# Desert Tortoise not Eating



## nealjohn (Oct 5, 2015)

We have a desert tortoise that we adopted. He was eating a good diet up until yesterday and has stopped eating altogether. We have been feeding him spring mix, romaine, tomatoes, carrots, seedless watermelon, and apple. Could he be sick, cold, hot, or dehydrated? Any advice would be appreciated.


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## Careym13 (Oct 5, 2015)

Welcome to TFO!! How old is your tortoise and how is he being housed (indoors, outdoors, temps, etc)? How long have you had this tortoise? More details will help us to help you


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## nealjohn (Oct 5, 2015)

Thank you for the reply. We believe our tortoise is between 6 - 9 years old. We have had him for 2 months now. He lives outdoors in a large grassy pen and has a wooden house that has been custom built for him (see attached). We use hay to line the floor of the house. We live in Orange County, CA so the temps have been pretty warm lately but are beginning to cool down. He has a shallow pan filled with water to soak in if needed in addition to a water dish if he gets thirsty. Let me know if you need additional information.


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## BeeBee*BeeLeaves (Oct 5, 2015)

Your desert tortoise is getting ready to brumate. It's coming close to that time of year. Very ball park figure, give or take many factors, such as weather (and you know how crazy that has been this year), is that they may go down around Halloween, and may com up around first day of spring. Again, I can not emphasize enough that it depends on what the weather does and if they feel like it or not. It can vary a lot from tortoise to tortoise. 

Food, very important. They start to eat dry weeds or nothing at all, to prepare for their slumber. Those bellies are best empty when they go into brumation. If they have wet foods in there, it could ferment and cause tummy distress. This is of course provided that your tortoise has been well fed since spring and healthy. We do not want a tortoise to go down that is not healthy and since this little one is new to you, some experts, not all, will advise that you keep him/her up this winter to be sure and to observe. This is done by providing artificial heat. I believe a search here on TFO will show you more information. 

Welcome to TFO! You will find lots of wonderful information and insight to help you. Lots of help, for sure, just ask. And don't forget these tortoise crazy folks go even more cray-cray for pictures of the care you are hosting. They are funny that way, LOL. : )


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## nealjohn (Oct 5, 2015)

What dry food would you recommend we feed him as he is preparing to go into brumation?


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## Tom (Oct 5, 2015)

The lack of appetite is due to the rain and cold weather.

Could also be due to upset stomach from the food you've been feeding. They should not be getting fruit. Spring mix and romaine are lacking in fiber and nutrients. Carrots and tomato are okay once in a while as a small part of an otherwise good meal. Watermelon and apple are much too high in sugar and should not be fed.

As the weather warms back up, you might see some appetite come back. It will be important to get the right foods into your torttoise during this time. It will also be important to soak your tortoise a few times before hibernation. Putting out a tub of water is not soaking. They don't necessarily do the right things and they need our help. I'll post some links in a bit.


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## ascott (Oct 5, 2015)

nealjohn said:


> Thank you for the reply. We believe our tortoise is between 6 - 9 years old. We have had him for 2 months now. He lives outdoors in a large grassy pen and has a wooden house that has been custom built for him (see attached). We use hay to line the floor of the house. We live in Orange County, CA so the temps have been pretty warm lately but are beginning to cool down. He has a shallow pan filled with water to soak in if needed in addition to a water dish if he gets thirsty. Let me know if you need additional information.



The large grassy pen is fantastic. Do you see the tort graze on the grass?


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## dmmj (Oct 5, 2015)

cold weather causes a tortoise to stop eating as a look for a place to hibernate


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## Tom (Oct 5, 2015)

Here is the diet info. I typed this up for sulcatas, so just use less emphasis on grass and skip ahead to the list:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/


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