trying to tell me with this. It seems like he likes it.

Have a very nice day and thank you for the good and informative reply!
 
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