Hi to everyone, I have just had my horsfiels torty for 3 wks i think it is a boy, the problem just the other day , he was buried for a day and a half, so i was given advice to dig him up(he lives inside just now) and bath him twice a day.Today was the second day i took himout of his bed to bath him, but he looked sleepy and didnt do anything in his bath so after 15 mins i then took him back out dried him off and put him under the basking lamp which is 30-32 and that was him, now ive came back from work he is in his bed again so i will need to get himout again, is this normal? He does not come out of his bed unless i take him out. The air temp is22 and the cooler end is17. Any ideas tnx  sharon

I have the exact same problem ...it's completely normal as horsefeilds love to dig and hide . Baby horsefeilds tend to sleep but what worked for me is let him sleep in a shoe box and in the morning take off the lid and switch the light on .then if that doesn't get him up we sing to him.another way is tempt him with food .but as they are stubborn we sometimes have to wait for him to leave his bed then take it out but always always leave a little hide as they love to feel protected


Hope this helps!
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Hi Sharon and
Congratulations on your new little friend, they are wonderful creatures!!
It sounds like you have a good set up and doing everything right. Horsfields are well known for sleeping alot. In the wild they estivate in the hot summer, this means they go into a state of dormancy, where everything slows down, their breathing and the heart rate, this is because when it is hot there is not a lot of food around so they protect themselves. In the winter they hibernate, this is still in relation to the weather climate only this time it is because it is too cold.
Maybe try and lower the basking temps down to 28-30 and see if that makes any difference. Can I ask where you brought him from?
Look forward to more questions
Jane

Hi jane many thanks for your reply. My friend gave him to me as a gift but i did ask was he from a pet shop or private owner . He had came from a private owner. This is all new to me as i have tried to read things on tortys but the internet has got all sorts of advice, so it can be confusing. His bed is at the cooler end of the table, which reads 17 just now but i will have to get him out as he is getting bathed. tnx for ur help

sharon

Hi thanks for getting in touch question for you, do i put the shoe box in his table? If so did u put soil/sand in it? Do i put it on its side so he can crawl in? Then put the lid on sideways? At the moment i have hay at his bed end and he has made a cave entrance to get in and out so he is covered when he goes to bed.Thanks for your advice.

sharon

Hi Sharon
It is always difficult to know what sort of conditions the tort was kept in before you got him. The best way is like you are doing, and that is to give him  the environment and diet that he needs to be a healthy tort, and to be kept well hydrated, and maybe a health check from a tort specialist vet would set your mind at rest. It takes time to get to understand what is normal behaviour from him, although they do catch you out at times with a change in their routine
The best advice I can give you, is to read as much as you can from good tortoise sites like the TPG, Tortoise Trust and Tortoise table, and ask as many questions as you like, don't forget that tortoises keep us on a life learn learning curve, none of us can ever say we know all there is to know about these wonderful creatures.
Jane

Hi jane, thanks for the help

basicly you get a small shoe box . put on half on the warm side half on the cold so your tort has a choice .i put a straw mixture in.i wouldnt have his whole bed of hay as this can cause eye itching .i dont fill the whole box with it ..
ricky looovees his bed but sometimes he will fall asleep under his log so i tend to let him nod off there