Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Title says it all. I have had it about 2 months. It ate the day i recieved it. That was about 2 months ago. It does have access to drinking water and soaked every 3 or 4 days. He wakes right up when soaked and has pooped twice during. He sleeps a great deal, but is found in different spots of his tank. I feed him romain, but it appears it dries up before he eats it.

I have other Torts who eat like animals, just concerned about this guy. I hear they can be difficult.

thanks
Chris

I dont' have Egyptians, but I know that the Egyptian experts will start off by asking you how you are keeping your tort.

Size and type of enclosure? Substrate? Temps? Day/night cycle? UV lighting? Hot spot?

Food? I know that any type of tort will need more than romaine. Are you using canned tortoise foods?

Supplements? Do you use any type of calcium with D3 and/or multivitamin supplements.

Do you soak him, and provide a slightly humid hide area?

Fill us in on those details and the experts will be able to better help you.

I have him/her in a 10 Gallon low with rabbit pellets. The temp is about 80 during the day, not sure about night. We keep a 40w night bulb on for him/her at night. 1 15W full spec tube with a 25 Full spec bulb on during the day.

Only feeding Romaine with Rep-Cal Calcium with Vit D3

Soak him every few days, it wakes him right up, usually poops right after. No humid area for him though, didnt know they liked humidity. No area to hide.

Thanks
Chris

Hi Chris
Where to start. You should have a larger tank, at least a 20 gal. long. I use aspen bedding as a substrate for my Egyptians. It gives much better traction for walking on then rabbit pellets.
80F during the day is fine for the cool end of the tank, but you need a hot spot of 95 to 100F and the warm end about 86F.
No heat at night for my Egyptians. I'm not sure but do you have a 15W full spectrum light on at night? All tortoises need a period of time with no lights on what so ever.

Dan

Forgot about the food. You need to give a varied diet of greens, like dandelion greens, escarole, curly endive, red and green leaf lettuce. Carrots and Butternut squash are good for Vitamin A. You'd want to supplement 3 times a week with a calcium supplement with D3.

Dan

I've got a 4 year old Egyptian male that I've had since he was about 2 months old. He was kept indoors by himself for the 1st month & he did pretty much as you described yours doing. I put him outside in a pen with a 2 year old CB Hermanns & CB Russian yearling & he became a totally different creature; active, outgoing, & eating like a pig. I know the general consensus says don't mix species, but being with other tortoises was the best thing to do under the circumstances & he has grown into a robust, healthy tortoise. He stays indoors during the winter while the other testudos hibernate in the refrigerator.

Good luck with your little guy. My Egyptian is my favorite of the 3 Hermanns, 2 Russians, & pancake that I keep.

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David - the fact your Egyptian is more active outside with the other torts has nothing to do with the company but probably everything to do with more sun, more natural graze, temperature gradients, access to more humid areas, hide areas etc.

Chris - I agree with Dan's suggestions. Dan is the man in the know when it comes to Egyptians... altho ball pythins seem to be his bread and butter these days!

wrong Dan, but I get that all the time.