Not eating since I got him

ash_90989

New Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
Phoenix Arizona
Hey guys my name is ashlynn and I’m a new mom to a Russian tortoise! See I work at petsmart as a petcare guide so I take care of the animals and one day I came in and he was just absolutely the best tortoise he was eating and he was walking around and he walked to the glass and stuck his head out for me to pet him and so I snatched him up as soon as I got paid and got him a snazzy set up but, upon bringing him home I realized there might be a issue in the bigger picture! He hasn’t eaten a bite since he has arrived at my house and all he does is burrow he doesn’t roam around the tank anymore and it’s really worrying me and he also has kind of a rash looking thing on his back legs and it just looks patchy....and when I went to soak him and a redish musics came out when he did his business and seeing as he hasn’t eaten since I got him a week ago it’s very concerning...please any conversation is a good one because I’m desperate and need solutions and help cause petsmart told me to just soak him in carrot juice...?? but yah please any fast reply so I can try ANYTHING...
 

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bella&george

Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2021
Messages
59
Location (City and/or State)
AZ
I suggest looking around the forum for info on general care, if you haven't already. Just the basics - soaking, a proper diet, good substrate, and the right setup. Soaking should be done more often in younger stages, and your tortoises enclosure's humidity should also be kept quite high. Proper substrate is also important. Some good recommendations for this are coco coir(although a bit messy), orchid bark, or some cypress mulch. I feel like i've just been giving this care sheet out to people all day (because I have) but it actually has some really, really helpful stuff in it. Big props to Tom for the care sheets. ? About the mucus.. I don't really know. It could be because of your torts diet. I suggest reading through the care sheet and making adjustments accordingly. If the tort was kept in very dry conditions or in poor substrate while at petsmart, that might have contributed to it's current condition.. I can't say much about the legs either, but they don't look too bad to me. maybe a thin layer of neosporin? It might be best to wait for some better advice on the legs. I hope your tort gets better and,,, Welcome to the forum!! Good day.
 

Mrs.Jennifer

Well-Known Member
Tortoise Club
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jul 22, 2020
Messages
673
Location (City and/or State)
Norwich CT
Forgot to add the link to the care sheet- Oops
Thread 'Russian Tortoise Care Sheet'
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
This one could also help
Thread 'The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise'
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...ise-any-temperate-species-of-tortoise.183131/
The second link posted above is the best, most up to date, care sheet. It might be a lot to digest, but read it over a few times and ask questions. You will find a lot of experienced keepers here to help.
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Hey guys my name is ashlynn and I’m a new mom to a Russian tortoise! See I work at petsmart as a petcare guide so I take care of the animals and one day I came in and he was just absolutely the best tortoise he was eating and he was walking around and he walked to the glass and stuck his head out for me to pet him and so I snatched him up as soon as I got paid and got him a snazzy set up but, upon bringing him home I realized there might be a issue in the bigger picture! He hasn’t eaten a bite since he has arrived at my house and all he does is burrow he doesn’t roam around the tank anymore and it’s really worrying me and he also has kind of a rash looking thing on his back legs and it just looks patchy....and when I went to soak him and a redish musics came out when he did his business and seeing as he hasn’t eaten since I got him a week ago it’s very concerning...please any conversation is a good one because I’m desperate and need solutions and help cause petsmart told me to just soak him in carrot juice...?? but yah please any fast reply so I can try ANYTHING...
I'm sooooo glad you are here. Petsmart and Petco both give people terrible tortoise advice and sell them all the wrong products. You have the opportunity to learn the right way to do it, share that info with customers and other employees, and vastly improve the lives of tortoises.

Here is the care sheet again:

When you read it you will see that is is drastically different than what you were taught at Petsmart. You've probably got the wrong enclosure, wrong lighting, wrong UV, wrong food, wrong water bowl, etc... We will help you get it right, and get your torotise back on track.

Are you using a cfl type UV bulb? If yes, turn it off immediately. Those sometimes burn tortoise eyes, and other reptile to, and should not be used or sold.

Questions are welcome.
 

ash_90989

New Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
Phoenix Arizona
I'm sooooo glad you are here. Petsmart and Petco both give people terrible tortoise advice and sell them all the wrong products. You have the opportunity to learn the right way to do it, share that info with customers and other employees, and vastly improve the lives of tortoises.

Here is the care sheet again:

When you read it you will see that is is drastically different than what you were taught at Petsmart. You've probably got the wrong enclosure, wrong lighting, wrong UV, wrong food, wrong water bowl, etc... We will help you get it right, and get your torotise back on track.

Are you using a cfl type UV bulb? If yes, turn it off immediately. Those sometimes burn tortoise eyes, and other reptile to, and should not be used or sold.

Questions are welcome.
Man I’m glad you are kind about my ignorance ??? and I did a carrot soak and he ate right away like it was magic to watch ? and yah pretty ******* much everything my coworkers told me was wrong so I’ve blown literally every penny I made ON FRIDAY on bulbs, food, bedding, huts, dishes, domes....like I’m so glad I finally got everything right cause man my coworkers LOVE making people spend money they don’t have ? and yah I love petsmart but I really do believe they shouldn’t sell reptiles because they don’t make us learn from experience we go off of heat say and half the time the words are lost in translation and the animals get the brunt of it and it BUGSSS me so when I saw my big man here I HAD TO TAKE HIM so anyone who was like “can we see him we want him” I was like “hun sorry bout your luck he’s mine” cause he really is the best tortoise I’ve ever seen...he’s so sweet and chunky and just a lover and the fact I know now I’ve been at work treating them wrong this whole time makes me sick to my stomach ?
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
63,269
Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Man I’m glad you are kind about my ignorance ??? and I did a carrot soak and he ate right away like it was magic to watch ? and yah pretty ******* much everything my coworkers told me was wrong so I’ve blown literally every penny I made ON FRIDAY on bulbs, food, bedding, huts, dishes, domes....like I’m so glad I finally got everything right cause man my coworkers LOVE making people spend money they don’t have ? and yah I love petsmart but I really do believe they shouldn’t sell reptiles because they don’t make us learn from experience we go off of heat say and half the time the words are lost in translation and the animals get the brunt of it and it BUGSSS me so when I saw my big man here I HAD TO TAKE HIM so anyone who was like “can we see him we want him” I was like “hun sorry bout your luck he’s mine” cause he really is the best tortoise I’ve ever seen...he’s so sweet and chunky and just a lover and the fact I know now I’ve been at work treating them wrong this whole time makes me sick to my stomach ?
We see a lot of customers from those two stores here in the same situation as you. This is why I'm so happy that we have the chance to show you how it ought to be done. Hopefully you can save not only your own tortoise, but countless others too.

Your questions are welcome. Ask us why you were told one thing and we say the opposite. I've been running growth and health experiments for over a decade now with 100s of my own hatchlings of several species, and also observing the results other torotise keepers get from a variety of methods and techniques from all over the globe. We can explain why they say what they say and why we now know that its wrong.

Helping anyone and anyone's tortoise is always fun and rewarding, but helping someone in your position stands to benefit and help uncountable numbers of tortoises.
 
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