Major non eating problems with weird behavior

[Bobo's Dad]

My 2 month old RT Bobo has not been eating for about 4 days. I even sit him in front of his food and he turns and walks away. He seems to wanna sit under his basking/uvb bulb or in that area under some fake plants. I am becoming very worried. When I soak him in warm water he falls asleep. His eyes are clear and no runny nose. I have not noticed any drop in weight over the last week upon weighing him.

I am using coco coir for his substrate, 160 watt combo mvb for heat and uvb and a 18 in Zoo Med uvb high output tube also. Feeding dandy greens, collards, endive mix with TNT. his temps are 70 on the cool end 95 in the basking area. At night the whole enclosure goes to 65.

Below is a picture of the enclosure.

Also is a picture of some of his weird behavior burrowing directly under his basking lamp.

Please help!

 

[rfranklin]

I have a 3 month old Hermann and Griffen does not eat all that much. And he will burrow under his basking lamp. And sit under the basking lamp all day. I have found that when I soak Griffen I have to make sure the water is really warm or he just doesnt enjoy being in there.

Our setup seems to be pretty much exactly the same, with same temperatures.

I am curious if this is the way some tort hatchlings act. Because I have had mine checked out and he is not sick.

 

[Bobo's Dad]

Hmm yeah Im not sure thanks for your info if u know anyone who can help please direct them towards me.

Thanks

 

[Bobo's Dad]

Bumping message

 

[lynnedit]

Your other post has some suggestions.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-57346.html#axzz298oSoAzF

Your substrate is fine. You have been soaking and offering a variety of foods. Your lighting sounds good.
Did you try the baby food soaks?
If you have tried all of these measures, and you are sure your temps are accurate, then you probably need to take your tort to a reptile vet. Make sure they have experience with tortoises!

(It is obvious you are making every effort to help your tort and are very worried. You can also PM GB tortoise or emysemys for more specific information, too, as they have experience with Russian hatchlings, but it is better to stick with one thread rather than start new ones, or there can be a lot of repetition.
Instead, add a new post or 'bump' it as you did this time, or add new comments to the existing post.)

 

[Happy Tortoise]

If a reptile is not eating, it may be the temperature of the air that is bugging him. They don't feel like eating when the air is too cold or too warm. Whats the temp in the cage?

 

[Laura]

is it sunny where you live? get him outside in the real sun.

 

[Bobo's Dad]

I actually went the store and bought a bag of spring mix got home tonite woke him up sat him in front of a pile of it and he ate for 20 min. Non stop!! Got his belly full sat in the heat then burrowed down and I shut his lights off. I think the greens I prepared and washed had to much water when I put it in the bag and it smelled horrible. I honestly think that was the prob. The stuff smelled rotten. So I am going to go back to his routine using spring mix and see if all is well. What is the recipe for the baby food soak. How do you prepare it?

Thanks guys I think we found the problem

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

The baby food soaks are from my understanding mixing a jar of baby food with the soaking water. The idea is the tortoise will get some nutrients from the baby food as he soaks possibly ingesting some when he drinks. Seems reasonable to me. I like winter squash organic baby food. It is tastier than strained peas and better for tortoises. As for the store bought spring mix, I'd start mixing your free wild weeds in with it to start acclimating him to a better food. Slowly increase the amount and he'll never notice. Smaller, younger leaves tend to be less bitter than older, large leaves. Also don't forget to spice things up with cats tongue flowers if dandelions are no longer blooming in your area. They are the plants/weeds that look like hairy dandelion with the same type of yellow flower. These flowers tend to be perfect little bite sizes for the reluctant feeder. Hope this helps.

 

[lynnedit]

Glad to hear he is eating! He may not need the baby food soaks if he continues.

When you get greens from the grocery store, take them out, pat them drier (not bone dry) and put them in a small tupperware container with a paper towel on the bottom. Put them back in the fridge in the veggie drawer. This may help them last longer.

Your enclosure sounds well set up, so it did seem odd he suddenly stopped eating.

Laura is right, if your weather permits, get him out in the sun, even for 1/2 hour.

Hope his appetite continues.

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

That's great he's eating! I got worried

 

[Bobo's Dad]

Well he's at it again he did not eat yesterday or today. Just sleeps all the time and sit under where the heat is all the time. Not sure what to do. Getting very confused again and becoming worried. I took him out side yesterday and the day before. All the temps and enclosure is perfect. Should I try to reduce the items in his enclosure? What about switching everything around?

Please help!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

When you told us that he ate for 20 minutes then you turned off his light it made me think about schedules. I turn on my lights and feed at the same time every day. I believe tortoises do better when they are on a schedule that they can count on. I think, if I were you I would try hard to work out a schedule that is good for you and convenient also. There are times when I have run behind and then I find a hungry tort sitting in his empty food dish.
babyfood soak...get a small container and put about 1/2 a jar of carrots mixed with enough water to come up to his bridge. Carrots have more Vit A then the others. Then leave him in the mix for about 30 minutes. I sometimes hang a light over it all so he doesn't get cold. Possibly he just needs time to settle in. I would create a schedule and make sure your temps are consistent, I wouldn't let temp at night go below 80, others would. Soak him every day and feed the Spring Mix as he really liked that. Put him out in the sun if possible. Are any of your lights a spiral or coil? Well, that's all I have for ya.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

As far as switching things around in the enclosure, I vote no. If its something as basic as settling in to the new enclosure, changing it may be too much. I concur with coming up with a schedule. This is more of the same to do with settling in and your tortoise knowing its all ok.

 

[Bobo's Dad]

The thing that kills me is even when I put him in front of his food he will not eat. Hr just wont eat period. I just don't know what else to do. He is a 2 month old hatchling and I have never had one this young. Do you think he is sick? He just seems to have narcalepsie. All he does is stop and fall asleep instantly.

Thanks ahead of time. Pictures are available of his enclosure in above replies

 

[Bobo's Dad]

All he does is close his eyes and lay there unless I pick him up he will open his eyes and "walk" in the air. He took two bites of a leaf yesterday and thats all. I do not know what to do. Someone please help me

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

You mention he is a baby. Is there any chance you can contact the breeder to find out what it's care was before you? Responsible breeders should be more than willing to help those whose money they took.

 

[Bobo's Dad]

We talked to the breeder and we are following and continuing the same thing he told us. I have had bobo for 4 weeks. The first 2 1/2 weeks he was fine walked all over everywhere very alert and active, ate like a pig, was always awake in his warm soaks and always went poop and pee in them. All he does now is sleep thats it. I tried to feed him just a minute ago and he turned from the leaf and went the opposite direction laid down and went to sleep. Below is a picture of what he did. He did so well for those first weeks but now nothing just sleeps everywhere all the time.

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

No recent BM's? That would lead me to think possible impaction. Possibly ingested some of the bark-a-mulch?

 

[Bobo's Dad]

The last bm was about 3 days ago. He ate pretty good 4 days ago then bm the next day. Since then no bm or pee nothing. He has gone through this cycle twice ( no eating for 4 days). This his second time doing this in the last week and a half

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He is in 100% coco coir. I just put a little fur bark in last night in one little area