# Sulcata not eating



## Peter Williams (Feb 14, 2013)

Hi, my sulcata male Dozer has recently stopped eating. He is approximately 6-8 years old. He has been eating mazuri tortoise diet, spring mix, and dandelion greens. He seems and acts completely normal still, since he stopped eating we've been putting out about 2 softened mazuri pellets a day and he will maybe take a bite out of one. He still seems to be producing feces and urates when I soak him. Not sure what is wrong? Do they normally reduce their food intake during the winter months? Any advice is appreciated. I have access to a herp vet if need be.

Here he is when I first introduced him to his new winter enclosure (the enclosure has since been decorated a little bit more)


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## mctlong (Feb 14, 2013)

Is he warm enough in his indoor enclosure? What are your temps? Their appetite can drop when they get chilly. They like it alot warmer than we do, 80 to 85ish on the cool end of the enclosure and 110 on the warm side directly under the basking light.

Also, I don't see a water dish.. he has one, right?


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## Peter Williams (Feb 14, 2013)

mctlong said:


> Is he warm enough in his indoor enclosure? What are your temps? Their appetite can drop when they get chilly. They like it alot warmer than we do, 80 to 85ish on the cool end of the enclosure and 110 on the warm side directly under the basking light.
> 
> Also, I don't see a water dish.. he has one, right?



The other side of the room looks like this: 





Which houses my 75+ ball python collection, so I tend to keep the room fairly warm, around 78-80F. There is also another sulcata enclosure in the room with a 160W MVB (same bulb in Dozer's enclosure) also adding additional room warmth. So I don't think he's too cold. And yes he does have a water dish, that's what I was referring to when I said the enclosure had been further decorated, that photo was taken only only just after I had finished installing the enclosure on top of my retic cage, I only put him in for effect so I could have a picture of the 'finished product' so to speak.


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## Dizisdalife (Feb 14, 2013)

My sulcata does eat less in the winter if he is cold. I don't see him come out much on rainy days. That may be two or three days at a time. If the sun is out and it is above 50F he will come out and eat, bask in the sun until he poops, and then go back into his house (it's heated to about 85F). It's just a guess on my part, but at 6-8 years if the environmental issues are not the culprit then it might be that he has developed some stones that are causing him discomfort. Another possibility is that he may have intestinal parasites (pinworm) that has caused him to stop eating. If he was recently moved into the new enclosure it may not yet feel secure to him. Moving them will sometimes cause them to stop eating.


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## wellington (Feb 14, 2013)

I don't have a sully, but I do have an 23 month old leopard. He is housed inside for winter. He does seem to not eat as much. A couple days ago it didn't look like he at anything one day and then very little the next. By the third or fourth day he was back to eating a lot. He kinda does this off and on this winter. I would just keep and eye on him. Keep giving food and maybe up his soaking a little. If anything changes for the worse, I would get a vet right away. I doubt there is really anything to worry about. I would also make sure his temps aren't too high. At that age, he would probably do good with a little cooler side, maybe 70-75. My Leo's enclosure is pretty warm all over and the last few days I have been finding him in the one spot that's a little cooler, it's around 78. The rest of his enclosure is 80 and above.


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## ForeignLuxuries (Feb 15, 2013)

That sulcata sure looks small for a 6 to 8 year old. Ive had mine for 6 years and he was a yearling when I got him and he's about 3 times the size of yours. Is that normal? Lol pic below. My sulcatas been eating less lately also. I think it's the weather. I mean how many heat lamps can one use??....it's hard to keep every corner warm especially when it's a big enclosure...


Picture 1... He's 25lbs.


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## CtTortoiseMom (Feb 15, 2013)

He is very small for his age. A few things jump out at me.... I cannot see a water dish which is very important in an inside enclosure. Also he needs a hide. I think he is definitely too cold in that enclosure, he has no other source of heat when his basking light goes off for the night. For a simple hide you can take a small trash can from home depot and cut it in half. Then cut it to whatever size you want and put it against the far wall away from his basking light maybe under a couple CHE's.




ForeignLuxuries said:


> That sulcata sure looks small for a 6 to 8 year old. Ive had mine for 6 years and he was a yearling when I got him and he's about 3 times the size of yours. Is that normal? Lol pic below. My sulcatas been eating less lately also. I think it's the weather. I mean how many heat lamps can one use??....it's hard to keep every corner warm especially when it's a big enclosure...
> 
> 
> Picture 1... He's 25lbs.





Well mine is about 7 and 47 pounds. There size does vary a lot based on husbandry & genetics.


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## Peter Williams (Feb 15, 2013)

ForeignLuxuries said:


> That sulcata sure looks small for a 6 to 8 year old. Ive had mine for 6 years and he was a yearling when I got him and he's about 3 times the size of yours. Is that normal? Lol pic below. My sulcatas been eating less lately also. I think it's the weather. I mean how many heat lamps can one use??....it's hard to keep every corner warm especially when it's a big enclosure...



The reason I say 6-8 year old is because he came from a pet store. I have had him for 4 years, and he was about 5" long when I got him. I don't know if the pet store had been underfeeding him (very likely due to the condition of his shell when I got him), so he could be as young as 5. This estimate could also be off as I've never raised a sully from a hatchling (until now, I have a little one that is about 80g that came from a very good source) so I don't know how big a yearling is, perhaps Dozer here was only a year old when I got him, making him only 5 years old.



CtTortoiseMom said:


> He is very small for his age. A few things jump out at me.... I cannot see a water dish which is very important in an inside enclosure. Also he needs a hide. I think he is definitely too cold in that enclosure, he has no other source of heat when his basking light goes off for the night. For a simple hide you can take a small trash can from home depot and cut it in half. Then cut it to whatever size you want and put it against the far wall away from his basking light maybe under a couple CHE's.



I see you may have skimmed my original post and jumped to the bottom to post a reply. In terms of his size for his age, see answer above. As for the water dish, see answer above. Hide box, see answer above. 78-80F constant room temperature is definitely too cold? 

I will get a picture of the enclosure as it stands currently as it seems several folks are getting confused by my original picture. I am still concerned at his lack of appetite and don't see a clear answer as to what may be causing it just yet.


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## CtTortoiseMom (Feb 15, 2013)

Yep, I missed your second post. I just saw the pic of the snakes side and not the text. Do you have a point & shoot thermometer? If so take some general temps around the enclosure and the torts shell just to make sure it is warm enough. I also take shell and front leg temps. 

My torts eating and activity does slow down when they come inside for the winter.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 15, 2013)

The most usual cause of a tortoise not eating is because he's not warm enough. You need to get a temperature gauge, one of those laser point and shoot thingeys work well, and measure the temperature all over the whole habitat. 

Think of a human body...we have to be around 100F degrees in order to digest our food...well, 98.6, and so it is not unreasonable to assume that a tortoise needs to have a place where he can warm up to AT LEAST 85F degrees in order to digest his food. Warmer would even be better. I try to get it about 100-110 directly under the light fading to around 85 on one end and room temperature on the other end. Room temperature to me is around 70-75F.


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## Peter Williams (Feb 15, 2013)

Thanks for the advice! I will temp gun it up as soon as I head over to my facility!


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## Peter Williams (Feb 15, 2013)

I took some updated photos of his enclosure here, I lowered his heat lamp (which he went right over to and started basking when I did) and I put some flexwatt heat tape on the inside of his big built in hide, hopefully this keeps him a little warmer at night.


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## CtTortoiseMom (Feb 16, 2013)

Let me know how that flexwatt heat tape on the inside of his hide works out, can you take some temps in his hide. I think that is a pretty ingenious idea and am thinking about putting it in my sulcata's wooden hide if it works out for you.

If this doesn't get him to eat more than you know it is just a winter slow down.


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## Peter Williams (Feb 16, 2013)

CtTortoiseMom said:


> Let me know how that flexwatt heat tape on the inside of his hide works out, can you take some temps in his hide. I think that is a pretty ingenious idea and am thinking about putting it in my sulcata's wooden hide if it works out for you.
> 
> If this doesn't get him to eat more than you know it is just a winter slow down.



I anticipate the heat tape will warm the box decently. It is what heats all my snake bins to 90+ degrees. I plan on adding 2 more strips of the tape inside there. My only warning to you is if you put any in with your tortoise, make sure they absolutely cannot damage/puncture it with their shells or in the process of digging. If they pierced through the plastic there could be a moderate likelihood of shock or fire.

Also is it important to have it regulated by a thermostat to ensure it does not overheat, in this case I plugged mine into the helix thermostat running my reticulated python cage just below Dozer's enclosure.


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## Peter Williams (Feb 19, 2013)

With the modifications I've made to Dozer's enclosure he now has an 80+ degree hide to go to, and a 105+ basking spot, but is still not eating, it has been at least a month that he hasn't eaten, I am starting to get worried. He still appears fine, clear eyes/face, but he just won't eat a darn thing.


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## Laura (Feb 19, 2013)

A sulcata that size should be outside or in a bigger area.. one that age, should also be bigger..
have you tried a variety of food? color?


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