Worry over Tortoise not eating much..... please help.

[Lady Thompson]

Hi,

I'm concerned about my 3 month old Hermann Tortoise. He doesn't eat very much lately. Today all he had was some squash and one tiny leaf of dandelion. The piece of squash was the size of his head. Is that really enough to fill him up?

He also has become fixated on eating green leaf lettuce. He went through a phase of only wanting dandelions but now it's this green leaf lettuce. He had one bite of Mazuri pellet yesterday, a few bites of squash and lettuce. But it seems like his appetite is less lately.

His lights are about 38 to 40 degrees celcius for the heat lamp. He has a separate UVB light. The rest of his cage is approximately 20 to 27 degrees. I also give him a CHE at night and it's 25 degrees. He lives on Coco coir and has spider plants and rocks to hide and a plant pot.

He sleeps almost ALL Day. Seriously, only awake maybe an hour a day when I wake him up for his bath. He soaks for about 15 to 20 minutes and then eats.

I'm worried he is not eating enough.

 

[Tom]

What type of UV bulb?

 

[Lady Thompson]

Its zoo med coil one I believe.

 

[Lady Thompson]

Does anyone know if he is eating enough?

 

[Tom]

Those bulbs sometimes damage their eyes and it hurts. It is common for them to hide and not want to come out and eat. Remove that bulb, replace it with a long florescent tube, or just use real sunshine for UV, give him a few days to heal a bit and see if things improve. I bet they will.

And no, it does not sound like he is eating enough, but the above is my best guess so far as to why.

 

[Lady Thompson]

okay thanks. I didn't know that those bulbs hurt their eyes
In good news he ate a bunch more today. thank you.

 

[Lady Thompson]

I turned off that bright light and brought him out of hiding. He actually isn't running to hide now. I will have to get a tube light and fixture this weekend. thanks again.

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

He should eat more now, and Harmanns are BIG eaters, so if her doesn't perk up soon, you should see a herpetologist.

 

[Lady Thompson]

Thanks, he is eating really good now but I have another problem. His eyes are all swollen and they are hurting him. He keeps shutting them and blinking and I can literally hear his eyes blinking becuase my house is so quiet. When I sit watching him I can hear them. It is like he has really bad dry eye syndrome. I`m so worried.