Adopted marginated tortoise help

[Tom Bourgaize]

Hi all, my family have recently adopted a 29 Year old marginated tortoise, we were given absolutely no info on how he was kept or the diet or anything so we’ve had to go off advice from others and internet etc, he currently has a large enclosure with access to water it has half sand pebbles half short grass with a few dandelions and milk thistle for him. we’ve also planted a hibiscus in there for him as we read they’re good for them and he seems to like cover. When he’s not in the enclosure he has free run of the whole garden which is mainly lawn with planted areas around which he seems to like burying himself under the bushes. Of late he’s determined to get inside the house and if the door is open it’s minutes before he’s in and around our feet which we find hilarious but as you can’t exactly house train a tortoise he’s usually taken back outside. When we first got him he’d eat and eat and we had no issues but now that hibernation is looming we’re getting concerned as he’s losing weight and he’s really not eating but he’s still active, just after some advice on if this is normal or if we should be concerned. Thanks in advance, Tom

[Nina]

Hi Tom,

Many thanks for contacting us, and congratulations on adopting this marginated tortoise -- they are a very handsome species and I think you will find him fascinating.

First of all, here is a link to a care sheet for Marginateds https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... 014New.pdf Have a read of it and do come back with any questions you might have.

Inside his enclosure is there a waterproof shelter that he can go in? Although tortoises can manage when it is warm and wet, they don't do well with cold and wet, and as temperatures fall he will need to be able to shelter from the rain. If you have a greenhouse or a cold frame that he could go in, that would provide a bit of warmth from the sun coming through the glass as well, but you might also want to think of some form of heating for him, either outdoors or in an indoor enclosure. Because Marginateds are a good sized species of tortoise, if you are providing him with indoor accommodation it would need to be a good size -- if you have a space in a garage or a spare room where you could rig up lights, etc. that would be great, and you can easily build him an enclosure that can be kept clean and warm.

Regarding hibernating, we can easily send you links to instructions on how to prepare him for hibernation (which is a really important aspect of hibernation), as well as the two most common methods of hibernating -- box and fridge -- and waking up for hibernation. If you'd like these, just let me know and I'll give you links. Do you know how he was hibernated before and for how long? When thinking of hibernation, if possible you want to put this off for a whlle, as he will probably be hiibernating for about 12 weeks or so, and it's best if he wakes up later rather than earlier, so that there are plants available in the garden for him to eat. So you might want to delay hibernation until around December (but that isn't always possible, as tortoises are strong willed).

Tortoises do go into hibernation mode as soon as the days get shorter and temperatures begin to fall, so if you wnat to keep him awake, you basically want to fool him into thinking that it is a bright summer's day. You will need bright lights and heating, aiming for an area under a light and heat bulb of around 30C and a cooler area of around 20C, so that he can move in and out of these areas in order to thermoregulate. You will also need a source of UVB when he is indoors, and you can use a mercury vapour combined heat/light/uvb bulb for this purpose. He might be heading for indoors because it is warmer there (tortoises have amazing memories).

I'm sorry if I'm giving you too much information all at once, and I hope it isn't confusing you! It would be great to know what facilities you have to provide him with heat and light indoors if necessary, and if you don't have them now then I can suggest some easy ways to do this.

Nina

[Tom Bourgaize]

Hi Nina thanks for the reply,

Yes he has a big wooden box in his enclosure that’s on patio tiles so it’s dry in there and he usually just parks himself in a corner and sleeps with his legs all hanging out, I am unsure as to how he was kept prior as the lady we got him from was taken into care so we got him from an animal charity so have no info on what he ate how he was kept or hibernated and so we’re just guessing what he likes, when we first got him in July he was eating anything we have him fruit weeds etc but now he’s almost completely stopped, occasionally when we let him roam the garden he’ll have a munch on some clover which he seems to love but he’s losing weight currently and the vet said he was already underweight from his shell size, not sure if margianteds have different weight to shell as they have larger rear scoots than other breed so this may be a factor, personally I’m thinking of the fridge hibernation as we have a fridge in our garage that’s less used and we can put him in box in there and monitor the temp more than if he was in our main one that’s opened a lot more, I think as we have had really cold weeks followed by really hot weeks where I live he’s getting mixed messages bless him so he’s starting to wind down ready for it and then it gets hot again and he’s having to try eat some more but it’s not long enough, we had planned on putting him in our utility while it’s cold and put a heater on for him or a lamp or something so he can at least stay warm until late November. I will read through those links and if you could send me this others I’ll read through them too and see if we can figure something out.

Thanks again, Tom.

[Nina]

Hi Tom,

Usually we say that you should have a tortoise for a year before you hibernate him. This is because they need to be in great health before hibernating, and it can take a while before you are familiar enough with him to know if he is a bit off colour. However, if a vet gave him a good bill of health then I think it is probably fine to hibernate him this year. By the way, was it an ordinary vet or an 'exotics' vet who is specially trained to treat reptiles? It does make a big difference. I hope that the vet didn't mention using the Jackson ratio to gauge whether your tortoise is underweight or not (let me know if he or she did).

You're right, and he probably is getting mixed messages from the weather -- mine are going into hibernation mode already, but it's too early. To keep him awake and feeding you need to fool him into thinking that it is a bright summer's day, so really bright light and adequate heat. As I mentioned before, you want to aim for a temperature of 30C under the lamp and around 20C elsewhere. You will also need a source of UVB -- this is really important, as without it he won't be able to utilise the calcium in his diet (and they need a lot of calcium). So you either want a combined heat/light/UVB mercury vapour bulb or an ordinary 100W light bulb (not a low energy one), plus a UVB fluorescent tube. If he starts not waking up in the morning let us know as we have techniques to get him going again.

Regarding diet -- it's not a good idea to feed him fruit. Tortoises don't cope well with the natural sugars in fruit (and tomatoes count as a fruit), and it can upset their gut flora. Stick with weeds, flowers and edible garden plants. You can use the filter tool on our website database to make lists of edible foods (I can tell you how to do that), or type the name of any plant into the search box to see if it can be fed. And if you're in doubt then just ask us.

Have a read of that care sheet and come back with any questions. Also here is more reading material about hibernation:
1. Preparation for hibernation -- this is super important as a tortoise must go into hibernation with no food in his stomach but a full bladder:
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... cedure.pdf

2. Fridge hibernation
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... Sept16.pdf

3. Waking from hibernation:
https://www.tortoise-protection-group.o ... 080608.pdf

I hope these help, and I'm sure you will have questions, so ask away. We also have instructions for box hibernation, but with the unpredictable winters we've been having (warm spells, etc.) fridge hibernation is probably safer.

Cheers,
Nina

[anniesteuber]

It's great that you have adopted a marginated tortoise and are providing it with a suitable enclosure and a varied diet. However, it's important to ensure that you are meeting all of its specific care requirements, especially as hibernation approaches. Here are some guidelines to help you care for your marginated tortoise and address the weight loss concern:

1. Enclosure:
- Provide a spacious enclosure with both indoor and outdoor areas.
- The indoor area should have a substrate of coco coir, peat moss, or cypress mulch, at least 2 inches deep for burrowing.
- Offer hiding areas using ceramic reptile caves, magnolia leaves, or stacked flat rocks.
- Ensure proper lighting with a heat source, such as a 100-watt Zoo Med Powersun mercury vapor bulb, and UVB lighting, such as Reptisun 10.0 bulbs.
- Maintain a temperature gradient, with a basking spot of 95-100°F and cooler areas in the enclosure
- Provide a shallow water dish for drinking and soaking.
2. Outdoor Access:
- Allow your tortoise to have supervised access to the garden, but ensure it is safe from predators and harmful plants.
- Create a secure outdoor enclosure with natural dirt substrate and appropriate hiding spots.
- Plant tortoise-friendly vegetation, such as sage, clump grasses, desert trees, and cactus.

3. Diet:
- Offer a varied diet consisting of dark leafy greens (e.g., dandelion greens, kale, collard greens), weeds, edible flowers, and occasional fruits.
- Avoid feeding high-protein foods, such as animal protein or excessive amounts of commercial tortoise pellets.
- Provide a calcium supplement, such as cuttlebone or calcium powder, to ensure proper shell and bone health.