My tortoise isn't eating/moving

[ytisbury]

Hi, I have a horsfield tortoise, he's 6 years old and he hasn't eaten since May and won't move from the corner he stays in, everytime I pick him up to put him under the heat lamp, he moves back to the corner, he's not interested in food at all, I've tried everything I can think of to try and encourage him to eat, I'm not sure what else to do, any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[katieandiggy]

Hello,

Can you tell us a bit more about how your tortoise is kept?
Size of enclosure, the temperatures under your basking lamp, cool side and night temperatures.
Do you soak your tortoise, if so how often and for how long?

At this point you may need to consult a vet as that is a fair amount of time without food.

For now, I would try carrot soaks.
You need a pouch of carrot baby food I found one in Tesco by Ella’s Kitchen.
Squeeze it into a small bowl with warm water and put your tortoise in it for 30 mins.
Do that twice daily ( you will need a few pouches)

 

[ytisbury]

Hi, he is in a 5ft x 2ft enclosure, the temperature in there is always at the right temperature as I check it regularly, I have a heat lamp for during the night when his bulb is off, I am actually going to soak him tommorow to see if that helps, I don't soak him very often as he normally has water in his enclosure with him, I have thought about taking him to a vet, but can't seem to find any exotic vets locally.

I will try the carrot soaks and see if that helps, thankyou.

He is acting like himself apart from not eating, he still retracts into his shell when I pick him up and looks around like he normally does, hut obviously not eating is a big issue and I need him to start eating now.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hopefully he will drink when placed in shallow warm water.
In doing so, he will also take in some baby food and with that some nutrients.
Many times this will kickstart a tortoise to start eating again.
Mix at a ratio of about 1/3 baby food. 2/3rds water.
Make the water warm. Not hot. Half as deep as the tortoise is tall and DO NOT get nervous if the tortoise jams his whole face under water. That's how they drink.

 

[ytisbury]

Thankyou, I will go out tommorow after work and pick up some of the baby food, hopefully it will work and he'll start eating again!

 

[Lyn W]

Can you post a picture of your enclosure?
Maybe there's something we can suggest to help him feel happier.
Also what are you feeding him?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Thankyou, I will go out tommorow after work and pick up some of the baby food, hopefully it will work and he'll start eating again!

Or at least keep him from getting seriously malnourished from whatever he's going through right now.

 

[ytisbury]

Hi, I feed him mainly Kale as it's his favourite food, he gets fruit occasionally and other leafy vegetables, but his main food is Kale as he usually always eats that, he can be quite picky when it comes to food, I haven't got a picture I can post right now and it's almost 10:30pm here so can't take a picture at the moment.

 

[Lyn W]

Hi and welcome.
Kale is not a food that should be fed often - please read this link.
https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/plant-database/viewplants/?plant=529&c=8#.XUyTHOhKhnI

Weeds like dandelions and ribwort and broadleaf plantain and clover etc are plentiful in the UK at the moment - www.thetortoisetable,org.uk will help you find plenty of other tort safe foods.
If you need to bulk out his food there are also bags of mixed salads available quite cheaply in Aldi that have a good mix of leaves - crispy salad and mixed leaf salad. Tesco also have a British mixed leaf salad as do Sainsbury. I take out the whitish thick stalky bits and feed the nice leaves. Sainsbury and Lidl also sell trays of living salads for £1 or less that your tort may like to occasionally nibble on, just spray them with water and leave the tray in his enclosure. Romaine lettuce which has been soaked is a good way of hydrating your tort, but not good as a regular food. Iceberg, and little gem lettuce are not usually recommended as they have little or no nutrition.
Have a look at the caresheet for suggested foods.
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/ This will also tell you about temps, substrate and humidity as well as diet.
My guess is his limited diet is part of this problem and he needs a more varied diet.
If he is a picky eater gradually add new foods to one he likes when he starts eating again.
Do you add a little calcium to his food?

 

[Lyn W]

There is an exotics vet at Hatfield in Hertfordshire

Bishops Veterinary Centre
5 Parkhouse Court Business Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9RQ.
https://www.bishopsvet.co.uk/services/exotics-info

 

[ZEROPILOT]

There is an exotics vet at Hatfield in Herfordshire

Bishops Veterinary Centre
5 Parkhouse Court Business Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9RQ.
https://www.bishopsvet.co.uk/services/exotics-info

Great, Lyn.
Thanks

 

[ytisbury]

I did used to give him the mixed lead bags, but he didn't eat any of it, so I experimented with different foods and eventually found things that he likes, I will try and give it another go though, yes, he gets calcium on his food as well.

 

[Lyn W]

The Tortoise Table is a good guide - they also list a vets called Nine Lives near St Albans as one that deals with torts.
The caresheet will be a great help to you in making sure you get his enclosure just right for him.
What bulbs are you using for him? The curly and cfl type are not recommended as they can hurt tort eyes (just wondering if that's why he won't stay under them) and also if you get a digital temp gun (Amazon) that will help you check temps at tort level in case it's too under there for him.

 

[Lime pickle]

Please take him into the vets ASAP. He is probably Severely dehydrated as well as malnourished. Soak him as often as you can. And try to hand feed him . Just gently open his mouth and place very small little bits of food into it . I do it all the time if my torts are not eating. Why have you left it so long before getting help for him? If you can’t find an exotic vets then please get some tortoise insurance from Exotic Direct. Then take him to the Royal veterinary College. This is in Camden and he will have the best treatment ever . I know you live in Hertfordshire so It wouldn’t take that long to get down there .I live in South East London and I’ve travelled many long distances to get my tortoises .well. I hope you do the same . Please reply if you can.

 

[ytisbury]

Hi guys, just a quick update, I am currently soaking him in water with the baby carrot food, he is drinking the water so hopefully when he goes back into his enclosure he will continue to eat, the bulbs I use for him are bulbs that were recommended to me by an exotic pet shop, I didn't take him to the vets as I wanted to try everything I could before taking him there as I only work part time and would struggle to pay the vets bill's, I know what I put doesn't sound great, but I can assure everyone that I really care for my tortoise and would be distraught if anything happened to him, I studied animals at college and at university, so I used my knowledge to try and help him until I couldn't think of anything to do anymore, I just thought I would try and see if I could get some advice from people in case there was anything I was doing wrong, which I now know I need to change his diet which I have done. Thankyou everyone for your advice and support, I'm going to trial soaking him for a week with the baby food and if that doesn't work I will take him to an exotic vets.

 

[ytisbury]

He is now eating!!! I put some fresh food into his enclosure after he was soaked and it looks like he's going to eat all of it! Thankyou so much to everyone that gave their advice! I never would of thought of using baby food!

 

[katieandiggy]

Glad your tortoise has improved.
Please keep going with the carrot soaks for another few days at least.

 

[katieandiggy]

Also Kale is not good as a staple food.
Tesco sells this bag:


There is a cheaper version in Aldi with the same leaves. I would offer this in place of kale and then various other items from the tortoise table.

 

[ytisbury]

I have got a weeks worth of the carrot baby food so I will continue to do it for a week, that's the bag of salad that I got for him today to try him on and he ate some of it earlier, thankyou!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Hi guys, just a quick update, I am currently soaking him in water with the baby carrot food, he is drinking the water so hopefully when he goes back into his enclosure he will continue to eat, the bulbs I use for him are bulbs that were recommended to me by an exotic pet shop, I didn't take him to the vets as I wanted to try everything I could before taking him there as I only work part time and would struggle to pay the vets bill's, I know what I put doesn't sound great, but I can assure everyone that I really care for my tortoise and would be distraught if anything happened to him, I studied animals at college and at university, so I used my knowledge to try and help him until I couldn't think of anything to do anymore, I just thought I would try and see if I could get some advice from people in case there was anything I was doing wrong, which I now know I need to change his diet which I have done. Thankyou everyone for your advice and support, I'm going to trial soaking him for a week with the baby food and if that doesn't work I will take him to an exotic vets.

The EXOTIC PET SHOP sold you the wrong lights.
It's not just you. It's very common.