My tortoise won't stop sleeping

[MegR94]

Hi all,

Picked up my new hermann yesterday (Frankie &#128034 he won't leave his cold side of tortoise table/keeps sleeping. Also he hasn't eaten anything since I got him home.
Could this just be him adjusting?

[terrypin]

This sounds far from normal when you say picked him up was this a shop purchase or is he captive bred. I dont know of any breeders willing to sell an animal unless it's health is 100%. Whatever, lets try and figure what the problems is. What size and type of tortoise do you have and more importantly the size of tortoise table and what the temperature gradient is. Also do you know how he was being kept before.

[sandy]

Originally Posted by MegR94

Hi all,

Picked up my new hermann yesterday (Frankie &#128034 he won't leave his cold side of tortoise table/keeps sleeping. Also he hasn't eaten anything since I got him home.
Could this just be him adjusting?

What size/age is the tortoise?
It should give you an idea on the paperwork:0)
As Terry has said its not normal behaviour, but could well be just adjusting to a new home.
Does he/she have clear bright eyes, and have a dry nose?

[wigwamman]

As a tortoise breeder i no longer sell my current years hatchlings,i keep them going up until xmas then they are hibernated.Early next year when they wake up i get them going again so they are fit and active and ready for new homes.This ensures new owners have plenty of time to become used to their new pet.
Previous to this, people were phoning me none stop at this very time of year as their tortoise was sleeping more and not eating,obviously the new owners were concerned.
My advice then, and now,is to add an extra lamp,use the plastic tent method to keep the heat in,then if all else is well torty should get back to something like normal,as your tortoise is new,as others have mentioned,it takes some time to settle in so this can be a double worry.
i hope all goes well and there are some good threads on here about this very subject.
Roll on spring!

[terrypin]

Originally Posted by wigwamman

As a tortoise breeder i no longer sell my current years hatchlings,i keep them going up until xmas then they are hibernated.Early next year when they wake up i get them going again so they are fit and active and ready for new homes.This ensures new owners have plenty of time to become used to their new pet.
Previous to this, people were phoning me none stop at this very time of year as their tortoise was sleeping more and not eating,obviously the new owners were concerned.
My advice then, and now,is to add an extra lamp,use the plastic tent method to keep the heat in,then if all else is well torty should get back to something like normal,as your tortoise is new,as others have mentioned,it takes some time to settle in so this can be a double worry.
i hope all goes well and there are some good threads on here about this very subject.
Roll on spring!

why would you add an extra lamp, are we talking about heatlamps. Without knowing what sort of light or heating you already have,I would be cautious about this plastic tent method sounds dangerous to me. Your tortoise may already be trying to get away from the heat so forcing it into a situation where it cant, sounds wrong to me. Also if your tortoise required more heat then even if reasonably healthy it would seek it out.Please I have been keeping and breeding Toroises for nearly 30 years and I cant believe a abreeder would sell an animal that was winding down for hibernation so I am not seeing this as a reason for this behaviour.

[Jan W]

Welcome to the forum. It seems to have taken a few days for your post to appear.

Be good for you to answer the questions posed in previous posts.

I'm not an expert.

However, my torts were very quiet when they arrived and I was advised to bathe them in warm water. This worked.

[CherryBrandy]

hello Meg, welcome ! I suspect settling in if only had him a few days. Good to get a bit more detail but if small they will chill very quickly outside of the heatlamp and need the warmth to keep them going, warm him up, so if he disappears over night into his house then I would physically move under the lamp, keep eye on temps etc. Make sure doesn't dehydrate. I find best around 27 - 29, (that's me I keep mine lower side to prepare for the outdoors !), up to 32 is fine also, and as mentioned additional heat may be needed if your cool end is a really cool end..or overnight temps drop significantly. I've used a moon light for additional warmth at night or during day to supplement. keep us posted, sure he will be fine, they do sleep a lot ! CB

[Suze65]

Hello and welcome. As has been said , it can take a few weeks for a tortoise to settle in to a new home, they don't like change, and this can be " normal" behaviour when they are moved to a new home, they can also stop eating, add this to the fact it's autumn and he might be noticing this too, so I think you need to do two things, allow plenty of time for him to get used to his new surroundings ( a few weeks) keep offering food and give him a daily warm bath. Also as its autumn, you need to keep his night time temps up, don't let temps drop below 17/18c at night. You can do this with a ceramic heat emitter. And keep his lights on for 12/14 hours a day to convince him that it's still summer, that's both uv and basking lights. Let us know how he gets on, good luck. Also check his day time basking temps, and back ground room temp. If it's a bit low up the temps a bit and see what happens .

[CherryBrandy]

I feel nostalgic back when I first had my tortoise, (the one after the childhood one), and wondered why he slept all the time. so much more knowledge out there these days and nice heat lamps ! CB