Not eating

[Makayla21]

I need all the tips and tricks on how to get a young tortoise to eat again. I have an almost 1 year old tortoise that we got a few months ago, when we got him home we noticed bubbles from his nose so he went on antibiotics and is on his second round of antibiotics. He doesn’t want to eat anything I put in front of him, have tried different veggies, greens, even fruits. He’s lost about 10g in a month. Could it just be the meds? He is still active in the first part of the day

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

It could be the medications. Have you kept the temperatures warmer than normal since your tortoise is sick?

 

[COmtnLady]

What is your tortoise's enclosure like?
Is there a top on it?
What are the humidity and temperature?
Are you chopping the offered foods into small bite-sized pieces?
How often do you soak your tortoise and for how long each time?

 

[Makayla21]

It could be the medications. Have you kept the temperatures warmer than normal since your tortoise is sick?

Yes I have and have lowered the humidity a little bit too. He still gets his daily soaks and some days I do two soaks to make sure he is keeping up with hydration. He also has access to water in his enclosure 24/7

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Could we get a little more information on his overall care?

What are your temperatures like all over? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps(middle and cooler side), night temps?
What kind of basking bulb is being used specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s humidity?
What’s his substrate?
What kind of monitoring do you have?(measuring temp&humidity)
What’s his diet been like with you?

A photo of the full set up would be wonderful! Welcome to the forum

 

[COmtnLady]

We need specifics. Saying you lowered Humidity doesn't tell us anything. Example: If it started out low, lowering it more doesn't help anything. Tortoises need to be warm and get exercise to encourage their digestive tract to function well. If its not working well (which is quite possible as antibiotics have been known to kill off the good gut flora/fauna) your tortoise won't feel like eating. We need more specific details, please.

Also - Please post a picture of his enclosure from a couple angles, and tell us the exact readings on humidity and temps. Where does it sit? Could it be in a draft? Pictures will help a lot.
And, please answer all the questions that LittleRedFoot asked above.
What are the antibiotics you've been using? And for how long?

Thanks. Its important.

 

[Makayla21]

Could we get a little more information on his overall care?

What are your temperatures like all over? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps(middle and cooler side), night temps?
What kind of basking bulb is being used specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any
Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?
How’s humidity?
What’s his substrate?
What kind of monitoring do you have?(measuring temp&humidity)
What’s his diet been like with you?

A photo of the full set up would be wonderful! Welcome to the forum

Warm side is usually around 100F and cool side is around 70-75F, humidity was kept around 50% and it’s now lowered to around 35%. I have a basking heat lamp and also a heat emitter. I have an Arcadia uv light bar for him also. Substrate is mix of top soil and coconut husk. Diet has been mix of turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, Swiss chard, smaller amount of Swiss chard, and collard greens. Will give veggies as a treat sometimes. I also offer hay and pellets too.

 

[Makayla21]

We need specifics. Saying you lowered Humidity doesn't tell us anything. Example: If it started out low, lowering it more doesn't help anything. Tortoises need to be warm and get exercise to encourage their digestive tract to function well. If its not working well (which is quite possible as antibiotics have been known to kill off the good gut flora/fauna) your tortoise won't feel like eating. We need more specific details, please.

Also - Please post a picture of his enclosure from a couple angles, and tell us the exact readings on humidity and temps. Where does it sit? Could it be in a draft? Pictures will help a lot.
And, please answer all the questions that LittleRedFoot asked above.
What are the antibiotics you've been using? And for how long?

Thanks. Its important.

Warm side is usually around 100F and cool side is around 70-75F, humidity was kept around 50% and it’s now lowered to around 35%. I have a basking heat lamp and also a heat emitter. I have an Arcadia uv light bar for him as well. He is on our second floor in an office room that we have the room set to 68. He will be outside come summer and our summers are hot and humid so he will hopefully love it Would a probiotic be beneficial?

 

[TammyJ]

I need all the tips and tricks on how to get a young tortoise to eat again. I have an almost 1 year old tortoise that we got a few months ago, when we got him home we noticed bubbles from his nose so he went on antibiotics and is on his second round of antibiotics. He doesn’t want to eat anything I put in front of him, have tried different veggies, greens, even fruits. He’s lost about 10g in a month. Could it just be the meds? He is still active in the first part of the day

Hello and welcome.
What species of tortoise is he?
They are not all the same, they have different specific needs and conditions in order to thrive in their captive environment.
Some of the temps may be too high and too low, the enclosure should be closed top to maintain the correct temperature and humidity.
What are the antibiotics and was it prescribed by a reputable vet that knows tortoise care and treatment?
Please try to let us have more information and some pictures of your tortoise. Thanks!

 

[COmtnLady]

OK! This is why details are important.

Young tortoises of all species need the humidity to be above 80% at all times. It will have a difficult time processing food if too cold or too dry - which yours is.

The first three-ish years of life they need the the high humidity and temps, then can safely go to more adult levels of both, and be outside and the like.

What species of tortoise do you have? Each kind has different dietary needs. Examples: A Sulcata can eat grasses, but a Red foot can't. A Red Foot can eat a diet about 40% fruit, but just about no other species can digest fruit well, and having any fruit ends up being detrimental to their gut flora/fauna, causing digestive problems.

Please tell us more specifics so we can help you get this little one back on track.

 

[Makayla21]

Hello and welcome.
What species of tortoise is he?
They are not all the same, they have different specific needs and conditions in order to thrive in their captive environment.
Some of the temps may be too high and too low, the enclosure should be closed top to maintain the correct temperature and humidity.
What are the antibiotics and was it prescribed by a reputable vet that knows tortoise care and treatment?
Please try to let us have more information and some pictures of your tortoise. Thanks!

It is a sulcata tortoise, will be one next month. He is on fortaz injections every three days given in front legs that I alternate (I am a veterinary technician). I did go to a reputable exotic vet, I am lucky to have a few around me.

 

[Makayla21]

OK! This is why details are important.

Young tortoises of all species need the humidity to be above 80% at all times. It will have a difficult time processing food if too cold or too dry - which yours is.

The first three-ish years of life they need the the high humidity and temps, then can safely go to more adult levels of both, and be outside and the like.

What species of tortoise do you have? Each kind has different dietary needs. Examples: A Sulcata can eat grasses, but a Red foot can't. A Red Foot can eat a diet about 40% fruit, but just about no other species can digest fruit well, and having any fruit ends up being detrimental to their gut flora/fauna, causing digestive problems.

Please tell us more specifics so we can help you get this little one back on track.

It is a sulcata tortoise. Thank you for all the help! He unfortunately did come to us with a URI so I am just trying to make sure to get him back to a happy normal tortoise

 

[COmtnLady]

Warm him up and get the humidity up. Sick tortoises need to be warm to recuperate, plus yours is still young enough it needs to have higher temps and humidity in general.

How often are you soaking, for how long, and are you keeping it warm the entire time?

Fortaz is pretty heavy-duty. That its the second round says you should be looking at other things that might be continuing the problem(s).
Bring his temps up to 85F-87F, and the humidity up above 80%. You'll need to put something over the top of the chamber to keep all that in, otherwise it will make you crazy as everything dissipates into the rest of the room. Tent it with a big piece of plastic (a shower curtain, some construction sheet plastic, even foil across all the flat surfaces and up around the lights' shades/housings - portable greenhouses work really well, but a Sulcata will outgrow the table you are using really fast, so keep that in mind. Basically you want to seal it up tight. If there are any holes or openings they will act like chimneys and vent all your heat and humidity out, defeating the purpose of the tenting. Don't worry about ventilation - the cubic feet of air won't get "used up" between the times you open the chamber to feed and soak your tortoise; plus, every time you do open it, most of the air is exchanged with the ambient air in the room).

The UV lamp needs to be inside, sitting on the metal gridding/wire cuts the amount of UBV that gets into the area the tortoise is in.

The gray plastic dishes you are using are dangerous. The plastic surface is too slick making it difficult for the little guy to get out of (into also, but he's not going to drown if he flips over outside of the water dish). The sides are too steep/vertical making them conducive to tipping. When the tortoise's feet slide out from under them it puts extra strain on ligaments, muscles, and tendons, too. The best we've found are terracotta plant saucers that are sunk down to be level with the top of the substrate. They are inexpensive, have enough of a texture to allow the little guy to get traction, and the sides lean outward lowering the danger of flipping over. Get new ones rather than using ones that have been used for plants - they are porous enough that they may have absorbed chemicals from the plant's fertilizers and such that aren't good for your tortoise to be exposed to. They're fairly inexpensive so its good to have extras on hand. They should be big enough that your tortoise can easily turn around in them, so bigger is better.

A CHE would be better than the dark bulb for heat, and I can't tell if the lighter-colored bulb is a flood or spot. If it is a spot it can burn your tortoise's shell. Have you measured the temps under those at the tortoise level? Usually they need to be higher-from-the-surface so that they aren't so intense on eyes and shells. The cages are more for other types of reptiles, tortoises do better with bell-shaped "shades"/housings - they aren't going to jump onto the hot bulb.

Better substrate is an under-layer of 3-4" coco coir with and upper layer of 2-3" Orchid/fir bark, or just 4-5 inches of Orchid Bark, That way you can keep the lower inch or two of substrate damp-to-wet enough to maintain an even humidity. Soil is bad to use. Unless you have composted it yourself, you don't really know what might be in it, and its messy. Purchased soils tend to have sand or perlite (both impaction hazards), or chemicals that are good for plants but not so much for tortoises.




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[Makayla21]

Warm him up and get the humidity up. Sick tortoises need to be warm to recuperate, plus yours is still young enough it needs to have higher temps and humidity in general.

How often are you soaking, for how long, and are you keeping it warm the entire time?

Fortaz is pretty heavy-duty. That its the second round says you should be looking at other things that might be continuing the problem(s).
Bring his temps up to 85F-87F, and the humidity up above 80%. You'll need to put something over the top of the chamber to keep all that in, otherwise it will make you crazy as everything dissipates into the rest of the room. Tent it with a big piece of plastic (a shower curtain, some construction sheet plastic, even foil across all the flat surfaces and up around the lights' shades/housings - portable greenhouses work really well, but a Sulcata will outgrow the table you are using really fast, so keep that in mind. Basically you want to seal it up tight. If there are any holes or openings they will act like chimneys and vent all your heat and humidity out, defeating the purpose of the tenting. Don't worry about ventilation - the cubic feet of air won't get "used up" between the times you open the chamber to feed and soak your tortoise; plus, every time you do open it, most of the air is exchanged with the ambient air in the room).

The UV lamp needs to be inside, sitting on the metal gridding/wire cuts the amount of UBV that gets into the area the tortoise is in.

The gray plastic dishes you are using are dangerous. The plastic surface is too slick making it difficult for the little guy to get out of (into also, but he's not going to drown if he flips over outside of the water dish). The sides are too steep/vertical making them conducive to tipping. When the tortoise's feet slide out from under them it puts extra strain on ligaments, muscles, and tendons, too. The best we've found are terracotta plant saucers that are sunk down to be level with the top of the substrate. They are inexpensive, have enough of a texture to allow the little guy to get traction, and the sides lean outward lowering the danger of flipping over. Get new ones rather than using ones that have been used for plants - they are porous enough that they may have absorbed chemicals from the plant's fertilizers and such that aren't good for your tortoise to be exposed to. They're fairly inexpensive so its good to have extras on hand. They should be big enough that your tortoise can easily turn around in them, so bigger is better.

A CHE would be better than the dark bulb for heat, and I can't tell if the lighter-colored bulb is a flood or spot. If it is a spot it can burn your tortoise's shell. Have you measured the temps under those at the tortoise level? Usually they need to be higher-from-the-surface so that they aren't so intense on eyes and shells. The cages are more for other types of reptiles, tortoises do better with bell-shaped "shades"/housings - they aren't going to jump onto the hot bulb.

Better substrate is an under-layer of 3-4" coco coir with and upper layer of 2-3" Orchid/fir bark, or just 4-5 inches of Orchid Bark, That way you can keep the lower inch or two of substrate damp-to-wet enough to maintain an even humidity. Soil is bad to use. Unless you have composted it yourself, you don't really know what might be in it, and its messy. Purchased soils tend to have sand or perlite (both impaction hazards), or chemicals that are good for plants but not so much for tortoises.




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Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

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Thank you, I read the forms you tagged.
I will make those changes. He does have a bell like shape hide in the cool side, he never uses the wood one on the warm side. We do plan on giving him a much bigger winter enclosure as he gets bigger and she will be able to enjoy warm summers outside. The dark bulb in there is a CHE bulb and I do have flood light bulbs that I will put in in place of the spot bulb. And yes I have measured them at the top of his shell height also.

 

[COmtnLady]

Debbie Downer here ~

He shouldn't be outside for very long until he's older. NH isn't humid enough or warm enough, pretty much ever. If you make a heated nightbox that would help, but being outside is usually considered for adults rather than hatchlings. Sulcatas evolved along the southern edge of the Sahara, which is a considerably different climate than any part of NH... If you were in Florida a year old MIGHT skimp along and do ok, but not as far north as you are.


.

 

[TammyJ]

I love your little tortoise. He/she is adorable!
Doing what has been advised to increase the humidity will halt the pyramiding that has started on the shell.
No fruit should be given.

 

[Makayla21]

I love your little tortoise. He/she is adorable!
Doing what has been advised to increase the humidity will halt the pyramiding that has started on the shell.
No fruit should be given.

Thank you!! I will increase the humidity as well, he/she unfortunately came to us with the pyramiding he/she has so hopefully with the adjustments we will be able to smooth it out