baby sulcata not eating

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beth004

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I have had a baby sulcata for 8 days and not seen him eat .He is a active and alert . Im feeding him timothy hay ,spring greens, carrot , lots of green leafy veg but he is no interested in any of it . I have him in a tortoise table with the correct heating and uv.His substrate is dried grass pellets and at one end brown sand stuff the breeder told to me to get, I m very worried about the litle fella ,any ideas would be greatly appreciated .:tort:


I have a horsefield tortoise for 5 years so not a new tortoise owner
 

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Dizisdalife

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Hi there. Welcome to the Forum.

It is very common for a baby in a new environment to not eat. They are active because they are familiarizing themselves with their new diggs. 8 days is a bit long, though. My first thought is that there is something not quite right with his environment to suit the little fellow. Some more pictures would help us.

Here are a couple of useful threads to give you some ideas and maybe help you troubleshoot this problem.

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-18448.html

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-32333.html
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Beth and welcome to the Forum!

First off, baby tortoises will usually not eat hay. They start to try to eat it when they get to be three or so years of age.

I would offer dark, leafy greens like escarole, endive, turnip greens, etc.

The most common cause for baby tortoises to not eat is that they aren't being kept warm enough. Be sure your heat/lights are giving you the temps you want.

Your breeder has not updated his sulcata knowledge. We don't use the dried pellets anymore. Now we use a substrate that we can moisten. A moist, humid environment causes your baby sulcata to grow smoothly and to not pyramid. So read the threads that Joe offered to you. You will learn a lot of new stuff in sulcata keeping.
 

beth004

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Many thanks ,changed his bedding and made it a bit moist , he is now happily tucking into his lunch ! Very relieved .
 

Tom

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Read the links in my signature and see if any info there might be the missing piece to your puzzle. Sulcatas should have a big appetite right out of the box. If yours doesn't, something is not right. I hope we can figure it out quickly. Humidity alone would not be the cause. As Yvonne stated most people, even some breeders, keep them too cool, especially at night. Keep your baby warm 24/7. I shoot for no lower than 80. Make sure he has a basking spot around 100 for 12 hours a day, but dark (and still warm) at night. I use a daylight bulb on a timer, coupled with a ceramic heating element on a thermostat to achieve this.
 

mainey34

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Good advice above..these are common mistakes..warmth and humidity are the key factors, along with the proper diet. Follow the threads Tom has suggested. There has been lots of success with them. Not sure if mine are duplicates, but you can check the ones out under my signature also...
 
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