Concerned about my Hermann tortoise Tattie
 

This is my first tortoise. We got her at the beginning of June 2017. Recently she’s lost appetite and been more lathargic. She’s in A very large vivarium for her size. She’s tiny. Microchip certificate states she was chipped in 2015.
I discovered mites in her food bowl and on some of her fake plants this Monday. I gave her 2 Luke Warm baths to drown any on her body and cleaned out her tank and bowls etc after rinsing I Left it all to dry out for 24 hours before putting new bedding in and putting tattie back in. She has her heat lamp and uv lamp on every day all day and both off at night. I’ve tried to tempt her to eat with a mixture of foods even tried watermelon tonight to try and tempt her. She ended up picking st some coz lettuce and then had a wander around our lounge carpet. I’m so concerned what might be the matter. Is it because she naturally would be hibernating or do you think the insects/mites have caused some damage? She has fresh water daily and fresh leaves daily. HELP thank you in advance

To help us a little more, can you tell us the temp under her basking light, and the back ground temp in the viv. The problem with vivs if not well ventilated, is that the over all temp can get too hot and you cannot provide a temp gradient , simply because it's all closed in and the heat builds up. If your tort is too hot he cannot function properly, and will become lethargic and not eat. Mediterraneans torts, need to have a temp gradient, so they can move from warm to cool , they must be able to do this so they can regulate their body temp. With an open top table , in a warm room of about 20/22c , with a basking light of 30/32 c, they move away from the basking heat to the cooler end of the table, and so regulate their body temp. I hope this makes sense.

On the other hand, how ever hard you try to convince them it's summer, they can start to notice it's winter and begin to struggle a bit, and just sleep a bit more, and eat less, which isn't necessarily a problem.

Welcome Bushy. Mites are a sign of infestation - either your viv is breeding wildlife you don't want or your tortoise is festering with them. Either way not a good sign - I would suggest its lack of air flow and humidity breeds the nasties if you don't have the air flow which is why vivs can be lethal. I would do a complete clear out and air for at least 8 hours. Can you take the sides of the viv ? anything to get some flow of air round the area. If the mites are a result of fungus then that's quite serious. Lethal bacteria can kill also. Don't panic but get some air into the viv after a good clean up. Might be worth checking humidity. I suspect the mites are from the rotting food - it will rot more in a viv - think mushrooms in a fridge or with moisture - you don't say what your substrate is - if its wood ditch it and get natural like soil. Keep us posted - hope all goes well. CB

Please be careful if letting her have a wander if she is tiny, so many horror stories :(

Good advise already given.

My friend had a Herman who looked very dry. Turned out he had skin mites, vet advised to treat with hibiscrub (available on line or in large boots) this got rid of them.

I have seen people take viv doors off & replace with wire (at least one sides) this stops tort getting out but encourages air flow.

Alternatively you could consider building your own table. You can do this quite cheaply. Convert a book case, wardrobe etc. (If you have pets you can add a lid with clips) or... Cherry Brandy (clare) showed an excellent idea for a cheap table: buy a grow bag tray (amazon, big plastic tray) cut pieces of wood to fit & use tray as base (b & q etc will cut wood to size for you)


http://shelledwarriors.co.uk/forum/s...ad.php?t=74633


You could sell the viv (handy for other reptiles) to recoup some money.