Hi,                                                                                            

This is the first time i've posted. We bought a Herman called Tallualh from a breeder in Nov last year,( I have all the paper work) all was fine to start with, we have a large table top enclosure, with Exo terra lamp, correct temp, water, right food,soil and sand mix on the floor- we really did alot of research before hand, She was quite active to start with but now we have to dig her out every morning to bath her, after about 20 mins she may have a couple of mouthfuls and then returns to her sleeping den, we are bathing her twice a day, if not she would'nt get up at all. She was born the end sept 2011. Please help i am worried about her, We have been told not to heibernate till shes older.

 Cheers Ruby.

Hi Ruby, I can understand your worries.

Please could you give more info about your set up. What  temperature range is there over the table? What are you feeding your torty? Do eyes look normal? Are faeces normal? The more info you give, the easier it will be to advise.

I must confess, I do not keep youngsters, but I am sure someone will pick up the post, who does. Once they know more about conditions, they can perhaps more easily advise, or tweak, your set up. Do you record the weight of your tortoise regularly, and if so, how has this varied over past few weeks?

Regards, David Nr York

Hi David,

Many thanks for your reply,

The table has a hot area of 90 c and the rest is 20 c , she does spend time under the lamp but mainly sleeps under a rock where she bury herself in soil/sand mix,

She has stones and some old flower pots as well as places to hid. She has had cuttle fish since we had her but she has'nt touched it.

 We feed her wild weeds from the list, including dandelions, grape leaves, clover and nasturtinm , we did grow wild seeds from a tortoise site but she would'nt eat them, just used them as a place to explore. she wont eat the leaves if we sprinkle Nutrobal on them so we gave up with the supplement as i felt it was better for her to eat.

Her poos look normal and there is urates in the bath which are not gritty.

Her eyes are bright and look ok. We have taken her outside on the few occ it has been warm enough and will make her an outdoor run when she is a little older.

she weighs about 50g and has'nt increased in weight in the last three weeks.

I am considering taking her to a vet but want to make sure I have done everything I can.

It is almost as if she is trying to hibernate. Is she too young?' any help would be great.

Cheers Ruby

Hi Ruby
I guess you mean 90f not c? so going on that would be 29c which you could go a little higher 28c-32c.
Sounds like you have a good set-up going there, is she active when you have had her  outside?
Try putting the cuttlefish in the garden and get it bit weathered as they don't like fresh clean cuttle. Regarding the food I would not feed too much clover as it is high in protein for the hatchlings ok for the adults though, and nasturtiums are high in oxulates which inhibites calcium intake. Try giving her some lime flour which is easier on the gut, although she does need her sprinkle of nutrobal daily, so try putting the nutrobal on the food then rubbing cucumber over the food to disguise the smell, it is a case of the strongest mind wins!!
It isn't the right time to hibernate now, so I would leave that until next year, which will give you time to get familiar with what to do. Do you give her warm baths, that could get her going, and they love routine, for example I bath mine in the morning, we have a bit of bonding time and then food time, this works for us. With the weight issue, are you weighing before or after the wee's or poo's or food time as when they are little all these factors play a big part. If you are not happy then best take her to a vet for your own piece of mind,  it never hurts to get confirmation that all is OK
I hope this helps, please ask if you are unsure about anything that I have said
Keep us posted
Jane

Hi there. I am really glad Jane picked up on this one.

Regards, David nr York.