very lethargic tortoise

Question
Hi, I have a baby tortoise, a Horsefield. Not sure of exact age, but she is about 3 inches long. We have just moved from England to Germany and are still not set up great, so for now she is in a 3 by 2 foot box, half covered with a full spectrum uva/b strip light and a 75w heat lamp. Exact temperatures I can't say, no thermometer. We feed her on green cabbage and carrot and tomotoes, and she loves dandelions. Ate a load of dandelion leaves yesterday. Is a fussy eater and often wil only eat tomato, so we have stopped giving them so she will eat the green things. Use a supplement with calcium etc in it on food. Change water daily.

We take her out for walks every day, we live in a flat, and it's cold and wet at the moment so we are keeping her in, she loves to potter round exploring and does so for as long as we let her out. She digs all the time, often digging in, and five minutes later is up and moving elsewhere. She has wood chips as a floor so dig in. But over the last few days she has been more quiet, but still enjoyed her walks. However, over the last 24 hours all she has done is sleep. I took her out and she just took a few small steps and went back in her shell in the middle of the floor. She never  does that, she is always off at a pace and having fun being nosey.

I have no idea what the problem could be. She is cleaned, she has fresh food and water, we feed her various things, we give her the supplement, she is warm enough and her space is clean. The only thing I can think is that there were a fair few fruit flies around last week as we had a few warmer days, and they were attracted by her food. But I checked and she doesn't look like they laid eggs or anything. Or possibly the water seemed a bit funny a few days ago, almost white, even though it was fresh just a few hours before, could that have done something and caused a delayed reaction, like a stomach upset?

Her poo was white yesterday, but I read that it is normal for that sometimes, it usually is greeny brown and not to hard or soft.

It doesn't seem to be anything major, there is no liquid around her face, or bulging eyes or anything like that, she functions okay, her legs work okay etc, and her eyes are bright, she is just very lethargic, and she is far from being a lethargic little lady, so I am worried. We will take her to the vet if need be, but it is the weekend and around her nobody works weekends, so that will have to wait until next week anyway.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Both on the illness front, and any idea on how to coax her into eating more green things and not just wanting tomatoes.

I am very fond of my tortoise (not so aptly named Clive) and will do all I can to make her happy and well again.

Many thanks.

Answer
Hi Rachel,

Weather changes at this time of year can cause a tortoise to be somewhat lethargic (digging in, etc.) for a day or two, but I would also advise making some changes to your husbandry.  Depending on the ambient temperatures in your flat, 75w is probably not warm enough.  My house is usually in the mid- to low-60s F and 100w just gets the right temperatures.  You can also try increasing the time the light is on to 14 hours a day and see if that makes a difference.

I use a substrate of half coconut coir (ecoearth) and sand.  This is good for burrowing, holds humidity well, and provides good footing as well.  I would suggest at least dampening the substrate under the basking lamp so you create an area of warm humidity.  Dehydration can cause lethargy, and heat lamps will dry out a smaller tortoise pretty quickly.  I don't think the wood chips will hold enough moisture to provide humidity.  As long as the tortoise isn't kept cold and damp, there's no risk of RI.  I keep hatchlings on about 2" of damp (not wet) coir/sand substrate and they do very well on it.  

Her diet needs some major changes.  Cabbage very occasionally would be OK as part of a varied diet, but not as a staple.  Carrot and tomato are both too high in sugar.  You want to concentrate on high calcium leafy greens--the dandelion is great, along with chicory, collards, kale, turnip and mustard greens, and weeds such as sow thistle, plantain, mallow, hawkweed, bindweed, and so forth.  Flowers from hibiscus, dandelion, abutilon, viola, nasturtium, and roses are also good.  I'm not sure what's available over there in Europe, but here's a link to some pictures of common weeds in England:  http://www.tlady3.clara.co.uk/weedgallery/index.htm  Basically you want to stick to weeds and flowers, no veggies and no fruit.  If you can find dandelion flowers this time of year,those are usually well-liked.  I would simply cut out the foods she shouldn't be eating and offer as much variety of good greens as you can.  If she's healthy, she'll eat eventually.    

The white poo is actually urates, or solid urine.  You want to see urates that are creamy and soft.  If they're gritty and hard, that's an indication of dehydration.

Fruit flies are pesky, but not harmful.  I'm not sure what would cause the water to be white, but could be from minerals (I have well water and sometimes it's whitish from the tap) and not likely a problem.  I would focus on heat (measure the temps if you can), increasing light time, and upping humidity and see if that helps.  Let me know if she doesn't improve.

Edited to add:

Hi Rachel,

I saw your comments (thank you, BTW) and just wanted to mention that a night drop in temperatures is actually beneficial to them.  I've found that if they're too warm at night it can make them sluggish during the day.  I know houses and apartments in Europe tend to be cooler than here in the U.S., but down into the 60s is fine at night.  If you're not comfortable with that, leaving night heat on is fine, but just make sure it's at least cooler than day temperatures.  

You're right that pet stores often give out poor advice.  It sounds like you're on the right track now.  I'm glad I was able to help, and if you have any questions in the future please don't hesitate to ask away!