a new post with all the details this time.

we got our tort on saturday and were told it was a girl and that she had eaten and drank that day so we got her home set up her home put her in and left her to settle for the night was after 5pm when we got her we were adviced on all the foods she can eat and that she had been eating the same thing in the pet shop (she was staying in the pet shop while her owner who rescued her befor us had her enclouse fixed) we were told that she was in good health and that she hadnt had any probs with eating drinking ect she doesnt have any papers as the owner befor lost them which didnt matter we were wanting to rescue and give a tort whod had a bad life a good loving warm comfy home to spend the rest of thier days.we went out and bought her kale and wild rocket on the understanding she liked these becaus ethis is what she was eating in there. she hasnt touched even a leaf since we got her nothing shes very quiet doesnt move around and spends all her time under her heat lamp inc night times too she didnt have one in the pet store and was freezing bless her when we got her so decided to get her as warm as we can possibly get her and she seems to enjoy it. we gotten very woried about her not eating so called a specialist vet today to try get some advice on what to do and were told to put her on tomatoes and cucumber to try and entise her to eat and bath her twice a day aswell shes been bathed twice today and weve given her some tomatoe and going to get her some cucumber 2 night and try that so far she hasnt touched the tomatoe all shes dont so far is walk on and sleep ontop of the food weve put in for her we are getting increasing worried about her as the vet WANTS her in for the forseeable if theres no change again this has worried us even more. we have now noticed that she has white discharge coming from her eyes her nose is clear though i really dont know what else to do or what else we can do. weve done every thing we were told to do and this i feel for the tort i just want her well again as soon as possible.

Hi Angel,

First and foremost try not too worry too much. You've only had this tortoise for two days, I've had tortoises take up to 3 weeks to start eating. Tortoises are quite capable of going for an extended period without eating. Its important that you keep the tortoise hydrated and you are oing that with the warm baths. Tortoises get freaked out by changes of scenery, they like familiar surroundings, things they can relate to as normal. It'll take a little while for this to happen. It may well be that a visit to the vet is a good idea, just for a checkup, never a bad thing with a new tortoise anyway, especially if the history of the tortoises previous upkeep does not seem ideal. oNe real positive in your post is that you've said the tortoise is choosing to bask and is walking around, this is good, normal behaviour.

You've said that the tortoise didnt have access to a heat lamp previously this could have caused it to slow down, low heat and light makes a tortoise think about hibernating itself. It takes a little while for a tortoise to come out of this mindset, plenty of light for 14-16 hours a day will help.

By the way it would be useful to know the species of tortoise you have as the above really relates to Med species like Hermanns and Horsfields, a tropica tortoise may have a different set of  needs.

Good luck with this tortoise, it sounds like its found a very caring home.

the tort is a hermann she tends to just sit under the heat lamp and not move around shes quite lathargic at the moment how did you get your tort to eat then? 3 weeks seems quite scary to me i know you said its quite ok but it just seems scary to me at the moment. is there anything that you did to try and entice your tort to eat we have done whats been recomended to us by the woman we had her from and the vet but as yet nothing i know its early days but we are still very worried

Hi Angel, I agree with Dave, torts need sometime to settle down, all she knows is that she is in unfamiliar surroundings she is frightened and wants to hide away in her shell, its best to let her come out in her own time, perhaps put plants and things she can hide under she will then gradually begin to peep out when she feels safe and will wander round and find her way about.

I had a horsfield that didnt eat a morsel for 6 weeks, the last owners told me he liked hobnobs and chips!  I religiously put weeds down each day which he had never had before, and one day he took a bite of a dandelion and has never looked back. 

You say she has been in a petshop its possible they put her in with other torts, so it may be worth taking a poo sample to the vets for him to check for worms.

Iam sure she will come round soon, regards Vivienne

Hi Angel,

Honestly there was no trick involved, this was a big adult female Hermanns tortoise, she was very overweight when I got her. She had been kept on a bizarre substrate consisting of dried pellets of some sort. She was pooing these out for nearly two weeks after I got her so she had been eating this substrate.

I was confident that because of her heavy weight she would not starve. I offered her a variety of weeds sometimes with some romaine type lettuce mixed in. Eventually she just started eating (these days it is very hard to stop her).

It is very eary days, also at this time of year most tortoises have a natural incination to slow down.

Is it possible for you to weigh and measure your tortoise this may give an indication as to her state of health?

This link describes how to weigh and measure

http://www.tortoise-protection-group.org.uk/site/files/Weighing%20&%20measuring.pdf