Not eating and sleeping a lot

[Kitkat1989]

My hermann has stopped eating and is sleeping a lot, is he looking to hibernate or is something wrong? He will eat some tortoise pellets if I offer him them but other than that he will not touch any of his weeds or any of his favourite food

 

[ascott]

Seems like either he has you trained well as to what he want to eat???? or he is slowing down preparing for brumation---but what is the weather like where you are and is the tort outdoors or indoors mostly? What size is the tort and how long have you had the tort in your care?

 

[Kitkat1989]

He's 2 years old and I have had him for 6 months. He does want to eat tortoise pellets however I have read that they arnt good for him. The weather In Newcastle has got a lot colder over the last few weeks however he is mainly indoors. My vet told my I didn't have to hibernate him as long as I kept his temp the same through out the year? Is this true?

 

[ascott]

I didn't have to hibernate him as long as I kept his temp the same through out the year? Is this true?

Some tortoise just can't be fooled...if indeed the behavior is a result of the deep seeded triggers in a tortoise to brumate...then you will be fighting a losing battle....I would, if it were me, become familiar with brumation and how to best support it in this species of tortoise....since you have had the tort for less than a full year...I would plan to work on overwintering the tort and use that time to familiarize yourself with supporting brumation....

Tortoise pellets? What type are you offering the tort?

 

[Louise C]

My Herman is doing the same at the moment....he's in a vivarium, maintaining his weight and is very active when I get him out he just seems to be slowing down. I'm in Edinburgh so maybe something in the atmosphere has changed that we can't control?

 

[Kitkat1989]

Strange isn't it. I'm concerned because all he will eat are his pellets that I soak for him.

 

[ascott]

Strange isn't it. I'm concerned because all he will eat are his pellets that I soak for him.

Does not sound strange at all...smart tortoise is what is sounds like to me....lol....I hope all works out well for your tort.

 

[Kitkat1989]

Any thoughts on why he will only eat the pellets? The type is Komodo Tortoise Diet pellets.

 

[Louise C]

Well, my tort was solely fed on the Komodo pellets for 3 years before I got him. He still turns his nose up at everything except live clover (I now have to grow a lot!). He's used to eating the pellets I but I also suppose for any animal they will naturally select the most energy dense food out of their environment and the pellets are energy packed with all the nutrition they need (well it says so on the packet anyway). If the change of seasons is effecting them in a way we can't control then it would make sense for them to be picking out the most energy rich food to compensate - I reach for the carbs when the dark nights close in!

I did have a wee break though with him last week though when I changed his basking bulb to a mercury vapour lamp . I already had a tube 10% UV running the length of the enclosure but wanted to make sure he got as much UV as possible. Honestly within an hour of fitting the new bulb he was eating everything he could get his snout into. He's still mostly on pellets - a hard habit to break - to be he's eating other stuff too. Maybe look into increasing your torts UV?

 

[Kitkat1989]

Yeah I was thinking that today, I'm going to go tomorrow and replace it