Tortoise health?

Question

We have had our horsefield tortoise for 2 years and recently he seems to be off his food and not as active as usual. Are there any visual obvious signs I could look for to check his wellbeing. He seems quite active when taken out of his home and allowed to roam the conservatory but is staying hidden otherwise? Thank you in anticipation Hilary

Answer 1

In other words- he behaves in a healthy manner in one place, but not the other? I would check the indoor habitat- temps, lighting, humidity, size, layout. etc.

I find that the most common problems are:

- Too small of a habitat

- Too warm or too cold

- Too humid/wet or too dry

Try http://www.russiantortoise.org or http://www.tortoisetrust.org for details

Answer 2

This also happened to me about a year back. She was slow, didn't respond to food and hid under some wood and buried herself in the substrate for most of the day- the longest she was out every day was about half an hour. I too got worried, as it lasted for about 2 weeks. However, she did recover, (reasons unknown).

Reasons for your tortoises' unusual behaviour could be any of the following:

. Incorrect lighting

. Out of date lighting (lack of UVA / UVB )

. Lack of vitamins/ Overdose on vitamins

. Incorrect diet

. Intestinal parasites

. Disease

. Confined habitat

. General maturing of male, (they can get awfully rowdy and their behaviour unusually changes)

I would advise, if after around 2 more weeks that this behaviour continues, a veterinarian should be contacted, as sometimes these little things can turn out to be something serious.

Wish you and your tortoise luck for the future x*x

Answer 3

is he warm anothe mine is lively if he gets worse take him to the vets

Answer 4

Well they say if your tortoise is ill the signs are:

Liquid around the nostrills (runny nose)

Dull eyes (check for a shine in the eye)

Dioreah (runny faces)

But they do say that even tortoises kept in vivariums still go through a slow patch which is supposed to make up for hibernation, if he continues not eating try to change his diet or get him a mate as he might be fed up with his diet or lonely.If he still doesn't improve take him to the local her vet!

Best of luck xxxxxxxxx =D =D =D

P.S: Reptiles don't need to eat as often as mamals as they get their energy from the sun.

Answer 5

youneed to check his home as there is something in there that he is not happy with, it may be too small for him or the temp is either too hot or too cold, check your UV lighting to see if it is still working if it is over 6 months old replace it as they become less effective over time, if you keep him in a tank this might be the problem, as they are too humid for a tortoise and hold too much moisture tortoises like a fairly dry enclosure, also a tank does not let enough air flow in a tortoise table is much better for them, to do a general check on a tortoise you need to check the eyes they should be bright and clear from any crusts with no running, also check the nose this should be dry and not running, check the ears they should not be raised if they are it could be an abcess, any runny nose should be treated by a reptile vet, the poo should be firm  and a dark green to brown color and show no signs of mucus, get a pfeces check done every 6 months to see if your tortoise has any parasites, if ears nose eyes and poo is clear from any signs you really need to check his enclosure to see if the set up is correct, here is a site that might be able to help you with the set up,   http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/vi...   if all is correct in his set up then you need to get your tortoise checked over by a reptile vet as a tortoise that becomes less active and stops eating could be getting sick and the quicker you act the better it is, best of luckhoney hope your tortosier is ok.