My tortoise is a horsfield age 2 and a half years. Kept in a tortoise table with heat and uv light in one.  Fed on lettuce, not iceburg, dandelions from the garden. She has not eaten or passed faeces for around 3 weeks now, she is very lethargic and sleeps all the time.  I am giving her 2 baths a day in warm water, the vet gave her a vitamin injection yesterday and some antibiotics baytrill which i give twice a day and they also advised to give 0.5ml of babyfood and 0.5ml of water from a syringe every couple of hours.. she hasn't shown any signs of improving.  I'm really worried now, i thought it was just constipation. The vet said that when weighed she was now underweight.. Should i go to a specialist?

Hi Clare, I am sorry to hear your little one sounds so ill, I would definitely go to a specialist reptile vet one that understands about tortoises. If you look in the list of vets on the left side of this forum you might find one in your area. If you are anywhere near Leeds the Holly House vets are a good one to contact, google their web page for details. Best of luck with your tort, let us know how you get on.
Ann x

I booked an appointment in Bradford with Johanna Storm, vet for the International Zoo Vet Group.. OMG she was fantastic! She really knows what she's on about.. She is so passionate about the animals too. It turns out that my housing has a bedroom compartment at the opposite end to the light, and when the combination light goes off at night, it was too cold.  She tube fed her, gave her vit injection, antibiotics, electrolyte powder for bathing, and gave me really good advice on temperatures and housing, also advised me to join the tortoise trust for information. 

I went home and removed the bedroom wall, bought some hay and changed the combi lighting to seperate heat (on for 24hrs) and UV on in the day, My tortoise is now eating but still waiting on the pooh!

HI there,

Im glad your tortoise seems better and is now eating, however, i find it hard to believe a horsfield can be too cold! This species is probably the hardiest of the lot. I strongly recommend you dont use hay or straw as this can contain spores and end up causing other problems. Use a mixture of sand/soil but make it deeper where your tortoise sleeps so she can dig down at night., you really dont need heating on all night.

Ali TPG