Stopped eating

[Lameslob]

Hi,

I have a 2 year old Herman’s who has been very active and doing well lately. But about a week ago he stopped eating. Everything he would usually eat he’s not interested in. Romain lettuce, dandelions were his favourite, even the shop bought pellets he would usually eat he won’t touch.
He has now developed a white patch around his mouth.
I’ve been bathing him regularly, the temp on his enclosure is set at 32 degrees and he has a UVB light that stays on a good portion of the day for him.
He constantly tries to get out of his enclosure (but he has always done that since I got him).
Any advice welcome as I’m getting concerned now.

 

[Tom]

Hi,

I have a 2 year old Herman’s who has been very active and doing well lately. But about a week ago he stopped eating. Everything he would usually eat he’s not interested in. Romain lettuce, dandelions were his favourite, even the shop bought pellets he would usually eat he won’t touch.
He has now developed a white patch around his mouth.
I’ve been bathing him regularly, the temp on his enclosure is set at 32 degrees and he has a UVB light that stays on a good portion of the day for him.
He constantly tries to get out of his enclosure (but he has always done that since I got him).
Any advice welcome as I’m getting concerned now.

There are four temperatures to know and maintain. Warm side, cool side, basking area, and over night low. Where is it 32?

What heating and lighting are you using? What type of UV bulb? You said the UV bulb is on a good portion go the day, but for how long, and how long is the rest of the heating and lighting on?

What size is the enclosure? What substrate are you using?

With the answers to these questions we should be able to help get you sorted. Its important to get this all corrected now because it is much too early in the season for brumation prep to start.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome! Some more information would be good if that’s ok, temp wise as Tom said above, there’s multiple readings to consider, your basking temp(directly under the bulb) overall day temps, ie middle and cooler side, then night temps, do you know what they all are?
How’s your humidity? Babies need it higher, yours shouldn’t for much longer at 2 but would definitely benefit for now, are they in a closed set up?
What are you using for heating/lighting specifically? As in what type of bulbs?
What do you use for substrate?

A photo of your full set up along with a pic of your tortoise would be great!

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Could you send a photo of that white patch? What is it like?

 

[Lameslob]

There are four temperatures to know and maintain. Warm side, cool side, basking area, and over night low. Where is it 32?

What heating and lighting are you using? What type of UV bulb? You said the UV bulb is on a good portion go the day, but for how long, and how long is the rest of the heating and lighting on?

What size is the enclosure? What substrate are you using?

With the answers to these questions we should be able to help get you sorted. Its important to get this all corrected now because it is much too early in the season for brumation prep to start.

Apologies for the late response as he started eating but he has stopped again.

His enclosure is heated with heat mats at 32 on a thermostat all through the bottom level except he has a second level to go up which isn’t heated.

The uv bulb is the only light source which comes on for 4 hours a day.

The enclosure is approximately 3foot by 1 foot but has 2 levels at one end and the substrate is orchid bark.

 

[Tom]

Apologies for the late response as he started eating but he has stopped again.

His enclosure is heated with heat mats at 32 on a thermostat all through the bottom level except he has a second level to go up which isn’t heated.

The uv bulb is the only light source which comes on for 4 hours a day.

The enclosure is approximately 3foot by 1 foot but has 2 levels at one end and the substrate is orchid bark.

This is not the correct way to house a tortoise. Heat mats should not be used. 32 is too hot for ambient all the time, but not warm enough for basking. They need a brightly lit "sunny" enclosure all day long, and your enclosure is too small.

Please give these two threads a read through a couple of times to get the correct care info. You'll need to make some changes if you want your tortoise to do well.

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

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Apologies for the late response as he started eating but he has stopped again.

His enclosure is heated with heat mats at 32 on a thermostat all through the bottom level except he has a second level to go up which isn’t heated.

The uv bulb is the only light source which comes on for 4 hours a day.

The enclosure is approximately 3foot by 1 foot but has 2 levels at one end and the substrate is orchid bark.

Don’t suppose you have a photo of your full set up? Heat mats shouldn’t be used underneath, as Tom says that is too high an ambient but too low to bask.

You’ll need some ambient lighting too, the 4 being the only light source for 4 hours a day isn’t enough.

I think you’ll hopefully find both toms threads helpful and this one I made, I cater more for visual learners so if you like photo examples definitely check it out! I cover correct equipment, maintaining humidity, levels, and there’s a good diet link!

Housing young Russian/Herman

Hello there! In this thread, I’m going to include some information on an effective way to tackle a starter set up/a way you can build a bigger size once your baby is an adult. I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to break down any information...

tortoiseforum.org

This one is also really good to familiarise with, it will help you avoid the wrong bulbs, housing etc

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they help!