not eating/moving around

[DAC8671]

I had this problem last year when it rained too. Only when I soaked him, he ate.

Ralph has pretty much been in his dogloo since Saturday 12/5. It's been rainy/cold on/off since last week. I took him out on Wed (or was it Thurs??) put him in the sun on the grass (the one day we had sun haha). I had to wake him to get him out of his house. He stayed put in the sun for a bit then walked around trying to get back into his enclosure. I soaked him in warm water, in hopes that he'd eat something. Nope. He's been in his dogloo since then, in the same position everytime I check on him. I know he's alive because I touch his feet and he pulls them in. I have timothy hay surronding him, almost burying. His heat lamp is on, plastic and towel over his door, tarp over that.

Should I soak him every day? He's not eaten since last week. Well, maybe just a few bites of grass when I took him out.

I posted the other day about UVB. Do you think he's just cold? It's 70 in his dogloo. He's positioned himself under the heat lamp. The ONLY substrate in the dogloo is the timothy hay (which I've been wondering if I should add some soil underneath the hay for a bit more insulation????)

Ralph is 5 yrs 20 pounds approx 15 inches.

 

[TortieGal]

I'm not an expert but from what I've read it needs to be at least 80 or they can't digest there food. I think he's to cold. I would check with the experts here and see if he's big enough for a pig blanket.

 

[tortoisenerd]

If he doesn't have an area to warm up to the 80s/90s every day, he won't be hungry. I assume it isn't warm enough outside for him to bask? Can you have a separate warm basking area? But otherwise 70 is a good ambient/night temperature if that is what the substrate of the dogloo actually measures as. He may need a bigger warm area to move around in, such as you can create a gradient in. I do think Ralph is big enough for a pig blanket, but that doesn't solve your problem as he needs a hot basking spot.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Is Ralph any better today? Any appetite?

 

[DAC8671]

No change. I put his basking light just outside his dogloo and a piece of astroturf down. The cement is pretty cold with the weather. I put a canopy over his "house" and light for more protection from the rain. For now, I can't seem to get the basking light inside his dogloo. I can do it, but it's just going to take some work. Some work we can't really do in the rain. We will have to drill more holes in the top so we can affix a piece of wood for the clamp lamp inside the top of the dogloo. The red heat lamp we have in there now is on the piece of wood and nails go over the top of the clamp so there is no fear of it falling off the wood.

I'm going to give him a good soak today, put up a small make shift enclosure inside with a basking lamp and some bananas. I know he's not supposed to get any fruit, but if I can entice him with that first, he will eat spring mix (he's done it before, so I'm confident he'll do it again.)

It's been 8 days now since he's eaten. If today's soaking and basking doesn't help, I think we'll take a vet trip tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[DAC8671]

He ate some spring mix. I didn't even have to give him a banana. I know the indoor enclosure is a bit small and crude, but for a day or two (mostly just for night) it should be okay. He's outside now on the grass. Hopefully eating a bit. The grass is pretty wet, so hopefully he'll be getting some water from it too. When I bring him back in, I will soak him. He'll be inside tonight, so I don't have to worry about him outside in the cold and possibly still wet.

Here's some pics...

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I am so glad for you. I was worried about him. He sure looks like Bob with that bump on his nose...

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Hooray! Go Ralph!

Not to state the obvious, but it looks like he could easily push his way right out of that spindly little swimming pool. Let's hope he decides to stay where the spring mix is!

 

[DAC8671]

Thanks for checking in on him. That's one reason I love this group!!

The pool...well it's last minute. I just want him to be able to get warm enough to go back outside. The rain has "supposedly" stopped and it's not as cold/windy. It's actually taller than it really looks. I will be putting him out in the sun on the grass each day, even though the grass is wet. He free roams the backyard and it pretty much tires him out. Hopefully I will only be using the pool for a few days and only at night. It is BY NO MEANS suitable for him long term. We are already in the plans for making something in the garage with a big enough space for him, proper substrate, heating, and lighting. Last year the garage was too cold. I had a space heater in the enclosure (blocked off with fence so he could not get to it) but he didn't really come out of his dogloo then. I know I'm doing him wrong by not having everything ready. It is my fault. But he did seem to be getting "back to normal" a bit today. He still came over to me when I rustled the bag of spring mix!

I'll keep you posted if he does better/worse.

Thanks again!

(and yes, Maggie, I think he and Bob look A LOT alike!)

 

[janiedough]

I'm having the same problem with Percy. I am trying to get some more heat in his enclosure.

Thanks for posting because now I know what I need to do too!

 

[aktech23]

are you around all day? It's a little chilly in AZ right now but tortimer still comes out all the time, however he adjusts his schedule. This time of the year we will miss seeing him graze during the weekdays because he is back in his den by like 1:30 PM. He isn't out for very long this time of the year but still comes out daily.

 

[DAC8671]

Yes, I am home all day. I check on him about every hour. He normally gets up and moving around 10am. I check on him about every hour, and he never moved. Not even to poke his head out of his house.

The few days I brought him in and soaked him, I put him outside on the grass during the day when the sun was up. He ate and roamed the yard, but at a much slower pace than normal.

I've put him back outside day/night in his enclosure and I have to wake him up to get him moving. But once he's moving, he eats, poops and all is well. He's not out for long periods, he wants to go home.

He still feels heavy and hasn't lost weight. I think when we get his home completely winterized, he'll be much better. Until then, we will take him back inside if necessary.

 

[mwindman]

I live in arizona and my guy Morris is in at night and during the day because where we live it was forty degrees during the day; I have a uvb, uva and heat lamp in his big enclosure but he did not want to eat too; when I soaked him he will eat too but not in his enclosure; I have been getting him out at night and enticing him to eat; so I am hoping that it is he is just cold because the last couple of days have been nice and he ate yesterday

 

[DAC8671]

I guess Ralph is back to "normal". He was out yesterday roaming around, trying to get into the house (I was sitting just inside the screen door on the floor and he wanted to be with me).

He ate almost a full bag of spring mix, then munched on grass as he roamed. His enclosure is FULL of poop and urates.

Of course, yesterday was 83 degrees here in San Diego, so he was loving it.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Hahaha, I am sure Maggie would also agree that a Sulcata who's lively enough to try to break into your house is a healthy, normal Sulcata!

I am glad Ralph has conquered his blue mood.

 

[DAC8671]

Ya, I think I'm going to have a problem with that (him wanting inside) as he grows. But we may be moving in the fall 2010, so we will have a whole new backyard and I can make his boundaries before we move in.

He's so cute (for now anyway) as he comes up to the screen on most days and just looks in, like "hey, come out and play". But I do know the very real threat of him actually trying to get into the house. We are taking temporary precautions now.