Is my tortoise sick?

[AliciaN]

Hi, there. We recently got a tortoise for my daughter for Christmas. She was on the smaller side. We got everything we were told to get. The store makes their own food that we purchased. Along, with the tortoise box, food and water dishes, and lamps. We brought the tortoise home and about a week and a half later she died. She was never very active, and didn't eat much. Being new owners we didn't know what to expect. The store replaced her with a new one. This time my daughter picked out the biggest one they had. It was a huge difference. Very active, and very eager to eat. We've had him for a little over a week and all of a sudden he's not eating and not as energetic. I'm a little worried because of what happened the first time. Should I be worried?

 

[pguinpro]

I would be worried a healthy tort eats quite frequently. I suggest posting your temperatures, things you've been feeding, and a picture of the enclosure. Try not to take the criticism personal as it is just to better the living conditions of your tortoise.

 

[astridthetortoise]

You need to gain more knowledge on keeping your tortoise, they are very delicate and pet shops don’t always give the right advice. Could you post a pic of enclosure?

 

[AliciaN]

Here's a pic of his enclosure

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings

Take a good look at the care sheet/info here - https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

From what i can see, you should probably look at swapping out your lights, improve substrate, get a better water bowl. Not sure how you are heating? But lack of activity OFTEN has to do with incorrect temperatures. What are your temps?

• What’s your lighting?
• What are your temps?
• How are you heating (day and night) ?
• Definitely need a lot more substrate.
• Swap out water bowl for a shallower terracotta plant saucer that you can sink down level in the substrate.

Good luck n Happy Torting

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Alicia, and welcome to the Forum!

It's really too bad you were given bad care information by the pet store. It can get pretty expensive buying all the correct supplies after you've already spent a lot buying the useless stuff the pet store sold you. Dang it!

Russian tortoises are very hardy little animals and are pretty forgiving of poor care. The first thing I would do is get rid of that pine bedding. That's not good for tortoises at all. If you must keep him in the Zoo Med Tortoise House enclosure, it would be ok until spring when we start having good weather. You'd be surprised how active and alert a house bound tortoise gets when you put him outside in real sunshine.

Make sure your enclosure is warm enough. A cold blooded animal won't eat if he's not warm enough for the food inside him to digest.

Your new Russian tortoise is small, but he's not a baby. He's almost full grown, so I'd estimate about 8 to 10 years of age.

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum, @AliciaN .

Terribly sorry to have heard of the death of the first tort. Condolences.

Please ask questions when in doubt - everyone is here to help you.