Hi everyone, I am a new owner of a baby hermans (she is a 2006 baby) and have had her for a few weeks. the first few days she seemed quite active and was inquisitive however the last few days she has been really dosile and has just been sleeping under her log for most of the day and night. This is worrying me as i dont know if i am doing something wrong! (and also if she is under the log the whole time she is not getting the necessary UV exposure) She has a complete set up - with infra red heat lamp + UV lamp which is on 12 hours a day. I am feeding her things like lettuce, watercress, and a pre made formula (which i have only been giving 2x a week) coated in calcium supplement. I have read books about what to feed tortoises and seem to be getting mixed messages so maybe this is what is wrong? Please help! I want Ivy to live a long life and I dont want to fall down at the first hurdle! Thanks
Hello and welcome, Some will take a couple of weeks to settle in after a big move. I personally prefer using white light rather than red as it seems to help stimulate them and allows correct pupil dilation. what type of UVB are you using and how close is it getting to it? what types of lettuce are you using, most have a high moisture content. Dandelions, collards, endive, mustard greens and escarole are all good. Personally I'd also get a fecal test done to make sure the problem isn't caused by parasites.
Hiya, thanks for that, I am using a repti glo UVB tube which is approx 50-60cm from the floor of the vivarium. I previously was feeding her iceberg (which i know isnt great nutritionally) but have now bought her romaine lettuce which she is currently eating loads and loads of right now (maybe this is a sign she needed some proper nutrition?). I've also just ordered some dandelion seeds off ebay too. How would i test her poo? is that done by a vet? so far it is solid, and dry with no signs of worms or anything. I've just taken a photo of her, if i can work out how to post it on here, ill put it on now! Thanks!
vets will do fecals for you, an infection is not always obvious. Should should just need to take a fresh sample in. Checks for new animals are good for peace of mind imo. Romanie is not the best feeder, it's best to mix it up a bit imo. The dandelion is good though try photobucket.com to upload pics (it's free). It will then give you a link starting
<a href="http://s267.photobucket.com/albums/ii281/vixenivy/?action=view¤t=PICT0206.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii281/vixenivy/PICT0206.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> Here is a picture of my baby tortoise ivy - hope this works! Im hoping that the reason she is sleepy is because she has moved home a few times over the last few weeks (when she was moved to the reptile place she was only there for a week before i then took her home), would this be a possible reason do you think?
What are the temps? General and right under the basking light. Pellets aren't the best choice, consider switching to a sterile top soil and sand, or bed-a-beast and sand. No chances of mold that way. These sites will tell you a little bit about the nutritional value of various veggies and what is bad, it might be for lizards but bad veggies are still bad veggies. Just remember torts need less protein. http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm Try mixing in some grated winter squashes. These are brightly colored and most are higher in calcium. Save the lettuce for yourself - it's not really good for torts, as Wookie already mentioned. Turnip greens are another good green to offer if you can find them. Come spring, if you can, try planting some of the harder to find in stores greens yourself - some can be grown in pots. If what you have read so far suggests any type of meat, egg, or cheese - don't listen... that's bad advice. A nice site with some informative articles http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/articles.html I suggest you read "Feeding Tortoises: Avoiding Dietary Disasters".
Hiya, thanks for the advice, ill get onto those websites now. The general ambient temp of the vivarium is 30C, im not sure what it is under the hot lamp, what should it be? (i have a thermostat which turns the heat lamp off when the temp gets to 80-83F - i think this is around 30C) I'm trying to work out if she's hiding under her log most of the day because it's too cold and she's trying to conserve heat or if its too hot and she's trying to get some shade...really not sure though. I'm definitely going to start growing my own veg for her, much cheaper and more convenient.
80-83F is 26.7-28.3C, so your ambient temp may be a bit high. You need to get a digital thermometer with a probe so you can keep track of the basking spot. It could be much too warm and this could make your tort become somewhat dormant - like it would do in the wild to avoid extreme heat. See to getting the temps corrected and make sure there is a good range, hopefully this helps. 30C is 86F Try looking up "temperature conversion" in any search engine and you should be able to find a little program to help you do that if you're not very good with math.
hi again, i cant seem to find anything that says what kind of temps tortoises should be kept at. what should it be under the heat lamp? and what should the ambient temperature be? she is still pretty sleepy. i'm now turning the infra red light off at night so she has a nighttime fluctuation. i spoke to the reptile centre who sold me the tortoise and they said that tortoises have a natural body clock and even though i am regulating the temperature they can still detect that it is winter and can be less active - is this true?
