Hi (I have reposted this post here because unknowingly I did it in the wrong group! Sorry),

I have just inherited a Horsfields tortoise from a friend of mine, I have had it about a week and have followed all the instructions but all it seems to do is sleep all the time and it doesn't seem as though it has eaten or drunken anything.

I have a UVB strip which I did leave on from 11-4 but from reading up looks as though that wasn't long enough so I have extended that until 9pm.  I also have a basking light (which I leave on from 8am-9pm) which is the opposite end to a cave it has for shelter if it wants to cool down.  It is in what looks like a large indoor rabbit cage (which from reading up is good for ventillation so it doesn't get too hot).

I have also bathed it once in luke warm water and was going to do so again today.

I have put down for it to eat the tortoise food my friend always fed it, but on reading up looks like more fresh fruit and veg is the way forwards??

Is there anything I should be worrying about or is it just adapting to its new environment? I have been reading about tortoises who hibernate and don't wake up so I have got myself all worried.  Is there anything I should be doing? Or should I just leave it alone to sort itself out?

Help please!!

Hiya,

It sounds as though everything is set up OK. It'd be worth checking the max/min temps in his enclosure and continue with daily bathing. Try offering food immediately after bathing as he will be warmed up, more active and more likely to consume food.

Here's a link that you may well find useful for his diet:-

www.tortoisetable.org.uk

I would steer clear of any fruit as this is bad for their gut flora

Care sheets:-

http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/87.asp

Have you a photo of his enclosure you could load up onto the forum please?

HTH
Kindest Regards

Darren

Darren,

Thanks very much, I will try and figure out how to get a pic up, but will prob have to be later on today.  When I bathed him last night he just kept going to sleep in the water, I had to keep waking him up.  Do you think he might be trying to hibernate?

As everytime I put him down anywhere he literally falls asleep! I will bathe him again tonight and see how I get on.  Thanks

Hiya,

No he shouldn't be trying to hibernate at all. I think I would be inclined to take him to the vets for a check up. Has he been passing faeces at all? Any signs of straining, or swelling?

Cheers
Darren

TC
Darren

No he hasn't passed any faeces since I've had him that I have noticed.  But I do think that before I go the tortoise it may not have had a heat lamp on for a while, which is what makes me think he might have gotten cold and therefore started to try and hibernate?!  I dont really have any money to take him to the vet at the moment which is why Im trying to see if I can solve it first, in case it is something simple that I didn't know being a new tortoise owner...

Rebecca

oh and no straining or swelling, but he is peeling a bit.  His eyes and nose are fine, no weeping or anything...