Ibera Greek tortoise doesn't drink water

chemprentice

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Our baby ibera greek tortoise, who we got from tortoisesupply two weeks ago, doesn't seem to like drinking water from the water dish.

Every morning we soak him in warm water for roughly 20-30 minutes, where I will also use a straw to wet his shell, then we take him out of his bath and put him under the heat lamp to warm up further. After a while, he'll slowly start moving around and wander towards his food. I've never once seen his drink from his water dish though, even though it is right by his food.

I'm wondering if he's hydrated enough from the soak where he won't drink water, or if the water dish needs to be within his line of sight to seek it out.

Attached are photos of the enclosure to get an idea of the setup.

Thanks.
 

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wellington

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I can't seem to find the water dish in the enclosure.
It needs to be a low sided clay saucer and buried so the rim is level with the substrate.
He will get water in his soaks too.
 

chemprentice

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I can't seem to find the water dish in the enclosure.
It needs to be a low sided clay saucer and buried so the rim is level with the substrate.
He will get water in his soaks too.

The water dish is also in the food dish and was made from the bottom of a plastic container with a lip height of 1/4 of an inch. Do you think this is still too high for him to reach into?
 

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wellington

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It's too hard for him to get too. Also a little too shallow. They will lots of times put their whole head under too drink.
Use the clay saucer for water. Put a few rocks in it and place the dish into the substrate so the rim is level with the substrate.
 

chemprentice

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It's too hard for him to get too. Also a little too shallow. They will lots of times put their whole head under too drink.
Use the clay saucer for water. Put a few rocks in it and place the dish into the substrate so the rim is level with the substrate.

I may try that. Should I switch the food dish and the water dish so the clay saucer has the water and the plastic dish holds the food? Or should I get another clay saucer? I'm kind of limited with space in the enclosure to have two clay saucers unless one of them is incredibly tiny (2" or so), which is why I decided to go with the plastic container as the water dish.
 

wellington

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Yes, you can just switch them. You could also get a rudder style ceramic or clay tile and use that as the food plate. It will also help to keep the beak trimmed as it helps to file it as he eats off it.
 

TammyJ

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You have got some good advice.
What's the substrate? Also, the enclosure seems dry from the pictures. What about your temperatures and humidity?
Lovely little tortoise!
 

chemprentice

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You have got some good advice.
What's the substrate? Also, the enclosure seems dry from the pictures. What about your temperatures and humidity?
Lovely little tortoise!

The coco coir is relatively dry on top, but it is more moist deeper into the substrate. I make sure to heavily reconstitute in the mornings and mist it with warm water 2x a day, once in midday, once at night. I also check the deeper level of the coco coir to make sure it's still damp.

Temps and humidity on the cooler end are 80F and 70% humidity, and the basking spot is 95-100F.
 

chemprentice

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Yes, you can just switch them. You could also get a rudder style ceramic or clay tile and use that as the food plate. It will also help to keep the beak trimmed as it helps to file it as he eats off it.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll add another flat stone as his food plate and use the planter as his water dish.
 

TammyJ

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That was suppose to be ruffer style tile. Not rudder style lol
The bottom side of the tiles are rougher. The top side is smooth and glossy.
Put the smooth and glossy side down into the substrate. The tortoise will enjoy walking on and trimming his claws, and eating on and trimming his beak against the rough side of the tiles. I put a few tiles like this against each other in my outdoor enclosure, for both the food and for them to walk on.
 

TammyJ

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Wellington, what do you think? I think this looks like an improvement. Just don't know about the pine cone?
 

chemprentice

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Wellington, what do you think? I think this looks like an improvement. Just don't know about the pine cone?

I added the pine cones for exploratory and climbing purposes, to pique his interest in stuff to sniff around the enclosure. He hasn't flipped over from climbing them, if that's the worry.
 

TammyJ

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I added the pine cones for exploratory and climbing purposes, to pique his interest in stuff to sniff around the enclosure. He hasn't flipped over from climbing them, if that's the worry.
I don't think he will trip over it either. Just thought he may take a bite out of it, which may or may not do any harm!
I love pine cones. I remember collecting them when I visited Canada, and we also have them high up in the Blue Mountains here in Jamaica.
 

chemprentice

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I don't think he will trip over it either. Just thought he may take a bite out of it, which may or may not do any harm!
I love pine cones. I remember collecting them when I visited Canada, and we also have them high up in the Blue Mountains here in Jamaica.

So far, I haven't seen him take a bite out of them, just a sniff or two.
 

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