Sick Hermanns tortoise

[AjDaVinci]

I have a 7 year old Hermanns tortoise. He will not wake up from hibernation. I've tried bathing him daily, I've partitioned off his enclosure so he is in the warmer half as he defaults to burrowing in the cold half of his 5ft enclosure. It's still quite cold here in Ireland at this time of year but his enclosure is warm. He is not eating, he is usually on a diet of lettuces, herbs, weeds and flowers (I am an avid forager and gardener).
His enclosure is made up of coco fibres, woodland bark, sphagnum moss, dried leaves. Barley and wheat grows in the substrate as well as clover and nasturtium and cress. My sister and I have a feeling it's environmental related. He's booked in to visit a vet on Saturday. His eyes have a white film over it which is why we're very very concerned. Has anyone any advice on what's wrong?

 

[wellington]

First you should remove any moss, it causes impaction.
Next, what are your actual temps?
Warm side?
Basking?
Cool side?
Night?
What type of light are you using for uvb and for basking?
Be sure you soak her daily in warm water for at least 30 minutes keeping it warm the whole time.

 

[AjDaVinci]

First you should remove any moss, it causes impaction.
Next, what are your actual temps?
Warm side?
Basking?
Cool side?
Night?
What type of light are you using for uvb and for basking?
Be sure you soak her daily in warm water for at least 30 minutes keeping it warm the whole time.

Warm side is 32°C (not directly under the basking spot which is warmer) cool side is 20°C.
At night the heat lamp stays on as our ambient temperatures go down to as low as 8°C.
We use a tube UVB and the heat lamp is a colourless 100W bulb.
We just checked humidity which is low at 51%. We have not done our misting yet today however.
We have decided were going to do a full clean out but this takes a few days as we order our bedding from the Netherlands. We're going to put slate and lava rock under the heat lamp for extra heat and buy a new heat bulb.
He has perked since his bath and his eyes have brightened up he ate some raspberry leaves and dandelion (his favourite snack) but he's back sleeping in his hide now. Still worried sick.

 

[Tom]

Warm side is 32°C (not directly under the basking spot which is warmer) cool side is 20°C.
At night the heat lamp stays on as our ambient temperatures go down to as low as 8°C.
We use a tube UVB and the heat lamp is a colourless 100W bulb.
We just checked humidity which is low at 51%. We have not done our misting yet today however.
We have decided were going to do a full clean out but this takes a few days as we order our bedding from the Netherlands. We're going to put slate and lava rock under the heat lamp for extra heat and buy a new heat bulb.
He has perked since his bath and his eyes have brightened up he ate some raspberry leaves and dandelion (his favourite snack) but he's back sleeping in his hide now. Still worried sick.

-Is it an open topped enclosure? What size enclosure?
-When you say a "colourless" 100W bulb, do yo mean it is a "white" day light type bulb, or do you mean it is a CHE which emits no light at all?
-They need it dark at night, but still warm. The basking lamp should not be on all night.
-With a room temp go 8C, the corners of an open topped enclosure that are away from the heat lamp are probably too cold. Have you measured the temp with a digital thermometer where the tortoise is sleeping?

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

Review this material for more info, and there is a care sheet for your temperate species at the bottom. Most of the care info online ad from pet shops is all wrong.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[AjDaVinci]

-Is it an open topped enclosure? What size enclosure?
-When you say a "colourless" 100W bulb, do yo mean it is a "white" day light type bulb, or do you mean it is a CHE which emits no light at all?
-They need it dark at night, but still warm. The basking lamp should not be on all night.
-With a room temp go 8C, the corners of an open topped enclosure that are away from the heat lamp are probably too cold. Have you measured the temp with a digital thermometer where the tortoise is sleeping?

Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

Review this material for more info, and there is a care sheet for your temperate species at the bottom. Most of the care info online ad from pet shops is all wrong.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Thank you you have been a great help. I'll update you all on how he gets on at the vets.
His tank is open top as it is home made, it's 5ft by 3ft. It's currently too cold to bring him outside and we don't get many hours of sunlight just yet.

 

[Tom]

Thank you you have been a great help. I'll update you all on how he gets on at the vets.
His tank is open top as it is home made, it's 5ft by 3ft. It's currently too cold to bring him outside and we don't get many hours of sunlight just yet.

Add more heat inside with CHEs set on a thermostat.

Be careful as most vets do not know tortoise care and will often do more harm than good. Don't allow them to do any "vitamin" or calcium injections.

 

[TammyJ]

He is so beautiful. Please keep us posted on his progress. You are getting expert advice here!

 

[AjDaVinci]

Add more heat inside with CHEs set on a thermostat.

Be careful as most vets do not know tortoise care and will often do more harm than good. Don't allow them to do any "vitamin" or calcium injections.

Went to a vet clinic today in Dublin. Very friendly staff and the vet and nurse BOTH keep tortoises which was a great sign. They gave us a care sheet, advised us to put a lid over our table which we will.
Trooper was a little underweight and has conjunctivitis, he's on antibiotics now and eyedrops. We were given vitamins to add to his daily baths and he was fed food through a tube to kick start his digestive system again. We will be sending in a fecal sample soon to test for parasites although the vet doesn't think he has any. He got his beak filed a wee bit too as his lack of eating has made it slightly overgrown.
We are going to get a ceramic lightless heat source for night time too after hearing from you guys.
Thank you all for the encouragement and help. I'll post a happy picture of my boy when he's all better 💕

 

[AjDaVinci]

I thank you all for your helpful responses. Here's an update.

Trooper has gone to the vet three times now. His infection is gone, he has perked up a bit. He got an x-ray and a blood test. Both came back perfect, despite him being underweight. They are very happy with his bone density, efforts have been made to increase the temp in the warm side. Using black slab under the heat lamp has helped.

The cooler side has raised in temperature due to the ambient temperature rising in the house.

While we aren't certain what was wrong in the first place, we are really keeping a close eye on him now and his parameters. He has begun eating and pooping, he was screened for parasites, which he has none.

I bought him a rabbit run for the garden, I have a clover lawn instead of grass, so he's having an absolute ball outside in the sun. I'm continuing with baths while he's very very slowly putting on weight again he's getting back to his usual self, running around and following me around.

He's still not 100%, but he's on the right track. We got a monthly vet plan where we get discounts on supplies and we get reptiboost and other supplements shipped to our house. With summer booming, his diet will be much more enticing as I have a lush garden of herbs for him.

The true sun has really done him wonders.