he still wont eat.

[jeffjeff]

sorry for the long post but i figured as much info as poss can only help. sparky still wont eat any thing. its been a couple weeks now and I getting super paranoid that something serious may be wrong as he's starting to loose weight. as far as I can tell he looks healthy except his eyes look a bit puffy again, I think from not eating they do seem to improve after soaking temporarily. I tried the carrot soaks and his eyes improved but he still wont eat any thing not even pansy flowers that he loves. I even offered a bit of strawberry and put him right in front of it to see how bad he was being, he just sniffed for a while like he was going to eat it but then just walked a few steps and went back to sleep. all he seems to do lately is sleep, I don't think he'd even come out of his hole I didn't dig him out to soak him.
as far as temps ect every think is ok I think. nothing changed the cool side is around 75-80f, warm side around 85f, basking around 100f night time it drops to about 70 before the house heating comes on. still using the arcadia t5 6% strip uv and reflector type bulb for heat. I heightened it a few inch. I don't think its the uv as its been in for a several months before he showed any change we had some blackouts a few weeks back, could that have damaged the tube? it was not long after that he started behaving strange. I have spares so can change it if its possible it got damaged.
the substrate was coir up until today. now its coir and top soil. I've added a couple pics of the enclosure if it helps. if there's any more info I forgot that may help please just ask I'm at my wits end with him atm,
just incase can any one recommend a good vet in Cumbria? the only one I know of is shi, well not very good.
thanks

 

[Heather H]

@Yvonne G @Tom
Hi Jeff good luck. the pictures did not show up

 

[tortdad]

What do you use to double check your temps? Usually this is cause by a tort not being warm enough. They need to get there core temp to 85 before they can digest food. What happens is they get cold, stop eating, then the eyes start puffing up and they lose energy and sleep a lot until there environment gets fixed or the die.

Without seeing your set up the first thing I would do is bump up your temps and continue with baby food soaks. The lack of eating will cause a vitamin A deficiency so the baby food soaks help to overcome that.

Warm it up more and show us some pictures of your table and all your gear.

 

[lismar79]

Have you tried Mazuri, mine never refuse Mazuri even in their fall time slow down.

 

[jeffjeff]

thanks for the reply, not sure why the first pics disappeared so i took a few more of pics from different angles as i couldn't fit it in 1 pic. i have 3 thermometers one is digital temp and humidity. one is a regular alcohol type the last is a temp gun.

 

[jeffjeff]

Have you tried Mazuri, mine never refuse Mazuri even in their fall time slow down.

yep tried mazuri it was never his favorite but he usually ate some of it. the only thing he's ate in the last week or so is a small amount of cactus pad that i mushed up.

 

[Robertchrisroph]

You have so many yummy things to eat. Could he be eating and you not noticing. do you see poop? good luck with your baby and also it is winter. Could of slowed just because it knows its winter mybe

 

[Randi]

What's your humidity?

 

[jeffjeff]

You have so many yummy things to eat. Could he be eating and you not noticing. do you see poop? good luck with your baby and also it is winter. Could of slowed just because it knows its winter mybe

no poop for a while not even while soaking.

 

[jeffjeff]

What's your humidity?

it varies a little bit with the house being so warm but its mostly between 40 and 50%

 

[Randi]

I'd increase it to 80% or higher. You can pour warm water on your substrate and mix it all up. The top of the substrate should dry (to prevent fungus and shell rot) and the layer below should be moist. You can also cover up the top of the enclosure to prevent warm humid air from escaping.

 

[jeffjeff]

I'd increase it to 80% or higher. You can pour warm water on your substrate and mix it all up. The top of the substrate should dry (to prevent fungus and shell rot) and the layer below should be moist. You can also cover up the top of the enclosure to prevent warm humid air from escaping.

thanks. first thing tomorrow i'll make a top of some description. it might take a little thinking about as the enclosure is a very weird shape. the opening has 1 straight side and 3 different radius curved ones that taper to one end lol. will i need to opening it occasionally to stop it getting to hot?

 

[Carol S]

Until you make a top you can use cooking foil to cover the enclosure to keep the humidity in. You can buy a reptile thermostat to plug the basking bulb into to control the temperature in the enclosure. I hope your tortoise gets well fast.

 

[jeffjeff]

thanks every one, i've a list of things to change. make it a closed chamber some how, add some moss to his tunnel to make it a humid hide or find some thing to make one, get a thermostat ordered, would it be ok the light going on and off all the time?

 

[tortdad]

thanks every one, i've a list of things to change. make it a closed chamber some how, add some moss to his tunnel to make it a humid hide or find some thing to make one, get a thermostat ordered, would it be ok the light going on and off all the time?

You don't put the light on a thermostat. The lights get hooked up to a timer set run run about 12-14hrs a day (mine are on 7am to 7pm). The CHE gets hooked up to a thermostat so it can come on and off as needed.

 

[cmacusa3]

I don't think you want a thermostat on the light. Just on a CHE

 

[jeffjeff]

that makes more sense i was getting confused there lol. i don't have a che the temp in the room temp never drops below 70f because of the house heating is that too cold for night time? i can easy get one tomorrow if it is.

 

[jeffjeff]

the lights are on a timer for 13hrs aday

 

[tortdad]

that makes more sense i was getting confused there lol. i don't have a che the temp in the room temp never drops below 70f because of the house heating is that too cold for night time? i can easy get one tomorrow if it is.

I'm betting it gets colder than that down at tort level. Heat rises and cold air sinks. You need a CHE on a thermostat

 

[mini_max]

Just curious, is there any chance he could have some sort of impaction? Could he have eaten something, a rock, a bit of vermiculite or something? Just looking for something other than illness that would cause the non eating. After a couple weeks, one would think of it was an ri or something, it would have become more obvious symptom wise.

Also, I am wondering if he was tested for parasites when you got him? Don't know if something like that could cause this?