My Tortoise WILL NOT EAT

[LeeAnn Alexander]

I found this tortoise wondering the middle of the road, in my neighborhood, a month ago. I asked around and no one claimed the tortoise. I brought the tortoise (box turtle) home, since I had three (3) aquatic turtles.

Since bringing the tortoise home, she has not eaten. I have an area in the yard fenced in for her since box turtles like to roam. It is pretty big. I have researched what habitat, food, care should be given and nothing seems to be working. I have taken the turtle to the vet and he has given her de-worming medicine. He also gave a solution/medication for her shell rot (which we found her with). Tomorrow she goes back for another de-worming treatment.

My concern is that she is getting greyed and her skin looks unhealthy. She has not eaten since we've had her, regardless of what we feed her....(shredded carrots, radish, spinach, kale, melon, grapes, strawberries, thyme, romaine lettuce, special stuff with all the vitamins and minerals from the pet store, calcium powder over the food, earth worms (oh...she did eat three earth worms about three weeks in, however I tried feeding her three more on Saturday and she JUST WAS NOT INTERESTED. She looked at the worms squirming around, even put her nose to them, but refused to eat, even when we left her alone with the meals.)

She has a heat lams, UVA/UVB light, water (which I've seen her drink and spend time in). I just don't know what to do anymore and I'm afraid she will die (judging by the color of her skin).

What should I do? The first pic is the box turtle "Shell-E", and the second is our other turtles l-r Kroton, Coco and JessE.

 

[Tom]

Send a message to @terryo. She is the queen of box turtles and can always get them to eat.

A few possible factors:
1. Its fall. Many wild animals that hibernate (box turtles) stop eating in September or October in preparation for hibernation. Your looks like a wild one and for many years it has been preparing to hibernate at this time of year. Where are you?
2. If this is indeed a wild turtle that you've picked up, there will be a lengthy acclimation to captivity period. Combine this with the reduced appetite of fall, and you've got a turtle with no interest in food.
3. How are you housing it? What size enclosure? What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking area and over night low?
4. They are omnivores. You might try mixing in some canned dog or cat food to all of the stuff you mentioned above and see what happens. Mine always liked bugs. Try some roaches or crickets.

 

[dmmj]

That is a nice looking turtle. Wild boxies don't do very well in captivity, She may just waste away, instead of acclimating, if she is wild.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum!

I think this is a Florida box turtle (Terrapene carolina bauri), and I think they are protected in their home state. Where are you?

 

[LeeAnn Alexander]

TOM: Thanks for the insight. I did think of the hibernation factor, but I did not know when it started. We house he in a large book shelf the heat, UVA/B, plants, water. There is a separate compartment for her to sleep, away from all the lighting. For the most part, she stays in the housing enclosure.

We are in Florida, and Yvonne, you are right. The box turtles are protected in our state. I looked up the info when I first got her. I hope she doesn't waste away. I am terribly afraid of that. I was discussing with my boys, ages 14 & 12, what should we do. One suggested taking it to the pet store. I didn't think that would help. The other suggested keep up the vet care and maybe she will come around.

 

[LeeAnn Alexander]

Thanks for all the help. I appreciate the suggestions.

 

[lismar79]

Most box turtles slow down in the fall and are only interested in live food. Load your enclosure up with bugs. Pill bugs, worms, a couple slugs and let her hunt naturally. Get a kitchen scale and keep track of her weight loss. I have one doing this too and I am new to box turtle care. Thankfully I got him from member @lisa127 & she has been great walking me through the care.

 

[Ciri]

She's beautiful. She looks healthy in the picture – what you mean when you say that she is getting gray? What does the vet think about her skin color? I assume you went to a reptile specialist? He's giving her deworming medicine – what kind of parasites does she have?

To get my box turtles to eat when they are reluctant, I sometimes feed them hornworms (catepillars). I buy them off the Internet – my turtles usually go crazy for them. Of course, if hibernation is factor then she won't want to eat. As I recall, though, I think Florida box turtles don't hibernate. She also may not eat because of the deworming medicine. Has the vet said if that could be a problem?

 

[LeeAnn Alexander]

At Lismar79: I have tried the earthworms, super worms and baby roach in the enclosure, to have her hunt for them. She is not hunting. Just hiding, coming out occasionally. She will watch them disappear underneath the soil and be quite content with that.

Ciri, she does look health in the picture, however she looks puffy and grey (the vet even said so). She only had the deworming once, two weeks ago. Tomorrow is her next appointment. I didn't have a stool sample the first time, but I retrieved one for tomorrow. We will find out what type of parasite tomorrow, if possible. Someone said earthworms usually get them to come around, but she literally just watched the worms squirm, put her mouth to it like she was going to eat and then walked away. I got excited for a minute....I was holding my breath, but to no avail. I'll see what happens tomorrow at the vet and ask his opinion. I'll let you folks know.

All my other turtles eat really well. One of them, the sidekick, exhibited similar behaviors when I first got her from the pet store. They warned me she did not eat and they had to feed her with thongs. When she, Coco, (that's the one sleeping on JessE's back), came home, all she did was hide. At feeding time she would not come out. I fed her with the thongs and she would eat, but never willingly go to the food. It took a good month for her to acclimate to her environment and us. Then she started going to the food, but would hide when we showed up. Now, she doesn't even budge when we're around. Actually, she comes to us whenever we get home from school or work. She's really sweet. She holds her own. I thought the same would happen with the box turtle. I figured I'd give her time to get used to us, but I'm really worried about her health.

We'll C 2morrow.

 

[dmmj]

Just an FYI, but the deworming meds, can disrupt their appetite.

 

[LeeAnn Alexander]

Ok. Thanks. Will do more research.

 

[leigti]

I'm just throwing this out there, but would it be better to release her close to where you found her? She may not survive hibernation in captivity. I hate to see a wild animal take it out of its natural habitat.

 

[Ciri]

My female three toed box turtle had strongyloides when I got her 19 years ago. My vet treated for it, first getting the numbers down after a few treatments. Then he could tell that she was having problems from the medication, and said we would need to rest her system for some months. I don't remember how long the rest was. Then he treated again and got rid of the rest of the parasites. She's healthy as a horse these days.

Hope all goes well with her tomorrow.

 

[LeeAnn Alexander]

I'm just throwing this out there, but would it be better to release her close to where you found her? She may not survive hibernation in captivity. I hate to see a wild animal take it out of its natural habitat.

I found her in the street between the driveway of two houses. The owners of the houses denied any claim to the tortoise. I did not want her to get run over by vehicles. I did think of releasing her. Once she escaped our outdoor enclosure and we found her in the middle of the street on the next block. I have since secured that outdoor habitat. I really do want to do what's best for ShellE, which is why I wrote this post.

 

[leigti]

Is there a wooded area or a field somewhere close in the direction that she was heading?

 

[LeeAnn Alexander]

Is there a wooded area or a field somewhere close in the direction that she was heading?

Just homes.

 

[leigti]

Well, I guess you can just do your best. Check out the Boxturtle section there is a lot of great information there. I am new with box turtles but I would be very hesitant to let her hibernate this year. I would keep the enclosure warm and bright.

 

[Ciri]

I found her in the street between the driveway of two houses. The owners of the houses denied any claim to the tortoise. I did not want her to get run over by vehicles. I did think of releasing her. Once she escaped our outdoor enclosure and we found her in the middle of the street on the next block. I have since secured that outdoor habitat. I really do want to do what's best for ShellE, which is why I wrote this post.

You are doing what's best for her, as it wouldn't do her any good to release her sick. and I'm sure releasing her into the neighborhood would not be a good idea either. She is very lucky little turtle – she's got you looking out for her.

 

[terryo]

This is just my opinion...not written in stone. I think that someone found this BT and kept it for a while and it either escaped or they let it go. The reason I think this is because if you look at her beak you can see it's starting to grow a bit. Most WC turtles have a very short beak. Just an observation...I don't know anything about Florida box turtles but if they do slow down during this time, then no matter what you do they won't eat for a while. They can go a long time without eating, but do need to be soaked if they aren't eating. I would put her in a small tub with some warm water to soak for a while and throw in some worms or turtle brittle, or even some venison (dog food) She should have high humidity and low light during this time. Hope this helps a bit.

 

[terryo]

Her beak would look like this if she was WC. Like I said...just my opinion.