Some of you may remember my little Hermann Tort Lucky hatched back in October, Well he's been doing grate until last wk, He'll be 10 wks old this friday, he's still a very tiny baby 13 grams, and he's stopped eating and just wants to dig down as if hibernating, I'm so concerned because he's so small he has no reserves and cant loose any weight, I had him at the vets today and my vet seems to think also that he has a strong instinct to hibernate and although he's healthy is very concerned about how to stop him trying and how to get him to eat again properly, I have posted on the shelled warrior site as well and had some help, Linda helped a lot with the Idea to use reptoboost and apart from keeping his uvb on longer and making sure his night temp are warm enough I dont know what else to try, ANY suggestion please 

Thanks Cath

Hi Cath, to keep him awake you must replicate the warmer months, this means making sure he is warm and exposed to the uv light.  Check your temps under the basking lamp are reaching 30C and make sure the ambient temperature in the rest of the table is at 20c, the weather as we know has gone cold now this also affects the temps inside the house, so its worth checking again.

You can bath in reptoboost or critical care, which will ensure he is getting the necessary minerals etc.  Keep feeding the weeds with supplements and perhaps add a little cucumber to tempt him to eat and will help keep up hydration.

Let us know how you get on, regards Vivienne

Thanks Vivienne, the temps in our house are unbearable  I even thought they were to warm at one point at 33/34c cos he kept going in his hide, all last wk I moved the heat lamp up a bit then down a bit trying to make him happy but no joy, have even placed a heat mat behind the hide and a infra red night lamp above it to make sure his night time temp dont drop below 24c (advised by vet) but he still refusing to eat, its the not eating that I'm very concerned with, he's not had any nutrobol for nearly 2 wks now as cant even get him to eat bagged salad let alone weeds, I've tried allsorts weeds dandelions kampala pansy cucumber even tomato, he did take a little bite of tomato a piece about the size of a pea , His UVB light is on at 6am and goes off at 8pm is about 10/12 inches above and goes diagonally across where he basks and it was new in October, just dont know what else I can do,,  I bath bath bath poor little man just wants to sleep, I even blocked his hide up today for a while to stop him going back to bed, he just sat there scratching at the piece of card I put there trying to get in, I'v got untill saturday and if no inprovements its back to the vets for some blood samples BUT how he's so tiny

Thanks Cath

Hi Cath, perhaps he is too warm then and is trying to escape the heat.  We do recommend a drop in night time temperatures, about 16c is ok, but you be guided by your vet. It sounds like you  are doing everything to the book, it sounds like he just wants to sleep!  By the way did the vet check for worms?

Vivienne

Not yet because we've not got a sample but we did discuss it and if he can do a poo I'll be first to retrieve it for the vet to do the tests, :-) :-)

Cath