Leopard torts not eating

[erosal]

Just wanna ask some adivse on what could be wrong with them. We are a little bit worried cause both our 2 month torts are not eating well. We've noticed this for like 3 weeks already. The food that I placed in the morning will till be there at night time.

Both are active and playful and no signs of weakness. They sleep early and retreat into their hides around 6:00pm.

Here some info on my setup:
- substrate is mixed of coco coir, sphagnum moss and cypress mulch
- using Powersun and basking temp @ 90-97F and ambient of 80-85F, humidty at 50-80%
- daily basking for 20min and at least 2x a week we allow them to bask and graze outside
- food are fresh veggies, calium powder and zoomed grassland torotise food

 

[JoesMum]

I think you could do with boosting your basking temperatures slightly. You are looking for 100-105 in my opinion. Lowering the lamp slightly should achieve this.

 

[wellington]

I agree with the basking and you should get the humidity upto 80% always. Also, what kind of veggies? Should be greens. How often do you soak them? Should be every day for 20-30 minutes in warm water. Do you also have water available to them 24/7. Also, calcium should not be give every day. Two times a week is fine and add a cuttle bone for when they think they need more. Try soaking them in the morning and then place them in their enclosure in front of the food. Sometimes a soak in the a.m. will get them wanting to eat. In case you have seen them yet, Toms threads are below in my post. The last two will help you with the enclosure, temps and humdity.

 

[erosal]

i soak them daily for 20min

 

[erosal]

how do you maintain a constant 80% humidity?

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Re: RE: Leopard torts not eating

how do you maintain a constant 80% humidity?

CLOSED CHAMBER!

Heather
sent while on my purple android TFOapp

 

[tortadise]

I would recommend a "closed chamber" as stated before too. More of a sealed aquarium type to sustain more of a controllable stable temp. The thermometer is reading just for that area. Gradient with an open enclosure like yours can be so inconsistent with temperatures. You can use a large Rubbermaid tub, aquarium, or even build one yourself out of Plexiglas, glass, or wood. Sooner the better before they really start to stress more than they have and end in a result you may not like.

 

[EchoTheLeoTort]

I agree with everyone saying closed chamber. Just learned my lesson thanks to fellow members honestly its a way better choice. My routine for humidity is to pour one glass of water on half the enclosure, and another glass over the other half of the enclosure, it soaks right down to the coco coir and leaves the repti bark on top dry for Echo. when i wake up he soaks while i eat breakfast, and i have a power sun 100 watt that is about 15 inches high from him. It creates a good basking temp and keeps the enclosure between 85-90 degrees. I spray echo down between 3-5 times throughout the day. Takes up no time at all, and the humidity stays all day. But the closed chamber keeps my temps stable, and the humidity held in. Echo even started to use his humid hide now and he sleeps in it every night. It is so much easier to maintain temps that should bring forth smooth growth and is the best option for leopards and sullys and im sure other species as well. There are many designs for closed chambers that are cheap, and some more expensive that pay off. I took another members suggestion to get a tv stand with sliding glass doors, it doesn't cost much to modify it and it looks nice. Just take the shelves out, water proof the inside, cut a hole for the light, and i added a door on top for easier access. Although I bought my tv stand new so it would match my room, you can find a cheap used one on craigslist or ebay. other members use aquariums, tubs, whatever you like. But i highly suggest switching to the closed chamber

 

[Tom]

How were these babies started? How were they being housed when you bought them? Were they on rabbit pellets and dry? Did they have a water bowl?

 

[erosal]

Guys, thanks for the overwhelming replies.

I have adjusted my Powersun to around 18" from the torts. Between them is the screen mesh cover. Its now reading 95-105F at the basking spot.

The ambient temp is around 80-85F.

At night I turn off the Powersun and the whole terrarium is around 70-75F. Its summer now in HK so temps are at 80s.

I plan to cover the mesh with foil wrap to trap heat and humidity.

Hi Tom, got this 7 weeks ago in one of the pet shops in HK. They are in an aquarium enclosures with corn cob substrate and with no water dish.

 

[erosal]

some update...

my two torts are now eating but i have to bring them right in front of their food before they starts eating. i also have to watch them eat as sometimes they loose interest and starts to walk around and forgets the food.

one observation though, is that they sleep and stay in their hide much of the time. is this normal?

---

 

[JoesMum]

They will eat if they are hungry, assuming the temperatures are OK. Unlike you, they don't eat a meal in one go necessarily; it's normal to browse, wander off to snooze and then come back for more.

Make sure that the overall lighting in the daytime is bright enough. You need to convince them that it's day time and they're outside, so if the temperatures are right, but it's too dark then they will still decide to snooze.

Don't worry if greens go a bit limp during the day... it really doesn't seem to bother them.

Indoors will eat most if he's soaked in the morning before he's warmed up properly and then fed straight after. He may well return several times during the day for a bit more. Outdoors, he eats most after his early morning basking session once he is up to temperature. Again, he snoozes and browses as he chooses throughout the rest of the day.

They can be a bit awkward when feeding. Hand fed tortoises can associate people with food and then start eating omly food offered by hand, refusing the same stuff left in the enclosure for them. Yours may be learning that food is always something they are put next to. Let them go find it; if they are hungry they will go on the hunt, though it might take them a couple of days to work out that they are going to have to put some effort into getting fed!

 

[erosal]

Im using a 160W Powersun which is about 14"-16" away from them. Its On from 6am to 7pm.

Basking spot is around 105-110F and ambient temp is 80-88F