A little help on my new tortoise please!

by stacey
(stockto on tees)

Hello Everyone,


Im new to this site as i have just bought a tortoise the other day, and rather than bug the shop i bought him from i thought id ask some of you!

We bought Nutter! (tortoise) 2 days ago, he is a Horsefield, and i have done a lot of reaserch before we got him, but im a little worried he is unhappy, he is 18 months old and only very small, but as soon as we got him home he went straight to the corner of the vivarium and started to dig and kept on digging even though he wasnt going anywhere, and then he didnt move from that area all night. I got him out to have a walk around and he just trys to het under the sofa, and when his head is under he just stays there.

Am i doing anything wrong do you think, he has a 3 1/2 foot vivarium, uv light and normal light, feeding him veg not a lot as he is tiny! but just leafy greens. he has water, little wooden hut he can go in. I have also given him a bath in luke warm water not deep mabie a inch or so, but all he did was to try and get out!

Im just wondering if this is normal for them to do this, will it be just taking him a while to settle in do you think, any advice would be brilliant.

Just one last thing i was wondering... could it be that the tank is to warm with both uv and light on? i have had them on from about 10am until 6 pm is this right or not?
what temp should it be inside and how lond should you have the lights on for?

Sorry to go on but any advice would be great as i love him to bits!!

Many Thanks

Stacey

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Oct 14, 2009
 New tortoise
by: Anonymous

It is normal for a tortoise to feel nervous about moving to a new home, and when they feel nervous, they want to hide. It took my male Horsefield two weeks before he was ready to come out. Each tortoise has his own personality, so how long it takes for them to adjust can vary. Your tortoise needs a warm spot under his light (90-95 degrees Fahrenheit) and a cool side of his home as well (about 70 degrees Fahrenheit) so he can adjust his body temperature as needed. It's generally not good for him to be in a glass cage because that makes it very hard to get the right temperatures and because tortoises don't understand that they can't walk through the glass and will keep trying, which is stressful for them. I found a website, www.russiantortoise.org about Horsefield (Russian) tortoises that has very helpful information from people who have been raising and breeding them for years, and they have an online forum where you can ask lots of questions. Every time I have taken their advice, my tortoises have seemed happier and healthier, so I recommend it as a good resource.

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