moving my male horsefield

shushyouneek

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so i just built a 5 foot by 5 foot tortoise table for my 7 year old male horsefield tortoise. He was previously in a 4 foot by 2 foot viv that he has been since he was 3 years old. so i just put him in his ew enclosure of which i have given him a basking lamp and a UV tube also i built him 1 a foot hideaway which has a ceramic heater for night time. however, he hasn't been moving much since i put him in the enclosure he just sits in the corner. this isnt normal for him as he is normally very active. is there anything i could do apart from soaking him as that didnt work and should i just put him in there permanently or should i keep him in there for a small time each day so he gets accustomed to the new area
 

Tom

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so i just built a 5 foot by 5 foot tortoise table for my 7 year old male horsefield tortoise. He was previously in a 4 foot by 2 foot viv that he has been since he was 3 years old. so i just put him in his ew enclosure of which i have given him a basking lamp and a UV tube also i built him 1 a foot hideaway which has a ceramic heater for night time. however, he hasn't been moving much since i put him in the enclosure he just sits in the corner. this isnt normal for him as he is normally very active. is there anything i could do apart from soaking him as that didnt work and should i just put him in there permanently or should i keep him in there for a small time each day so he gets accustomed to the new area
Tortoises don't like change, and this change is pretty drastic. It tales them quite a while to adjust to abruptly being moved to a whole new and unfamiliar territory.

It would be best to use this new enclosure kind of like an outdoor enclosure. Keep the tortoise in its old indoor enclosure most of the time, and put him in the new one for short periods of time in fair weather. Start with an hour or two, then a warm soak, and back in the old enclosure. Slowly add to the time as the tortoise gets used to it. You can also start feeding the tortoise in the new enclosure to make a positive association. Start with just its favorite foods in there, and eventually make it to where the tortoise only ever eats in the new enclosure. It will take time.

Winter time is the worse time to make a move like this due to cold temperatures and lower light duration. Best to wait until spring is in full swing to make the move more permanently, but he can start getting familiar with the new territory now in short bursts.

And since pet shops, vets, books and "experts" usually give lots of bad advice for care, substrate, lighting and more, here is the correct care info: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/
 

shushyouneek

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Tortoises don't like change, and this change is pretty drastic. It tales them quite a while to adjust to abruptly being moved to a whole new and unfamiliar territory.

It would be best to use this new enclosure kind of like an outdoor enclosure. Keep the tortoise in its old indoor enclosure most of the time, and put him in the new one for short periods of time in fair weather. Start with an hour or two, then a warm soak, and back in the old enclosure. Slowly add to the time as the tortoise gets used to it. You can also start feeding the tortoise in the new enclosure to make a positive association. Start with just its favorite foods in there, and eventually make it to where the tortoise only ever eats in the new enclosure. It will take time.

Winter time is the worse time to make a move like this due to cold temperatures and lower light duration. Best to wait until spring is in full swing to make the move more permanently, but he can start getting familiar with the new territory now in short bursts.

And since pet shops, vets, books and "experts" usually give lots of bad advice for care, substrate, lighting and more, here is the correct care info: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-best-way-to-raise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/
thanks that’s really helpful and excellent advice however the situation is my red foot has had baby hatchling and they have hatched and i didn’t plan ahead because they need to move into the horsefields old enclosure by next week (this will be deep cleaned and disinfected before) it’s all just hard to do considering the pandemic too any advice to speed up the process of moving him quicker
 

Maggie3fan

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thanks that’s really helpful and excellent advice however the situation is my red foot has had baby hatchling and they have hatched and i didn’t plan ahead because they need to move into the horsefields old enclosure by next week (this will be deep cleaned and disinfected before) it’s all just hard to do considering the pandemic too any advice to speed up the process of moving him quicker
Yes, times are different now. I personally would leave him alone and let him get used to things. Tom's advice is a best case scenario, you can't do that now, so leave him alone.Keep the same routine he had in the other habitat. It just takes time.
 

shushyouneek

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oh okay i wasn’t sure because i’ve heard stories about tortoises dying because they’ve changed habitat
 

Tom

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oh okay i wasn’t sure because i’ve heard stories about tortoises dying because they’ve changed habitat
What you can do is make sure the temperatures are as close as possible to what they were. Its much easier to keep things warmer in a closed chamber. Most people in the UK keep their homes much colder than we do here, so you may need to add some heat and light to prevent him from wanting to hibernate.
 

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