Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm begging for suggestions on what I can do to get this tortoise to eat. He is a CB cherryhead hatchling. Got him shipped 9 days ago. He refuses all food except he will take a very tiny bite of banana. He does not open his mouth wide and take a big bite of anything. I don't know what to do anymore. I use an Active Heat UVB 100 watt bulb, coco fiber substrate which I keep moist and moist spaghnum moss. There is a half log for hiding over the moss. He will stay there indefinitely unless I take him out to soak. I do that three times a day. He drinks water when I put him into it. HELP????

This will not be a very satisfying answer. But there isn't a clear cause based on your discription.
My guess, and this is only a guess, is that either the hatchling was sick to begin with, or became very stressed during shipment to you.
I would continue with the soaking and try to feed something really appealing like plain, washed tuna fish or cat food. These are not things to feed as a rule, but to get a stubborn feeder going they work great.

Thanks for the reply... I will try the cat food. I think that he was stressed out also by the shipping because he was in a large plastic container with only 1 wet paper towel. There was nothing to cushion him from being bounced around. The box said "this side up" but I don't think that UPS cares about that.

Paula

That sounds like a cruddy shipping job. In addition, I worry about the heat this time of year.