We have a horsefield tortoise who is 6 years old, we were (ill) advised to house him in a vivarium and so have now had a tortoise table built for him, however he does not seem to be adapting to his new home.   The tortoise table is considerably larger than the vivarium and has a hide, we have used a substrate mixture of 50/50 sand and top soil and is of a depth of 5cm.  We are using a solar glow mercury light.  The problem is that our tort just sits all day under the lamp and has made no effort to explore his new home - before putting into his new home he was usually out and about in the house walking about and finding new things to hide behind and climb and seemed generally happy, but since the move he appears lethargic and has even not made an effort to move to eat.  When I took him out he immediately wanted back to the vivarium, we are at a loss as to what to do, should we persevere hoping he will get used to his new home.  The temp in his new house is 65f at the coldest area and 85/90f under the lamp. Any advice would be appreciated as I thought he would instantly love his new home but he seems to love the bad vivarium instead.

They take time to adapt after being in a viv for a long time. Hopefully you only provided supplementary heat for a few hours a day.

If you have kept weight records & it's weight is good, you could follow the info on this site & after 'emptying out' - give it a few weeks hibernation. This will give you the confidence to give it a proper hibe over the coming winter.

At 6 years of age, it will need an outside wooden sided enclosure of at least 15sq mtr, in Spring, with a waterproof wooden house. Now is a good time to plan & build one, or perhaps you already have one.

Let us know how you get on.

Regards,

Tom