Reduced tortoise appetite

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Amazing! The temperatures are all looking good in the warm side, but I may just hang it from the same lamp tomorrow morning. I put some tin foil over the mesh and it’s looking like it will create a nice night time temperature. That was a fabulous piece of advice and I’m delighted with it. A greenhouse will be ordered as well! 😊

As a side note, what can I do for him to help with his stress? I’ve been bathing him, and changing his food regularly, but he’s still burying himself deep into his hide. This is only day two in the new enclosure, and obviously there have been some temperature tweaks I’ve made since then, so this may also throw him off even more so.

For example, I bathed him today, so will I leave him be tomorrow (usually he gets a bath 2-3 times a week, but I’m not sure if it should be more regular to help him along)? And sometimes I scoot some of the substrate away so he sees the light to wake up, but should I just completely leave him be? My concern is that he won’t come out to bask or eat if I don’t “delicately” intervene. I’m also concerned that he’ll be cold to touch and I won’t know unless I check.

I don’t handle him except for bath time, and I’m very conscious of that being a stress factor too.

He needs a routine - same things at the same time. He can get used to the required handling - like bathing or moving between enclosures for the night and so on.

He has reasons to stay in the hide - like low temperature so he waits until it rise up a bit. Sometimes tortoises misinterpret the situation and "gentle intervention" may be needed. A better solution, of course, is to correct environment conditions.