My tortoise is a Russian and we've had her for almost a year. At first she seemed healthy and normal but only ate pellets. Over time she had developed some problems and I'm beginning to get worried. Firstly: food
She will always eat pellets if I hand feed them to her but will only eat veg or lettuce on a rare occasion and after a bit of encouragement. I've heard pellets are really for tortoises and they can get addicted easily. I'm pretty sure she's addicted so i was hoping maybe you guys had some ideas?
Secondly: sleep
She sleeps like all day. I go to school at 8 (she's asleep) I come back at 3 (she's asleep) I go to bed at 21:30 (she's asleep). While I'm reading I'll take her out and see if she wants to eat. I'll try and hand feed her and sometimes this works. I soak her everyother day before I go to bed. If she won't let me feed her on the first time she'll head straight for bed. I'll wake her up 15 minutes later and try again. I'll normally repeat this about three times then give up. As I said before she will normally go straight for the pellets but she will rarely eat veg. I was wandering weather a tortoise is normally so eager to go back to bed because I'm pretty sure she could sleep forever if I don't wake her up.
Lastly: hand feeding.
When we bought her she would eat on her own but then one day we decided to hand feed her and ever since then she will only eat on her own once a month or so. This is kind of a problem as when I go on holiday I will often give her to a friend or something so they can look after her. However, the fact she will only eat when I hand feed her means she won't eat much when I'm on holiday. I've also heard tortoises can get addicted to being hand fed and I'm pretty sure she is also addicted to this too.
Overall I was hoping if you guys can help me sort out my tortoise problems as I am beginning to get worried now.
Additional information:
- she is a horse field tortoise
-about 4 years old
- has a UVU light that's in all day except when I sleep
- looks healthy
- has a decorative table
Please help! Thanks
She will always eat pellets if I hand feed them to her but will only eat veg or lettuce on a rare occasion and after a bit of encouragement. I've heard pellets are really for tortoises and they can get addicted easily. I'm pretty sure she's addicted so i was hoping maybe you guys had some ideas?
Secondly: sleep
She sleeps like all day. I go to school at 8 (she's asleep) I come back at 3 (she's asleep) I go to bed at 21:30 (she's asleep). While I'm reading I'll take her out and see if she wants to eat. I'll try and hand feed her and sometimes this works. I soak her everyother day before I go to bed. If she won't let me feed her on the first time she'll head straight for bed. I'll wake her up 15 minutes later and try again. I'll normally repeat this about three times then give up. As I said before she will normally go straight for the pellets but she will rarely eat veg. I was wandering weather a tortoise is normally so eager to go back to bed because I'm pretty sure she could sleep forever if I don't wake her up.
Lastly: hand feeding.
When we bought her she would eat on her own but then one day we decided to hand feed her and ever since then she will only eat on her own once a month or so. This is kind of a problem as when I go on holiday I will often give her to a friend or something so they can look after her. However, the fact she will only eat when I hand feed her means she won't eat much when I'm on holiday. I've also heard tortoises can get addicted to being hand fed and I'm pretty sure she is also addicted to this too.
Overall I was hoping if you guys can help me sort out my tortoise problems as I am beginning to get worried now.
Additional information:
- she is a horse field tortoise
-about 4 years old
- has a UVU light that's in all day except when I sleep
- looks healthy
- has a decorative table
Please help! Thanks