New horsfield not eating or doing much

[Kathryn C]

Hi,

My daughter brought me a young horsfield yest (2 yrs old)
He's not eating & not active at all, he did come round a little after a soak in tepid water, but spent all day in the shady bit of his table and is still there now, is this normal, I'm a complete novice and would like to get this right? Any advice helpful, thank you

[Gordon]

Hello and welcome can you tell us a bit more about your set up ie daytime temps hot and cool end night time temps and where it came from.
They can take a while to settle in.

[sandy]

Originally Posted by Kathryn C

Hi,

My daughter brought me a young horsfield yest (2 yrs old)
He's not eating & not active at all, he did come round a little after a soak in tepid water, but spent all day in the shady bit of his table and is still there now, is this normal, I'm a complete novice and would like to get this right? Any advice helpful, thank you

If you have had your tortoise less than two weeks, he is probably just settling in.
It can take up to a month to settle down, and the problem that most keepers worry about is not eating. This is definitely not the biggest problem, they can go weeks without food. The important things just now is hydration, this is one of the biggest killers in young tortoises. So bathing every day for the first month is vital. Next is watching your tortoise, making sure their eyes are clear and bright, and their noses are dry.
Temps under the heat sorce should be around 32c. A deep substrate to dig into, and a water dish for drinking. These are the basics.

[Pussygalore]

what do you mean by 'shady bit' the whole table should be well lit with a couple of hiding places, uv provided of 10 and a basking area of around 32c, the rest of the table should be room temp or around 20c. Having said that the tort should also have an outside run for nice weather days ie sunny/warm and the substrate/bedding for the table be soil based ie top soil, as its been said if everything is set up right a new tort will take a few days to settle in but going outside in the sun will usually perk them up especially if there's some natural growing food to eat.

[Kathryn C]

Originally Posted by sandy

If you have had your tortoise less than two weeks, he is probably just settling in.
It can take up to a month to settle down, and the problem that most keepers worry about is not eating. This is definitely not the biggest problem, they can go weeks without food. The important things just now is hydration, this is one of the biggest killers in young tortoises. So bathing every day for the first month is vital. Next is watching your tortoise, making sure their eyes are clear and bright, and their noses are dry.
Temps under the heat sorce should be around 32c. A deep substrate to dig into, and a water dish for drinking. These are the basics.

He is kept in a table which is open topped, both food & water in there, carrots, kale, cucumber, cabbage, courgette, calium sprinkled on top, we have a lamp for basking/heat and a UVB, he's got shelter but have noticed he likes to burrow and going to modify for this, advice on what to use please!? He is being put in Luke warm water for 30 mins every day. I am on holiday at moment and my mum is looking after him, my mum says he has eaten a little, thanks for the advice

[CherryBrandy]

Kathryn, all sounds good but I would ditch the dark greens. preferably is the light greens such as rocket, dandelions and natural weeds if possible. Cucumber can make poops runny too and carrot contains a lot of tannin so sparingly. Personally I found Horsfields don't like a lot of heat - my view is maybe at odds with traditional thinking but my lot wont go near any lamps (when originally had them) and if I do need to place them under I keep them at the cooler temp 26 - 29 degrees - I have found they are far more active but there is a wealth of info that's supports both higher end and cooler end lamp heat. All sounds good though and will await some nice little pickys! CB

[fifi and the flowertorts]

As others have said, He is probably still settling in. Tortoises don't like change.
Also to add on to CherryBrandy's reply, if your having trouble finding weeds a good thing to use is the florette crispy salad with either calcium or nutrobal dusted on

[sandy]

Originally Posted by Kathryn C

He is kept in a table which is open topped, both food & water in there, carrots, kale, cucumber, cabbage, courgette, calium sprinkled on top, we have a lamp for basking/heat and a UVB, he's got shelter but have noticed he likes to burrow and going to modify for this, advice on what to use please!? He is being put in Luke warm water for 30 mins every day. I am on holiday at moment and my mum is looking after him, my mum says he has eaten a little, thanks for the advice

Your diet for your tortoise is wrong I am afraid. Anything from the cabbage family is a no no. Cucumber is 99% water so has no real value in a diet. Except in the Summer when its hot, as it helps keep tortoises hydrated.
He needs dandelion, sowthistle, mallow, plantains narrow leaf and wide leafed, hibiscus flowers, mallow flowers, pansies, iceplant, Lavetra flowers and leaves, nipple wort, shepards purse just to name a few weeds:0)
If you go to www.thetortoisehouse.com you will find a great list of plants and good info on how to keep horsfields:0)

[Kathryn C]

Originally Posted by sandy

Your diet for your tortoise is wrong I am afraid. Anything from the cabbage family is a no no. Cucumber is 99% water so has no real value in a diet. Except in the Summer when its hot, as it helps keep tortoises hydrated.
He needs dandelion, sowthistle, mallow, plantains narrow leaf and wide leafed, hibiscus flowers, mallow flowers, pansies, iceplant, Lavetra flowers and leaves, nipple wort, shepards purse just to name a few weeds:0)
If you go to www.thetortoisehouse.com you will find a great list of plants and good info on how to keep horsfields:0)

Gosh I have got his food all wrong haven't I, that was advise from the pet store & Google. Thank you