New Baby Hermann - advice?

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Ceilidh_Eliza

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Hello!

I got my new baby Hermann tortoise yesterday and I have everything I need...did loads of research, and I'm worried he doesn't like his new home! He has been sleeping all the time, and he hasn't eaten anything yet...I have tried to soak him and bring him round but he just doesn't want to know. All he wants to do is hide all the time. I understand that new smells, sounds and surroundings may be confusing him but I'm worried about the poor fella! How long does it usually take for them to settle down? Is there anything I can do to help? Or should I just leave him be? He has all the lights and everything he needs so theres nothing else I could porribly give him. Help please!

Thanks
 

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firework

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When I got the 4 month's old Greek 3 weeks ago, I was very nervous too.

Make sure the temperature is warm enough, it will not be active if it's cold. Put him in your palm, how do you feel his body temp? Is it as cold as a stone? His shell should feel a bit colder than your palm but not a lot colder.

What food do you feed him? The hatchlings sometimes are picky on food. There are a lot of things my baby doesn't like. Fresh spring mix should be interesting enough to make your tort eat if he is not sick. Hold off the calsium powder for now, that powder can discourage eating. You can give him a little strawberry just to enhance appetite.

Also try putting him in shallow water and see if he is dehydrated. When mine arrived by mail-order, it drank like he never had enough water.

If the enclosure is warm, he still doesn't drink or eat even spring mix and berries, I think he might be sick. Especially if he would rather close his eyes than looking around when you hold him, this definitely is not a good sign.
 

GBtortoises

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Other than ensuring that your new tortoise is well hydrated and other requirements are in place such as correct temperatures, hides, etc, the best you can do for the first few days, or even the first week is to basically leave the tortoise alone. Handle it as little as possible, just sit back and watch. Keep in mind that it's in an entirely new environment with new sights & smells. It needs time to adjust to those new surroundings. As long as it arrived to you in good health I wouldn't be too concerned about it not eating for a few days. Some will eat right away, some don't, it depends very much on the individual.

As keep in mind that very young tortoises, like the young of many species, spend alot of time sleeping and hiding. This is very natural and nothing to be alarmed about. A Hermann's typical activity time is in the morning once it's light out and the temperatures become warm enough for normal activity. This activity time usually only lasts for a half hour to sometimes a couple of hours until they go back into hiding throughout much of the midday. They will occasionally come out during the daytime if the light and heat are not too intense for them. There is often another activity period in the early evening that may last longer than the morning activity period, sometimes a couple of hours.
 

Ceilidh_Eliza

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thankyou! I feel much better now...i popped home after work and hes eaten a small amount ....better than nothing! Still sleeping, but like you said, he is a baby and baby's need their sleep!
 

TortieGal

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Have you given him a warm soak? Have you seen him drink? He is very cute, I hope he starts eating good for you.
 

Ceilidh_Eliza

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I am so happy! Thanks for all your advice. I woke him up slowly this morning with the UVB and he seemed to like that. I then popped him in some warm water and he had a good drink and expelled the old water. He seemed a lot more lively today which I'm please about. I put some food in his table before I left for work, so I hope that will be gone before I get back.

He was doing something odd in the water this morning...washing I assume? He was wetting his front legs and then rubbing them on his face? I though he was having an itch but he only did it in the water, so I guessed he was just giving himself a morning scrub!

I shall keep you posted with his progress :)
 

Ceilidh_Eliza

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Hello All,

Just a quick note to say Isaac is doing well! He's exploring and although he sleeps A LOT, he is drinking and expelling water every morning and enjoys his food! One thing, if you could help, when he looks for a place to sleep, he digs and digs into the side of the table? I have various pieces in there for him to hide in but he wont use it. I've been told tortoises love to burrow and I have some substrate but was then told that they tend to eat it so should only have it when he's older? I think he would appreciate somewhere to burrow but I dont want it to make him ill....any thoughts?
 
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