Adopted a sully he is sick and won't eat..tips

[jeasy88]

I adopted this 2-4 year old sulcata from a "tortoise rescue" well they seem to be more of a tortoise hospice after adopting this poor guy.

He has a bad case of nose bubbles and watery eyes with a wheezy gasp.

I have taken him to the vet and we are doing shots every three days.

I have made an indoor holding area out of 2 fifty gallon tubs with a hot side of 102 and a warm side of 83 enclosed with a heat pad, CHE, and a warm humidifier.

He seems to be improving but he won't even consider anything green. I have tried spring mix, hibiscus leaves and flowers, clover, grass, romaine.

He has nibbled on some yams. But not much.

When roaming the yard he doesn't seem interested in grass.

I have had him for about 2 weeks. Very little food intake, I understand they usually are stressed in a new environment and on top of that being sick.

He was definitely not raised right so I think he may have been eating fruits his whole life.

Tl;Dr

Any idea how to get a tortoise that hasn't been fed correctly its whole life to eat greens?

 

[Maro2Bear]

You do seem to be doing all the proper things to rehab this guy. Have you given him a good long soak in warm water? I'm sure others will pipe in here. Won't eat, bad diet, bad case of pyramiding to boot. Best of luck with. Hopefully he will settle in and start eating for you. Keep us posted with updates.

 

[wellington]

The meds along with a new home is a recipe for not wanting to eat. However, what I would do, for one, give him nice long warm soaks every other day to every third day and I would squeeze some fresh fruit onto some greens, do a fake out and hopfully he will start to eat some. As he does, use less and less if the squeezed fruit until he is just eating the better diet.

 

[jeasy88]

Thanks, I have been soaking him in warm water for about 10 minutes everyday. He pooped about 3 times in the first few days I had him and urates 2 other times.

I will try some strawberry and melon on greens to see if he will bite.

 

[leopard777]

yams , maybe he was fed on mazuri pellets

 

[Tom]

What is your overnight low and what equipment are you using to achieve that?

All those shots are killing the appetite.

 

[dmmj]

Oh man your tortoise is prob. not going to eat while he is on meds, you are ding things correctly, it is just going to take time. Once the RI, watery eyes ( dehydration), clear up, the appetite should return, for now I would offer what ever he will eat, to keep his strength up.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you have a feed store near you that sells Purina products, you can ask them to order you a bag of Mazuri Tortoise Diet. Most tortoises can't resist it, and its a pretty well-balanced diet for tortoises.

 

[Kim444]

you can try making a mix of chopped fruit and adding a little chopped greens, then increase the greens and reduce the fruit over time.

 

[jeasy88]

I have Mazuri ordered should be here Monday.

I have a regulated temp enclosed of 83°. This is 24hours. Using a Kane mat and CHE with a humidifier on a timer to add some humidity.

During the day I have a UVB hood and 102° heat lamp.

I let him roam the yard this afternoon for an hour and he he had some green on his face so he must have had something!

Will keep posted