Introducing me and my torts

[Chrissyguk]

Hey everyone, I'm Chrissy
I have 2 torts Flash and Henry-James-junior. HJJ is my boyfriends tort that he has moved into my house and he is just coming up for 2. Very active and health big Boy, we think and Flash is my very own which I bought a month before meeting my boyfriend and she is 11 months, again she ... we think.

The picture is of my little, and little she is, Flash.

According to the growth chart for hatchings it seems she is underweight and way too small. she is only 65mm long and weights only 45 grams.. I started to keep a check of them both last month and seems she hasn't grown at all and only put on a couple of grams.. I'm a wee bit worried about her and hopefully someone will be able to tell me something to put my mind at ease.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Chrissy:

Welcome to the forum!!

I don't keep your kind of tortoise, so I can't offer you any suggestions, just wanted to let you know we're glad you've joined the forum and thanks for sharing a picture of your baby.

 

[RV's mom]

Welcome to the forum! There are lots of people here who will give plenty of advice... post pics and give as much info as you can..

teri

 

[N2TORTS]

WELCOME TO THE FORUM .....
the wealth of knowledge and great people is endless in here! .
ENJOY!
JD~

Just a quick thought .... make sure your little guys can climb in and out of their water dish easy .... keep as low to the ground as possible or use little ramps . They are not great high steppers"... and this lessens the chance of them flipping ect ....

 

[Chrissyguk]

Thanks for the welcome people... much appreciated X

 

[egyptiandan]

Welcome to the forum Chrissy

Your going to have to tell us exactly how your keeping Flash, enclosure, temperatures, food, supplements, for us to figure out whats going on.

Danny

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome to the forum. Cute tort! Can you give us some info on the temperatures and humidity, and more pictures of the enclosure? How much does the tort eat? Make sure you keep the food off the substrate such as by using a slate tile. Some torts grow slower than others, but you do want to see some nice slow and steady growth. A trip to the vet to rule out illness such as parasites (they do a fecal test) is a good idea for all torts, especially with symptoms like this. Are you sure on the age of 11 months (ie. how long have you had her)? She does seem very small. Wow. A couple grams a month is better than nothing, but my tort at that size was putting on a couple grams a week (although a different breed). What growth chart did you check? They do vary by breed, and are by no means exact. Good luck!

 

[Chrissyguk]

Thanks guys. Here is more in for for you all. I think she is only about 11 months as her papers certificate number is dated at this time. TBH I.m not really sure how to age her but I assumed she couldn't be any younger than this.

Her home is a indoor guinea pig hutch, plastic on the bottom and barred at the top which has been set up for the both of them with the UV thingy light and a heat pad at one end along with a heat stone. I have a 50/50 soil and sand mix on the bottom. and a proper tortoise water thing for them.

She doesn't seem to eat much, not compared to Henry anyway. I have a weed patch set up and daily give them both fresh weeds and a little bit of tortoise food (komodo complete) to go with it and a bit of cuttlefish. Beside the heat mat the temperature reads: 109f and the other side reads: 70f

I have let them out in to the garden area that they have been given when it has been sunny and warm through the day, not at night, but its getting a bit colder now so they haven't been out for a few days.

I did think that maybe Henry was intimidating her so have separated them for the past 3 days and I've not seen her eat for a whole day now. I just put them on the carpet together for a walk about and she started following him all over the place. So I have taken back out the divider and allowed them to be near each other again.. She just wants to sleep, not unlike me but still.... she sleeps far longer..

Any suggestions greatly appreciated

 

[ElfDa]

Looks like a graeca ibera-- is it?

I had growth problems with mine, way back in HS... she eventually died (I still miss her). I had her for several years, and she just *didn't grow*. I checked with local experts, and my set up was perfect; it was a total stumper.

I hope you find advice for tortie growth, and maybe I can find out what happened to Dora?
And how to keep my baby, Penelope, healthy (I think she got a head start by my not buying her as a hatchling).

To learning, my new friend! *holds her water bottle high!*

---

d'aww looks like she's a tortoise tortie (just like dogs can be people-dogs)

Thanks guys. Here is more in for for you all. I think she is only about 11 months as her papers certificate number is dated at this time. TBH I.m not really sure how to age her but I assumed she couldn't be any younger than this.

Her home is a indoor guinea pig hutch, plastic on the bottom and barred at the top which has been set up for the both of them with the UV thingy light and a heat pad at one end along with a heat stone. I have a 50/50 soil and sand mix on the bottom. and a proper tortoise water thing for them.

She doesn't seem to eat much, not compared to Henry anyway. I have a weed patch set up and daily give them both fresh weeds and a little bit of tortoise food (komodo complete) to go with it and a bit of cuttlefish. Beside the heat mat the temperature reads: 109f and the other side reads: 70f

I have let them out in to the garden area that they have been given when it has been sunny and warm through the day, not at night, but its getting a bit colder now so they haven't been out for a few days.

I did think that maybe Henry was intimidating her so have separated them for the past 3 days and I've not seen her eat for a whole day now. I just put them on the carpet together for a walk about and she started following him all over the place. So I have taken back out the divider and allowed them to be near each other again.. She just wants to sleep, not unlike me but still.... she sleeps far longer..

Any suggestions greatly appreciated

 

[Chrissyguk]

Hi Elf, thanks for the reply.
She is a Hermanni and I'm now really worried as she is now sleeping in 1 corner and not really moving. I took her out and gave her a warm bath before plonking her down beside fresh food but she just went back to her corner. Think I will phone the vet tomorrow and see if they have any idea.

 

[ElfDa]

...That does not sound promising.

*offers hugs*

 

[dmmj]

welcome to the forum, even under bad conditions.