My leopard is not eating

[Linz2491]

My newest guy has been with me about 3 weeks and I have seen him take two sniffs at food and that is it. I have offered everything, spring and herb mix kale collard greens, even apples, bananas, tomatoes, grass, mango, pumpkin, mazuri both dry and wet. I also have not seen him drink any water.
I have a heat pad for him. He is mostly in the house now due to really cold weather and I let him out while it is warmer but still have not seen him graze.
He is about 12 years old and 13 inches
Should I be concerned, should I soak him more because of lack of drinking? Not sure how long he is going to hold out.

 

[stinax182]

Re: RE: My leopard is not eating

My newest guy has been with me about 3 weeks and I have seen him take two sniffs at food and that is it. I have offered everything, spring and herb mix kale collard greens, even apples, bananas, tomatoes, grass, mango, pumpkin, mazuri both dry and wet. I also have not seen him drink any water.
I have a heat pad for him. He is mostly in the house now due to really cold weather and I let him out while it is warmer but still have not seen him graze.
He is about 12 years old and 13 inches
Should I be concerned, should I soak him more because of lack of drinking? Not sure how long he is going to hold out.

hey there! sounds like you have a big guy! first I'd make sure your 4 important temps are correct: 100°f for basking, 80° warm side, 75° cool side and 70° at night. a heating pad is a good idea for night heat or even a basking spot with the help of an actual light source as well.

also, it is usually not a good idea to give your tortoise so much fruit, it can cause diarrhea and also cause the tort to refuse other foods because it's like candy. try twice a month offering his favorite fruit as a treat to help bond you guys.

some people never see their tortoise drink. always offer water in a shallow dish that your tort can easily get in and out of in his enclosure. and i would soak him for a half hour in a bucket of warm water to try to hydrate him, making sure the water doesn't get cold or your tort could get sick. you can soak him every day until he starts eating. try bathing him first then putting food in front of him. tortoises, especially older ones, can go months without food or water so unless he is showing obvious signs of dehydration (sunken eyes, lethargy) with soaks you should be able to get him going. hopefully someone will come along and help further!

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

He must be shell shocked from being in a new environment. Soaks, warm and cozy, spaaaa time ... perhaps with baby food added ... either squash or carrots, twice a day. Or add bird vitamins. This really helped me with two Greeks that took a full 2 months to get going. Horrible. Pins and needles. I too thought, any day now these guys are going to be dead and I am going to be super sad. The soaks were the bomb (oops, in a good way) and saved my little ones. Thanks to experts Yvonne and Maggie and their posts recommending this method. Do it. It will help yours. But tortoises do take time when there is change, especially drastic change.

And yes, I agree with stinax182, about fruit. Also read on TFO that it can cause a bad intestinal "bloom" of bad things that disrupts their intestinal flora. Basically bad bacteria takes over the good bacteria and boom, problems. Also, use a temp gun to be sure of the temps, especially if you live in a cold area (and also to take the water temperature when you do soaks, so it is not too hot). Sometimes, what we think is one temp turns out to be too cold or to hot in reality. Temp guns are vital for tortoise keepers. Must have.

 

[wellington]

I agree with all the above. First thing though, make sure your temps are correct. Second thing too do, soak. Also, no fruit, they just don't need it, does more bad then good.

 

[Linz2491]

Hi
I should have added, I only offered fruits to entice him to eat, not as a diet. I am aware not to give fruit to the torts.
He does not have a tank. He is in the house loose at this point because of the cold weather. He has a tort heat pad and had a heat lamp but doesn't really stay on either

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Being loose in the house I assume he is too cold. That would explain why he doesn't eat.

I'd suggest you build an enclosure that you can properly heat. Then he should perk up and eat for you.

 

[wellington]

He needs a proper indoor enclosure. The temps in the house at his level is going to be much colder then your level. Get a infrared temp gun and shoot the temps at his level, floor and it will be too cold. My tortoise shed thermastat is set is 85 I have a fan on to push the heat to tort level and that keeps the torts level at 80 down to 68 further away from the heat source. I'm in Chicago, my level is much hotter, where I have to take my coat off and only have on a short sleeved shirt and I am sweating. In my house, the temp is 70 the floor ranges from 68 to 65 and I am on the third floor, so I have a heated apartment under me. Your temps are too cold.

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

Me, too. I third the above opinions. Warm that baby up! Absolutely sure it is too cold. Get a temperature gun, you will see that it's way too cold on the floor. Temperature gun is a must. And warm and cozy for your leopard. It will be like night and day once you get him what he needs temperature wise.

 

[Linz2491]

Thanks for the replys! Now the question is, what kind of enclosure inside can I put a large tort in?

 

[jshaw9_]

Got to be talking as a minimum 6ft by 8ft. Do you intend I house it indoors all year round?

 

[Linz2491]

Got to be talking as a minimum 6ft by 8ft. Do you intend I house it indoors all year round?

No, he will eventually be outdoors. I live on acreage and he will have plenty of room.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

For a temporary indoor set up lay a 4x8 sheet of plywood down and use some 2x12s to make the walls. Put a tarp down, them some dirt.
One it warms up and he moves outside you can reuse all that wood for another project.
Not sure where you live but since you have acreage maybe you can work on a heated tort house so next winter he can stay outside.

 

[stinax182]

yeah, unfortunately tortoises do need an enclosed space. unless you live somewhere hot but even then, the ac would affect them. i would love to let my tortoise roam my room but after reading the temps and finding out that tortoises always eat things they shouldn't...like hair...and that causes big problems in the intestines. so until you build an enclosure try to contain your tort to one room and vacuum the floor. it will be warmer in one room anyways.

during winter months a plywood box enclosure works. plastic cement mixing tubs work too but i don't think they come as large as you need. throw some dirt, a basking light, water dish, hides and plants and you're good. it's obviously not that simple but it's a good start

 

[Linz2491]

Ok, so how about as a temp enclosure a swimming pool with dirt? (i know it is small but it is temp as we are in califnia so the weather is pretty mild. Last week it was REALLY cold. Not normal weather at all.) But how would that hold in heat any better? I can stick the 220 watt Che above him. During the warmer parts of the day he is outside. I plan to build a heated house but got to get through the holidays at least.

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

You mean like a kiddie pool? For a 12 inch tortoise it is small BUT you do want to get him back on track, so it could, like you said, be a temporary place to get the temps up and get him warmed up and stable. Can you do some kind of cover to keep the warm in? Hmmmm, like a plexiglass cover. It has to be clear with the kiddie pool being blue, maybe. Or?? Get organic soil with nothing added. No perlite or fertilizers. I am in So Cal too and I hear ya about the weather, with 85 today and 40-ish last week, which might be when your tortoise suddenly felt it. It was cold and if it was stomping the floor, could have gotten a chill. The heated house later will be great. Gotta get these holidays out of the way! : )

 

[Yvonne G]

Contact the previous owners and ask what kinds of food the tortoise is used to eating. If he's been fed things not on the 'good' list, then he may not recognize as food, what you are offering.

 

[stinax182]

Re: RE: My leopard is not eating

there's a member on here who made a tent over a kiddie pool with pvc pipe and plastic wrap. make it high enough that you can fit the lights on the inside without making it too hot.

but in the long run, having an all year outside enclosure with a heated box is the ideal way to go. i suppose you could make the heated box large enough that on the colder days your tort could stay in there. if not, a temp indoor enclosure would be needed. if i lived somewhere warmer i would jump at the chance to have one.

 

[Linz2491]

Contact the previous owners and ask what kinds of food the tortoise is used to eating. If he's been fed things not on the 'good' list, then he may not recognize as food, what you are offering.

Unfortunately,
My phone crashed and I lost the owner info. That's why I was offering everything including fruit thinking that might be the issue. The guy just had the tort loose in the house and said it was "mildly" hybranating because of the cold. Outside he walks around. Inside mainly he sits on the heating pad or walks into a corner.

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

And that is to be expected, he is not use to this new environment so his routine is all off. Most people give them the lettuces, have you tried that, just to try to get him to eat something. But I suspect the non eating is because he is a little freaked out about the change. They take awhile to settle. What you want to do is keep him warm and cozy - nope, they do not brumate (aka hibernate, but that's for mammals, like bears) , keep him soaked, set up his little pool so he feels secure and not wide open and soak some more to get him going. It could be that the former owner fed him weird stuff, yes, even cat food (yep, heard of that before, oy). Try soaking him for an hour and see if that helps. Maybe with the stress from the change he is a little constipated. If he poops, it might help with the eating. Had that with one of mine the other day. He was not eating, and once he pooped, all was well. Perhaps the stress has gotten him all tied up a little. : )

 

[oswego tort lover]

if that tortoise isn't eating yet ,get a stool sample . if he was healthy he would have eaten