Baby hermanns

[abbie227]

I've recently got a 4 Month old hermanns and since I've got her I've only seen her eat once. Shes very active in the morning and then will dig into the coir at around 2.30pm everyday and sleeps until 9ish the next morning. Is this normal? I've had her 6 days now, is she still just settling in? Ive bathed her everyday and offered her different foods but she's not really interested x

[sandy]

Originally Posted by abbie227

I've recently got a 4 Month old hermanns and since I've got her I've only seen her eat once. Shes very active in the morning and then will dig into the coir at around 2.30pm everyday and sleeps until 9ish the next morning. Is this normal? I've had her 6 days now, is she still just settling in? Ive bathed her everyday and offered her different foods but she's not really interested x

Perfectly normal, your tortoise is adjusting to a new home and setup, dehydration should be your biggest worry as young tortoises dehydrate fast. So bathing is more important. They can go weeks without food but not water:0)

[Kighill]

My new babies do the same it took a few days for them to settle in. They eat and hide for a large part of the day. This is perfectly natural behaviour to avoid predation in the wild.
It was a little worrying at first though!

[CherryBrandy]

Abbie, I think try hand feeding see if she takes it , small pieces anywhere in the pen..... I persevere with mine and lay a trail to where the main source will be - once they know where the food is it should be habit to go there. Weigh her when you bath too may help assure you nothing is wrong, just settling - try the hand feed though as its nice way to interact too I think, CB

[sandy]

Originally Posted by CherryBrandy

Abbie, I think try hand feeding see if she takes it , small pieces anywhere in the pen..... I persevere with mine and lay a trail to where the main source will be - once they know where the food is it should be habit to go there. Weigh her when you bath too may help assure you nothing is wrong, just settling - try the hand feed though as its nice way to interact too I think, CB

Hand feeding small tortoises or any can get into really bad habits. They need to graze normally.

[CherryBrandy]

Originally Posted by sandy

Hand feeding small tortoises or any can get into really bad habits. They need to graze normally.

- knew you would say that ! and don't disagree, but if worried it does help and it is so nice when they take that first bite ! all in moderation !

[abbie227]

There's food all over her enclosure and I tried hand feeding her but I think it scared her a bit. Hopefully she'll get better over the next few days, thanks that's put my mind at rest x

[CherryBrandy]

If they fed her something different she may not recognise it so will take time to find her feet! I had a little rescue once didn't seem to know what a dandelion leaf was as she had been fed pellets for 8 years. I did hand feed her on my lap (don't tell sandy) ...and she was fine , but I am sure she would have been fine regardless....which is some of Sandy's point. CB