i'm ready for the advice now please??!!

[kezdoc09]

hi, some of you might have read my threads before, i've been waiting for my tortoise to arrive from a friends gran and been asking all the questions but never knew which sort she is but now i do ...... shes a horsefield! well i think so she only has 4 claws on each foot??
Anyway she arrived last night and i put her straight to bed where she stayed untill about 9am this morning, then she came out and has been pottering around the garden. We live in devon uk and weather is lovely at mo so shes lovin it!
shes about 50 years old and has been bought up on a really bad diet of dog food, corned beef, salad and veg!! This morning i've cut her up some salad and been out and collected some other recommended weeds for her but she doesn't seem that interested which is fine coz its only her 1st day i suppose?

but, can anyone give me any advice should i give her a bath? any particular foods she will really like? should i cut out the meat immediatly or ween her off it?
also advice on hibernation?
oh and ive just weighed and measured her she is 2.5 kg and 24 cm.
cheers guys

 

[Yvonne G]

One of the ways that I've weaned tortoises onto a good diet is to use the old diet, but chop it up in real small pieces, adding the good stuff a little bit more at a time until one day its all good and no bad. It may take a year or more to achieve this, but it will work eventually.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Where are the photos of this beauty queen?

We must see!

You can do it this way: http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-5245.html , or use tinypic.com

Experts on this forum recommend soaking the tortoise in lukewarm water that is only as deep as where its lower shell meets the upper shell, in a tupperware or tub with walls it can't see out or over. Most tortoises love to soak and will excrete body waste in the water while they're at it.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Wow that was a horrid diet--so glad you have her now! If you can get her to eat the good food right away that is great, but otherwise wean her off of it like Yvonne said (focusing more on the salad and veg--sorry, but I couldn't feed a tort meat, even if she had been eating it for 50 years, unless she hadn't eaten for like a week in my care first).

You never need to hibernate, but if you choose to, only do it after you've had her for at least a year, healthy weight, healthy vet check up and clean parasite test, etc. I choose not to hibernate as I think the risks outweigh the benefits.

Soaking is very good. I would do it daily for a week for 15 minutes as she is likely dehydrated, then see if she'll use the dish in the enclosure on her own, otherwise, soak every other day for 15 minutes or so.

Make sure her tummy can get up to 85 F--so you need a basking spot of 95 F, or else she won't want to eat. Make sure you have areas for her to hide, especially near the warmest area and near the coolest area. So are you doing a combo of indoors and outside right now? What type of set up?

What kind of salad? That is great you have chemical-free weeds to feed! That is so ideal.

I don't have time to look up the weight & SCL on the plot below, but you can use it to compare to see how her weight is for the length if you have in fact measured Straight Carapace Length accurately (straight line, not curved, longest distance).



Good luck!

 

[egyptiandan]

I'm willing to bet money that you have a Hermanns tortoise. 50 years ago Horsfields weren't being imported into the UK. Also in a certain area of their range, Hermanns tortoises do only have 4 claws on their front legs.

Danny

 

[kezdoc09]

ok now u got me thinkin!!! just looked at the graph and her length is 240mm and 2500g which isn't on the chart so maybe she is a hermans?? i'm so confused! Right i'm gonna take lots of photos tomo and post them under a new thread to see wot u think!!! Really wanna do it now but shes gone to bed!!!
thanks guys!!
also i'm not 100% sure but i think they bought her over from holland?

 

[tortoisenerd]

If you post a photo someone will be more than happy to confirm Russian vs. Hermanns for you! That graph is only for Russians. With that diet I wouldn't be surprised if she was very chubby. The care for either is very similar.

 

[BuffsTorts]

I was gonna say, thats one BIG Russian lol!
Cant wait for the pics

 

[tortoisenerd]

240 mm is a bit under 10 inches, which is large for a Russian or Hermanns, but not unheard of, as up to 11 inches for females is usually in care sheets. Very excited for pics as well.