colder temps/eating?

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DAC8671

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We are having our first big rainstorm of the season here in San Diego. The days leading up to this have been cool/cold with not so much sun. Ralph hasn't come out to eat in a few days. Should I through a small plate of food in his dogloo? Or will he come out when he's ready?

He's currently buried under the timothy hay in his dogloo.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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Does he have lights in that dogloo? He still needs to be kept warm even if you are in San Diego. I don't let my Sulcata get below 75 degrees. So if Ralph doesn't have a warming light at night he's too cold to metabolize his food. If the days are cool he needs a basking light. How big is he? Oh wait...it's the not pyramided Sulcata...he needs the lights like I said. I just looked at the avitar and remembered.
 

DAC8671

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He has a heat lamp inside the dogloo. It was 75 today when I checked. We moved him and part of his enclosure to the garage. It rained so much the area of the yard he is in flooded with about 4 inches (poor drainage). We moved his dogloo with lamp and food. His regular enclosure is portable so we just took a few boards off and made a new pen inside. I put a rubbermaid tub in the temp enclosure too, full of timothy hay. I layed the tub on it's side.

When we took him out to move the dogloo, he was all toasty warm and sleeping. We had to put him on the garage floor for a bit and he wasn't too happy. No, he was pissed. As soon as we got everthing in order, he went right back inside his dogloo.

I just need to get his UVB light set up for if he ever comes out of hiding.
 

aktech23

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Mine still does laps in the yard when it is cool, but it's not outside for very long.

maybe your just missing him when he is out?

I'm in phoenix we might be getting the same storm as you. I'v noticed on weekends my sully is coming out twice for food, then ducking back into the heat.

during the week I'm at work so it's always inside it's enclosure by the time I am home.
 

questionablecow

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I have a similar question about winter behavior: I've had to start keeping my tortoise inside most of the day now that the days are colder and either let it out to eat around noon when I can or sometime in the afternoon, and if not I feed it inside. However, she's become really sluggish recently will only eat if I feed her by hand. Now the majority of the time she sleeps and doesn't seem interested in doing much. Is this because of the winter or could it be dehydration? I had a water dish for her outside but she didn't seem to like using it, so I tried to just feed her wet or moist food. I'm soaking her now once or twice a day, but I'm wondering if I should go to the Vet instead of trying to nurse her. Any advice? Yesterday I got her to wake up and walk around for about two hours, but so far today I only got her to eat a little bit of prickly before she lost interest in me and went to bed. She's still a baby, which makes me more afraid it's dehydration. Any suggestions?
 

DAC8671

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I know for a fact he's not coming out because I have a rubbermaid tub lid leaning up against the door with a towel over it. To block wind and rain. It's not moved.

It's been about 3-4 days since he's eaten now. I'm getting a little worried. He sure was pissed last night when we tok him out to move everything. Now he's hunkered back down in the dogloo.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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I've been reading these posts and I just have to say you people need to move those tortoises inside and get hot basking lights on them. They need to be soaked everyday or at least every other day and they should be fed Spring mix until you get them eating everyday. I make a salad out of spring mix and endive, red leaf lettuce and green leaf lettuce and escarole and raddiccho, kale and dandelion leaves...and whatever else is in season. I cut all that into almost bite sized pieces and I feed everyday. I have a routine and I soak the smaller tortoises at the same time everyday and I feed them at the same time everyday. Tortoises like a routine, and it is not acceptable that they don't eat everyday, especially if they are young. Once they start skipping days and the more time goes by that they don't eat the harder it is to get them to eat, then you have a sick tort. Your animals should come first, before homework or before you eat, or before you watch TV... You need to care for your animals everyday faithfully.
 

Yvonne G

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Maggie makes a good point. They are creatures of habit. They get used to eating when they get up in the morning and if the food isn't there for them, they go back to bed.

But first of all, if they know they are not going to be able to warm up, they will not eat. So if they are outside and the weather is cool, then there has to be a place where the tortoise knows he can go to get warm.

If its an inside tortoise and it stopped eating, you have to intervene and pester the tortoise until you can get it to eat. They can go for a very long time without eating and won't starve, but the longer they go, the harder it is to get them to eat.

Yvonne
 

DAC8671

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I brought Ralph out yesterday because, even though the temps were cooler (not necessarily cold), the sun was out. I felt he needed to be in the sun, if only for 30-60 min. I do feed him spring mix every day (sometimes store packaged, sometimes I mix it myself). He was moving oh-so-slow yesterday. He did eat a few bites, but not much. I do have lights for him, heat in the dogloo and a basking light out of th dogloo. He still doesn't come out. Even when I bring him out of his dogloo inside the garage, he still goes back inside.

On normal days, when he's in his enclosure, he will push the door to the side to get out of his dogloo. When he does that I know he's ready for food. He's not doing that now. Because the garage can get pretty cold, I have a few blankets over his door to keep more of the chill out. He also has plastic strips that I've hung on the door for wind (when it's outside in his enclosure).

I can not force feed him. I'm also worried about him getting dehydrated. What do I do?
 
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Maggie Cummings

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Can you bring him inside and soak him in your bath tub? I would start doing that everyday. With nice warm water. Are you sure he's warm enough inside that dogloo? It's 95-100 degrees under Bob's basking light and 85 degrees ambient air in his shed. Is he that warm inside that dogloo? It just sounds to me like he's not warm enough, and also a healthy Sulcata eats everyday. I just don't know what else to suggest you do. It all comes back to temperature I think... unless he's sick. And you just had him at the Vet didn't you?
 

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I've been reading these posts and I just have a question-suggestion.
Ralph wants to stay inside his dogloo. You have heat inside so he is feeling toastier inside.
The garage is cool and so is outside even in the sun. (All CA temps have been really down lately).
Simply sounds like Bob knows the warmest place right now is inside his dogloo.
Could you set up a heat system in the garage, perhaps a heater or heat lamps outside his dogloo?
In order for him to want to eat he must be warm. If he cannot stay warm he will not eat. If he doesn’t move around he will slow down his eating. I agree with everyone so far, You must warm him up more. If you have all the heat contained inside the dogloo that is the only place he will want to be. Have you checked the temp inside and outside now that you have moved him to the garage?
If I remember right when you first joined Ralph had an inside spot at night. Can you set that up for him again?
Just my opinion.
 

aka2tal

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I am in the Los Angeles area, and it has been getting cold here as well. It is rainign today. We have three Sulcatas, 3,6, 8. The Two older ones have been inside their igloo now for three days. It is between 65-78 degrees in the house. I am not worried. They just know where it is warmer and they are fine. The 3 year old was out walking yesterday, eating some grass, then it went back in. I realy would not worry about it until this weather passes.
 

DAC8671

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Soaking would help him at his size and age? I thought it was just for hatchlings and yearlings??? Wow I was way wrong in my thinking.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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Crazy1 said:
I've been reading these posts and I just have a question-suggestion.
Bob wants to stay inside his dogloo. You have heat inside so he is feeling toastier inside.
The garage is cool and so is outside even in the sun. (All CA temps have been really down lately).
Simply sounds like Bob knows the warmest place right now is inside his dogloo.
Could you set up a heat system in the garage, perhaps a heater or heat lamps outside his dogloo?
In order for him to want to eat he must be warm. If he cannot stay warm he will not eat. If he doesn’t move around he will slow down his eating. I agree with everyone so far, You must warm him up more. If you have all the heat contained inside the dogloo that is the only place he will want to be. Have you checked the temp inside and outside now that you have moved him to the garage?
If I remember right when you first joined Ralph had an inside spot at night. Can you set that up for him again?
Just my opinion.

Not that I'm picky..:p but Bob lives in a shed I just spent almost $1000 to renovate...It's Ralph who lives in the garage/dogloo. Bob eats like a pig everyday, Ralph does not...we need to get our names straight here...lol
And yes Debbie...Bob is 73 pounds and I decided he wasn't drinking several weeks ago so I made my son come and put him in the bathtub...he took a drink and soaked for a while. I took the opportunity to give him a good scrubbing...he hated it!!!
 

Yvonne G

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DAC8671 said:
Soaking would help him at his size and age? I thought it was just for hatchlings and yearlings??? Wow I was way wrong in my thinking.

First thing I do when there's any sign of trouble is soak the tortoise. So if he's off his feed or sleeping a lot...soak!! Doesn't matter what size he is. Sitting in the warm water just seems to do wonders for them.

Yvonne
 

Crazy1

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Maggie, so, so, sorry. I did mean Ralph and have corrected it. You are right we must keep our torts straight and I do appologize. And I do feel like Maggie and Yvonne soaking at any age can do wonders.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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Crazy1 said:
Maggie, so, so, sorry. I did mean Ralph and have corrected it. You are right we must keep our torts straight and I do appologize. And I do feel like Maggie and Yvonne soaking at any age can do wonders.

Please do not soak either Yvonne or I...we don't like soaking and are too old for it...:cool:
 

Yvonne G

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maggie3fan said:
Crazy1 said:
Maggie, so, so, sorry. I did mean Ralph and have corrected it. You are right we must keep our torts straight and I do appologize. And I do feel like Maggie and Yvonne soaking at any age can do wonders.

Please do not soak either Yvonne or I...we don't like soaking and are too old for it...:cool:

I have been called an old soak, but its so cold here I don't want to be soaked either!! LOL!!

Yvonne
 

DAC8671

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Thanks for all the advice. Today again was cool, no rain, but there was sun. I let him out for natural sunlight. He ate a few bites of spring mix. I let him try a cucumber (I asked before and was told not to give too much and when they aren't drinking). He didn't want any of it. I did give him a small piece of banana (maybe about the length of my thumb). He ate about 5 bites of that then that's when he turned to the spring mix and had a few bites of that.

I also bought another basking lamp and a small utility heater. I placed the heater behind some wire so he can't get to it and hurt himself. He really seemed to like the newer lamp. It's the same wattage as the others, but just in a different place. I guess he didn't like where I wanted him to bask. hehehe. Then he ever so slowly went back to his dogloo. I tilted one of the basking lamps towards the door of the dogloo to get a little extra heat inside. Not sure if it actually worked or not. I do have the igloo covered with a heavy blanket and the heat lamp inside is always on.

I also soaked him for about 15 min. That's when the water started getting cooler.
 

Crazy1

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Now Maggie and Yvonne soaking is good for your and it keeps the skin soft and suptle. Now stop dragging your feet and into those tubs with you. :)
 
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