Hi All,
We've had our little tortoise, Norbert since the beginning of November. He used to eat like a horse but has barely eaten over the past several weeks. He has also started sleeping a lot more. He'll go for several days without getting up (we do take him out to soak at least every other day). Overall he seems uninterested in his food. I've seen him wander over to his food dish occasionally, but he'll only take a few nibbles and then leave it alone. I've had some luck with him eating a piece of food that I put directly in front of him or offer him by hand. Other than not eating much and sleeping a lot, he seems fine. Clear eyes, clear nose, weight has been fairly constant. We took him to the vet last week to get him checked out and he said that he was breathing fine, walking fine, hydration looked good. Right now we're just waiting for Norbert to poop, so we can take it in to get analyzed. He had been pooping about once a week or so - of course now that I want to get it analyzed he hasn't gone.
We switched him over into a new enclosure in the beginning of February. Substrate is mostly cypress mulch, spaghnum moss around his hide, and some repti bark where his food dish is (less likely to accidentally eat it). We mist the enclosure usually twice a day. When I fill up his water, I dump the rest of the water from the glass around the enclosure and mix it up to keep moist. Temps in the enclosure during the day are 70-95; night temp is room temperature (around 68-70). We are currently using a Reptisun tube UV light and a 75w black night heat lamp. I'm planning to switch the heat lamp out with a MVB to add some more light to his enclosure.
Any suggestions/advice on how to get him eating again would be appreciated! I've included some pictures below for your viewing pleasure. The enclosure is his current one, but we did switch out his hides with ones that he can't easily climb. We thought he had been climbing because his old enclosure wasn't big enough, but we must just have a tortoise who loves to climb!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Stephanie
We've had our little tortoise, Norbert since the beginning of November. He used to eat like a horse but has barely eaten over the past several weeks. He has also started sleeping a lot more. He'll go for several days without getting up (we do take him out to soak at least every other day). Overall he seems uninterested in his food. I've seen him wander over to his food dish occasionally, but he'll only take a few nibbles and then leave it alone. I've had some luck with him eating a piece of food that I put directly in front of him or offer him by hand. Other than not eating much and sleeping a lot, he seems fine. Clear eyes, clear nose, weight has been fairly constant. We took him to the vet last week to get him checked out and he said that he was breathing fine, walking fine, hydration looked good. Right now we're just waiting for Norbert to poop, so we can take it in to get analyzed. He had been pooping about once a week or so - of course now that I want to get it analyzed he hasn't gone.
We switched him over into a new enclosure in the beginning of February. Substrate is mostly cypress mulch, spaghnum moss around his hide, and some repti bark where his food dish is (less likely to accidentally eat it). We mist the enclosure usually twice a day. When I fill up his water, I dump the rest of the water from the glass around the enclosure and mix it up to keep moist. Temps in the enclosure during the day are 70-95; night temp is room temperature (around 68-70). We are currently using a Reptisun tube UV light and a 75w black night heat lamp. I'm planning to switch the heat lamp out with a MVB to add some more light to his enclosure.
Any suggestions/advice on how to get him eating again would be appreciated! I've included some pictures below for your viewing pleasure. The enclosure is his current one, but we did switch out his hides with ones that he can't easily climb. We thought he had been climbing because his old enclosure wasn't big enough, but we must just have a tortoise who loves to climb!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Stephanie