Please could someone help, our 2 horsfields appear to be losing weight and seem to have forgotten how to eat. They will be 2 next may Sparkey weighs 107g and bolt weighs 78g. Recently we was away on holiday and they stayed at my mums during the day under a mega ray lamp and in the green house and gained weight. since coming home in there home (indoor rabbit cage) in cabin with windows under lamp temp appears to be correct with cool areas, fresh water plant pots rocks etc they seem to have no interest in anything. I feel we are letting them down  but dont have space for a green house. During the night we bring them in give them a warm bath and put them to bed in the house. Im thinking we should look into rehoming them. It would be a huge help if someone from TTPG could please point us in the right direction.

Please help, Paula

Hi Paula,

Please dont panic or even consider rehoming them. I take it you keep them outside during the day? They will naturally slow down this time of year, i also keep and breed horsfields and my babies/juveniles are buried in the corners of their enclosure even with the heating & lamp on. Could you build them a tortoise table and keep them indoors over winter if you are not hibernating them as the weather is set to get very cold. Please dont worry about them not eating it is completely normal.

Ali TPG

Hi Ali,

thanks for your reply, yes we keep them ouside (in a summer house with natural light) during the day and we always find Bolt in corners and we hear him at night when weve put them to bed digging. We were conserned due to the weight loss , we keep a weekly count on them could you please tell me if there weight is normal, Sparkey 107g (2 in may) and bolt 78g he is about 3 weeks younger, sometimes they dont lose and some times it can be a gram. We will also look into having them indoors full time, I look forward to the summer when our little darlings can run round their natural inclosure in the garden and not have to be under the lamp.

Thanks again, Paula

Hi Paula,

Yes their weights sound fine to me, it is very important not to overfeed them when they are young so i would keep an eye on the bigger one as you always tend to get one pig when it comes to food.

Ali