Baby leopard tortoise one week not eating

[Cleopatra 2020]

Hi guys,
Our baby leopard tortoise has not eaten for a week or drink water either we've tried soaking her she won't drink and I've tried getting her to to eat greens and also tried feeding some Critical Care food I got from the vet which is like paste which I tried rubbing on her mouth also her eyes are shut I got some ointment from the vet Thursday was my first visit with her she opened one I yesterday morning and this morning they seem to be cracked open a little my concern is trying to get her mouth open she keeps pulling her head back in I was wondering if anybody had any experience on dealing with this and what possibly might work it's been over a week without food or water for her however Thursday night I did get saline injections and her legs at the vet to hydrate her she said she was very dehydrated also her area that she lives in has a soaked log some small aquarium pea gravel a small dish for water and we keep the light about 12 in above her area and regulated between 80 and 87 not sure how old she is I can show you a picture of her rings if that helps she's real tiny Less Than 3 in around

 

[Blackdog1714]

1. Type of light
2. Type of Heat
3. Type of UVB Bulb
4. Type of Subatrate
5. Temperatures- Warm End, Cool End, Humid Hide (Please measure with a laser temp gun)
6. Humidity- Warm end, Cool End, Humid Hide
7. Soaks- How Often, How Long, Temp of water
8. Photos of enclosure
9. Where purchased from

Sorry for all that, but tis info is critical for your baby Leopard. My heart bleeds as my baby leopard just hit 375 earlier in January!

 

[wellington]

I agree we need more info in order to help you. In the mean time. The temp should be 80 all over day and night except the basking spot which should be 95-100. Humidity should be 80% day and night. Get rid of the stones they can cause impaction. Coconut coir or orchid bark is what should be used. Soak un warm water twice a day until around 1 year then once a day until 2 years then once every other day until 3 and then can cut back more.
Do not use any Coil bulbs they cause eye problems. For now also add baby food pureed carrots and baby pedialyte to the warm water soaks.

 

[Cleopatra 2020]

1. Type of light
2. Type of Heat
3. Type of UVB Bulb
4. Type of Subatrate
5. Temperatures- Warm End, Cool End, Humid Hide (Please measure with a laser temp gun)
6. Humidity- Warm end, Cool End, Humid Hide
7. Soaks- How Often, How Long, Temp of water
8. Photos of enclosure
9. Where purchased from

Sorry for all that, but tis info is critical for your baby Leopard. My heart bleeds as my baby leopard just hit 375 earlier in January!

1. Type of light
2. Type of Heat
3. Type of UVB Bulb
4. Type of Subatrate
5. Temperatures- Warm End, Cool End, Humid Hide (Please measure with a laser temp gun)
6. Humidity- Warm end, Cool End, Humid Hide
7. Soaks- How Often, How Long, Temp of water
8. Photos of enclosure
9. Where purchased from

Sorry for all that, but tis info is critical for your baby Leopard. My heart bleeds as my baby leopard just hit 375 earlier in January!

first of all I'm assuming these bulbs have the UVB that they need according to the description that's on them they're both aquaculture ones a black night light bulb in the other ones a day bulb both l75-watt also her pen was pretty open no humidity I just started soaking a log in the last couple days and putting it in there and also since then I've covered half of the pen with plastic to help hold the humidity in and the sides as well I got her to open her mouth today a little bit after I gave her some sterile water injections in her legs which I got from the vet this is only her second time receiving the shots since last Thursday also I noticed she comes to life a little bit after her injections and actually opened her mouth today which I was able to get a little bit of the critical care food in her that I also got from the vet her area temperature is ranging from 78 or 79 inside the Shaded log all the way to 91° underneath the lamp which is 12" above her also but her immediate area that she's in about a 6 inch circle varies from 81 to 83 degrees also she opened her eye again today which yesterday was the first time she hasn't drink water or eaten in over a week I tried soaking her last night and everyday getting ready to soak her again tonight she definitely was more active today and she's been all week with a couple times she was really crawling around but then that only lasted less than 10 seconds both times and then back to just dormant and hiding in her shell

 

[Cleopatra 2020]

first of all I'm assuming these bulbs have the UVB that they need according to the description that's on them they're both aquaculture ones a black night light bulb in the other ones a day bulb both l75-watt also her pen was pretty open no humidity I just started soaking a log in the last couple days and putting it in there and also since then I've covered half of the pen with plastic to help hold the humidity in and the sides as well I got her to open her mouth today a little bit after I gave her some sterile water injections in her legs which I got from the vet this is only her second time receiving the shots since last Thursday also I noticed she comes to life a little bit after her injections and actually opened her mouth today which I was able to get a little bit of the critical care food in her that I also got from the vet her area temperature is ranging from 78 or 79 inside the Shaded log all the way to 91° underneath the lamp which is 12" above her also but her immediate area that she's in about a 6 inch circle varies from 81 to 83 degrees also she opened her eye again today which yesterday was the first time she hasn't drink water or eaten in over a week I tried soaking her last night and everyday getting ready to soak her again tonight she definitely was more active today and she's been all week with a couple times she was really crawling around but then that only lasted less than 10 seconds both times and then back to just dormant and hiding in her shell

Also the vet told me I can give her the water injection twice a day for two days and then once a day after that which seems to be her Saving Grace since I can't make her eat or drink and also being that she didn't eat or drink for 4 or 5 days I know she's not out of the woods but being able to get her hydrated daily makes me rest a little easier

 

[Cleopatra 2020]

I agree we need more info in order to help you. In the mean time. The temp should be 80 all over day and night except the basking spot which should be 95-100. Humidity should be 80% day and night. Get rid of the stones they can cause impaction. Coconut coir or orchid bark is what should be used. Soak un warm water twice a day until around 1 year then once a day until 2 years then once every other day until 3 and then can cut back more.
Do not use any Coil bulbs they cause eye problems. For now also add baby food pureed carrots and baby pedialyte to the warm water soaks.

how much baby food and Pedialyte are we talking about and how much water? Right now I soak her in about an 8 inch round flat plate in about an eighth to a quarter inch of water

 

[KarenSoCal]

how much baby food and Pedialyte are we talking about and how much water? Right now I soak her in about an 8 inch round flat plate in about an eighth to a quarter inch of water

Her soaks should be deeper than that. The soak solution should come up to where her plastron (bottom shell) meets the carapace (top shell). Or even a bit deeper. As long as she can easily hold her head above water she's fine. You'll need to use a deeper container than a flat plate. Torts actually take in water in several ways as well as drinking, but it needs to be the depth I described.

The mixing of the solution is not a precise measurement kind of thing. You could start by mixing the water and pedialyte 50/50, then just dump in half a jar of pureed carrot baby food. Make sure it's all at 90-95 deg. As the water cools, add warm water...don't let it cool off. Keep her in it for 30 min, or even longer if she's enjoying it.

 

[JTH]

I agree we need more info in order to help you. In the mean time. The temp should be 80 all over day and night except the basking spot which should be 95-100. Humidity should be 80% day and night. Get rid of the stones they can cause impaction. Coconut coir or orchid bark is what should be used. Soak un warm water twice a day until around 1 year then once a day until 2 years then once every other day until 3 and then can cut back more.
Do not use any Coil bulbs they cause eye problems. For now also add baby food pureed carrots and baby pedialyte to the warm water soaks.

This is good advice. Your tortiose MAY have an impaction or other gut malady. Soak it in shallow warm water daily, see if "things" will start moving.

 

[Cleopatra 2020]

yeah I've been soaking her and I soaked her in the Pedialyte and carrot today she was fine with that I got some activity out of her last night for the first time in a week she was crawling like she wanted to run the race going to do the injections twice a day today and taper off to once a day starting tomorrow and continue with soaking twice a day I think that'll help her with the Pedialyte for sure and she ate a little bit last night as well or shall I say I managed to get some Critical Care food in her mouth keeping her area at 80 degrees still working on the humidity issue

 

[Cleopatra 2020]

Also I managed to get a 30-minute soak out of her no problem I think she even got a little in her mouth it look like it was open her head was under a little bit hopefully she got some of the carrots too...

 

[Yvonne G]

Your new baby isn't warm enough. It's critical to keep your baby leopard at least 80-85F degrees day and night, and that same temperature all over the whole enclosure. It would be much easier to achieve 80-85F degrees in a large plastic tub, with a lid. Something like this:



Baby tortoises won't eat unless they're warm enough, and warm enough means 80-85F degrees all over the whole enclosure!

 

[Bee62]

Please make a new and warmer enclosure like @Yvonne G told you and get rid asap of the colored little stones and the sand. The stones and sand can be eaten by your baby and causes severe constipation. Fine Orchid bark is the best for a tortoise enclosure.

 

[Cleopatra 2020]

what are the dimensions of that enclosure Yvonne?.... do you have some more pictures with different angles?

 

[Yvonne G]

That's a picture I pulled off the 'net just to use as an example. Buy the biggest tub you can find.

 

[Cleopatra 2020]

UPDATE: Cleo has drank in the last three soaks I gave her with Pedialyte and baby carrots with warm water also got her to eat significantly today because she opens her mouth when I give her her water injections she doesn't like them but I utilize that time to get some food in her mouth....?

 

[rideburton87]

When I first brought my Leopard home as a one month old he didn't eat for almost a whole month. Once he did start to eat the only thing he would put down was the mazuri tortoise food, so you may try that and see if he likes it. I would recommend buying the mazuri from someone off the forum if you can find it. It will be much cheaper this way. I also didn't see either of my tortoises drink until they got much larger, they would get most of their water through the wet tortoise food, leafy greens, and daily soaks.

 

[Cleopatra 2020]

Got one of those tanks from petsmart has swing open doors on the front

 

[Cleopatra 2020]

sat 2/1. 12 noon saline tried to feed got minimal in mouth
10 pm water shot
1045 -11 soak with pedialyte, moved her head Below the water a little bit like she was possibly drinking tried to feed her, got more down this time. First time this active in over a week had head extended out moving back and forth and all four legs extended out trying to get somewhere fast.
sun 2/2 1130 a.m. soaked in her tub for half an hour with Pedialyte and carrot change water five times maintain temps 90 -95 12pm put back in her box under light at 80° for 30 minutes 1230 pm tried to feed her the critical care food and she actually got a bite or two in her mouth. also some orbax 1st dose
1250pm put salve on her eye
730pm gave her water injections, fed some cc
745-815 pedialyte carrot soak drank some mon
Mon2/3 610 am - 30 min soak pedia/carrot... drank some.
645 am - fed alot more...able to open mouth
1045 pm - pedia/carrot soak 20 mi 1130pm - ate 5 bites + water shot tue 2/4 6-620 pedia/carrot soak
620 - 630 ate 2 or 3 good bites of cc
630 put back in box, active walking 6- 8 inches very alet, eyes open

 

[Yvonne G]

Got one of those tanks from petsmart has swing open doors on the front

View attachment 285805

Don't use number 4 - they have been know to burn tortoise eyes.

I'm afraid you've spent a lot of money for a lot of stuff you really don't need or shouldn't use.

 

[Cleopatra 2020]

Don't use number 4 - they have been know to burn tortoise eyes.

I'm afraid you've spent a lot of money for a lot of stuff you really don't need or shouldn't use.

yeah I plan on taking it back today I'm not very happy with it plus there is a chip out of the glass and the door on one side creeks