Could you help :]

[amony]

Hey there, ive recently gotten a little horsefield tortoise.
Only the he/she hasnt been eating much and he just likes to hide away and sleep

Ive been feeding him weeds and such and the temps of the tank are 30c in his wee home and about 20c else where

Using a UVB light and a basking light and the subtrate ive been using is straw pellets (thats what i think it is, there was no lable on the bag the shop keeper asured me it was suitible tho)

Im worried hes many ill. ive checked for runny noes and other signs but everything seems fine.

been handling him as little as possible to let him settle in. apart from ploping him in a bath :3
Ive also been told he might just be getting ready to hibernate

Any help would be nothing short of amazing i want to give him the best care possible.

ive only have him for little over 4 days!

sorry for the long post >.<

p.s i say he but the pet shop said the little one was to young to tell : D

[becciwales]

Hello, I don't think straw is good for torts, it should be top soil or coco coir.
He needs a basking spot of 32 degrees and everywhere else at 20 is fine.
They do take a little while to settle in and I've noticed mine is sleeping a bit more in the days now also, they feel the change in temperature, tonight is the first night that I'm using a ceramic heat bulb overnight on a thermostat to keep the temperatures up over night.
I'm also quite new to tort keeping so I'm sure someone else will be along to help you out and correct me if I'm wrong on anything.
Do you know how old he/she is?
The bath should be on the warmer side of tepid and he/she should wake up after this, mine does
Hopefully that's a bit of help for you xx

[sandy]

Originally Posted by amony

Hey there, ive recently gotten a little horsefield tortoise.
Only the he/she hasnt been eating much and he just likes to hide away and sleep

Ive been feeding him weeds and such and the temps of the tank are 30c in his wee home and about 20c else where

Using a UVB light and a basking light and the subtrate ive been using is straw pellets (thats what i think it is, there was no lable on the bag the shop keeper asured me it was suitible tho)

Im worried hes many ill. ive checked for runny noes and other signs but everything seems fine.

been handling him as little as possible to let him settle in. apart from ploping him in a bath :3
Ive also been told he might just be getting ready to hibernate

Any help would be nothing short of amazing i want to give him the best care possible.

ive only have him for little over 4 days!

sorry for the long post >.<

p.s i say he but the pet shop said the little one was to young to tell : D

How much does your tortoise weigh, it will give us an idea of how old your tortoise is likely to be?
It can take weeks for a tortoise to get used to a new home and setup. You just have to be patient:0) So four days is nothing:0)
At this time, bathing is more important than food, keeping your tortoise hydrated is the most important.
As you bought from a shop rather than a private breeder, it could be your tortoise is wild farmed. And these tortoises are treated like wild animals ( so will have had little handling) which generally makes it longer for them to adjust.

Your tortoise winding down for hibernation is a possibility, but so is he/she is still trying to adjust to the new home.
You have been checking his/her nose, also you need to keep an eye out for gaping, this is a sign of upper respiratory infection (I am not saying your tortoise has this) but you need to be aware.
If your tortoise hisses at you when you do pick them up, that's a good sign:0)
It sounds as though you just have to be patient, tortoises do things their way:0)

[Suze65]

I agree with everything Sandy has said, it's very early days and it's typical of torts to do this when they move to a new home. But as Sandy said just watch him closely , keep giving warm baths, and offering food. I would keep the basking temp at 32c and the ambient temp at 22c, to make sure he doesn't want to hibernate, cos you don't want him hibernating this year. Also pet shop torts often come loaded with worms, so when he does a poo, it would be worth getting a worm count done. You can get a reptile vet to do this or go online to wormcount.com and do it yourself.
Also I would change the pellet substrate to sterilised top soil, make these changes slowly.

[amony]

Ah thank you very much. Im glad the likely cuase for his lazyness is just something small >.<

ive only had him for a few days been hes qiuckly become my happy place even if it is just watching him sleep, tortoise storyies always make me chuckle no matter the kind XD

I was wondering if you could give me an opinion on dryed flowers.
Also could you surrgest and good books to buy for id'ing weeds and flowers i live next door to woods you see, its hard going remembering what all the edible ones look like xD

[amony]

As to how much he weigths.. erm.. hes very light. Little bit smaller than a bar of soap. ill try n get a pic up soon :]

[amony]

hope the img works :L

sorry for the 2nd post wasnt sure how to edit my last :]

[becciwales]

Aww, little cutey x

[Catwoman63]

Aww he is dinky, he might well be much younger than 18 months, tortoises do take a bit of time to get used to their new home and I would change the substrate to sterilised top soil from the garden centre as horsfields love to dig, you have only had him fro a few days so he will need a bit more time to settle did you get him from a pet shop? X

[amony]

Yar i got him from a pet shop, feel like they under prepared me for him tho, was told i needed a heat mat and such. then later found out online that i didnt. well tbh the little man told me. hes taken to digging everywhere bar where the heat mats place xD

he was the last one there aswell i like to think he was awaiting me <3