Hi all (Help)

[Alan1]

yes, ordinary bulb and the ceramic one at night if needed.

The old guy at the electronics shop here says they have done away with ordinary non clear bulbs last september and the only ones currently still in production (or available to buy, not sure which) are the clear ones but will soon be unavailable too. He said the way round it is to buy bulbs for work lamps, those worklamps with the cage bit in the end that look like a big torch. they are not being done away with

[PaulPhillips]

We took Charlie and Lola to a very good vet last Sunday, he kept tortoises himself so knew what he was talking about. He said they were both a very good weight and gave them both a vitamin injection. Since then Lola has been eating quite abit but we still haven't seen Charlie eat hardly anything. He seems to ignore all of his food. They are still given a warm bath every day and are both very active, Lola more than Charlie. They seem to be more active late afternoon/early evening. Any advice would be gratefully received.

[Beverley]

That's good news if the vet thinks they are both fine.
For a day or two you could up the temp to 35c under the basking light to see if that encourages him to eat. Keep the baths up, avoid the cabbage, bean sprouts and give him time. Some tortoises don't like change at all so just have patience.

[TortBabe]

Hi, I'm glad all went well with their health check, you could try bathing twice daily, when I've had new torts that won't eat I have found that sometimes an extra bath has helped They will settle in time, they don't half worry you though

[NATURALIS]

Normaly males do fight when there suroundings change , mine always do in the spring when they go outside , after a few days they seem to sort themselfs out again , but they do have plenty of room to get away from each other if they need too

[PaulPhillips]

Thankyou for your advice, we will try bathing them twice a day, we are also going to weigh them regularly so that we can keep an eye on their weight, especially Charlies. Thanks again.

[16 shells]

Originally Posted by PaulPhillips

We took Charlie and Lola to a very good vet last Sunday, he kept tortoises himself so knew what he was talking about. He said they were both a very good weight and gave them both a vitamin injection. Since then Lola has been eating quite abit but we still haven't seen Charlie eat hardly anything. He seems to ignore all of his food. They are still given a warm bath every day and are both very active, Lola more than Charlie. They seem to be more active late afternoon/early evening. Any advice would be gratefully received.

Winter time. Most people who take on a new tort's that don't dive in to feed start to panic, looking around for different food's to tempt them before you know it, you have a list of suggestion's add this take this out, then the mind boggles. As been said there is a settling in period, along with good temp's. All sites recommend a weed/plant diet, first the weed has to be recognised as the correct plant before feeding, as it is still winter some are slowly coming back, in the mean time food has to be offered.
as said some lettuce like Romaine or bagged salad leaves can tempt them to eat then adding small amount's of chopped alternative food's available once appetite and surrounding's is on a norm, from reptile shop's or the net Herb cobs or Tortoise pellet's are food's that can be introduced in small amount's for nutrition extra fibre and i don't rule out small amount's of some variety of chopped Veg finely chopped grass or Timothy hay as a mix. Some keeper's feed small amount's of fruit sparingly.
The food's are there you just have to decide which road to take once the tort has appetite.

[16 shells]

After settling you may also have to watch for one eating all and the other not getting a look in, they may have to be fed apart untill settled.

[EJ]

Do you feed the Komodo dry or moistened? If you feed it dry try to moisten it just enough to make pliable. On the greens I'd suggest the bagged spring mix instead of the veggies... be patient. It can take a few weeks for them to acclimate. Keep the temperatures up and keep on with the soakings.

Reading further your setup is perfect in my opinion... bar none. The one thing I've noticed is you've done a great deal with them in a short time. Tortoises do not like to be messed with. Outside of the suggestion of the food... I'd suggest leaving everything else alone... including the tortoises and give them a few weeks to settle.

Originally Posted by PaulPhillips

We are Paul and Kerry, We have Two 18 Month old Hermanns Tortoise's. Weve had them a week tomorrow but they are refusing to eat. Any Idea's what we can do.

We have given them Komodo Pellets with a variety of veggies including Lettuce Cabbage Carrot Spinach Beans Sprouts. We have also tried Grass and dried weeds from shelled warriors.

They are both lively and wonder around and have a warm bath every day, the temperature is correct too.

PLEASE HELP we are pulling our hair out and i havent got much left.

Thank you

Paul Kerry

[PaulPhillips]

This morning I have given them cucumber flavour komodo complete in water, Lola has tucked in and eaten quite abit but Charlie has gone to the back of the enclosure with his back to everyone.

Thanks for your advice, we will leave him alone and see how he comes along, we're just worried he will become ill through lack of eating.