Out of Sorts

[Peggy Sue]

Hey gang, Sheldon is acting out of sorts for the last couple days, only ate 1/2 his food on Tuesday and nothing on Wednesday he is also slow to move and seems sleepy. He is 4 yrs and 41lbs he lives in his outdoor insulated and heated shed with a night box still soaking him once a day for 1 hr. Not sure if this is weather change related or not. He usually running around like the energizer tortoise.weather here in southern Oregon is 47-85 right now. Today we soaked Sheldon this am and will do it again tonight. I have bumped up the thermostat on the heater. His temps right now are 82-85. The only thing different is I have given him grape leaves from a co worker. He normally graze on his grass and I supplement with groceries greens as his grass is almost gone. Should I be worried. Picture is from a week ago

 

[wellington]

Just double check temps and if he can't get outside to bask then be sure to provide a basking light.
If all that is good, then just keep a closer eye on him. My leopards slow for a bit during the colder gloomy days of fall and winter. It could be just that.

 

[Peggy Sue]

Just double check temps and if he can't get outside to bask then be sure to provide a basking light.
If all that is good, then just keep a closer eye on him. My leopards slow for a bit during the colder gloomy days of fall and winter. It could be just that.

Thank you for your reply, he has access to outside I open his door to his yard every morning. He gets to choose if it outside or not. I did notice he has been in and in his box when we get home Around 4:30 the last week. This is his 3rd winter in his shed. Your right I might need to add bright lights. Hopefully it’s just the transition into fall/winter and he perks up again. It’s only worrisome since he is super active and a great eater.

 

[wellington]

Thank you for your reply, he has access to outside I open his door to his yard every morning. He gets to choose if it outside or not. I did notice he has been in and in his box when we get home Around 4:30 the last week. This is his 3rd winter in his shed. Your right I might need to add bright lights. Hopefully it’s just the transition into fall/winter and he perks up again. It’s only worrisome since he is super active and a great eater.

Yes I do understand he can go outside. However if he chosing to stay inside he still needs to be able to bask or he can't properly digest his food. If he does go outside daily then he doesn't need a basking bulb.
As soon as the darkness starts setting in earlier then normal summer time, my leopards start going in around that same time, 4-4:30. Normally they are out until around 6-6:30. They will eat less on some days and then pig out on others. I guess they don't like the shorter days and winter weather either. Lol.

 

[Peggy Sue]

Yes I do understand he can go outside. However if he chosing to stay inside he still needs to be able to bask or he can't properly digest his food. If he does go outside daily then he doesn't need a basking bulb.
As soon as the darkness starts setting in earlier then normal summer time, my leopards start going in around that same time, 4-4:30. Normally they are out until around 6-6:30. They will eat less on some days and then pig out on others. I guess they don't like the shorter days and winter weather either. Lol.

He does have a place to bask but I might need make the overhead light that I have on during the day brighter. Tonight when we got home he had moved to opposite end of his night box. He is actually looking brighter and moving around better. Thank you for all you do here for all us keepers ❤️🐢

 

[Len B]

Hey gang, Sheldon is acting out of sorts for the last couple days, only ate 1/2 his food on Tuesday and nothing on Wednesday he is also slow to move and seems sleepy. He is 4 yrs and 41lbs he lives in his outdoor insulated and heated shed with a night box still soaking him once a day for 1 hr. Not sure if this is weather change related or not. He usually running around like the energizer tortoise.weather here in southern Oregon is 47-85 right now. Today we soaked Sheldon this am and will do it again tonight. I have bumped up the thermostat on the heater. His temps right now are 82-85. The only thing different is I have given him grape leaves from a co worker. He normally graze on his grass and I supplement with groceries greens as his grass is almost gone. Should I be worried. Picture is from a week ago

Sheldon is Beautiful. I've had this happen with Walker a couple times over the years. How are his poops? Poops and eyes are the first I check out. Back during the second week of September I noticed that Walker wasn't eating as much as usual so I started watching him more closely. The big thing I noticed is he wasn't drinking water for several days which is out of the ordinary for him. Of course at 150 pounds plus he isn't getting soaked so I got iceberg lettuce, and cucumbers for him. You said you soak him but if he doesn't drink during soaking he may be dehydrated. After about 10 days when I thought there may be a problem he was back to his normal self. He also got extra opuntia to help with internal hydration. Good Luck, he looks very healthy so should be just fine.

 

[Peggy Sue]

Thank you for your reply, he has access to outside I open his door to his yard every morning. He gets to choose if it outside or not. I did notice he has been in and in his box when we get home Around 4:30 the last week. This is his 3rd winter in his shed. Your right I might need to add bright lights. Hopefully it’s just the transition into fall/winter and he perks up again. It’s only worrisome since he is super active and a great eater.

Sheldon is Beautiful. I've had this happen with Walker a couple times over the years. How are his poops? Poops and eyes are the first I check out. Back during the second week of September I noticed that Walker wasn't eating as much as usual so I started watching him more closely. The big thing I noticed is he wasn't drinking water for several days which is out of the ordinary for him. Of course at 150 pounds plus he isn't getting soaked so I got iceberg lettuce, and cucumbers for him. You said you soak him but if he doesn't drink during soaking he may be dehydrated. After about 10 days when I thought there may be a problem he was back to his normal self. He also got extra opuntia to help with internal hydration. Good Luck, he looks very healthy so should be just fine.

Thank you, for the reply, his eyes look brighter today. His last poop was Tuesday that was normal. He hasn’t pooped or peed since then. Normally I see him drink water when he is out walking around and when he soaks. Have not seen him drink. He goes into his night box after his soaks and has been sleeping. Today is a really warm day we have put him out in his yard so we can get him to walk around and he can bask. Hopefully he will poop soon. He still hasn’t eaten.

 

[Len B]

Thank you, for the reply, his eyes look brighter today. His last poop was Tuesday that was normal. He hasn’t pooped or peed since then. Normally I see him drink water when he is out walking around and when he soaks. Have not seen him drink. He goes into his night box after his soaks and has been sleeping. Today is a really warm day we have put him out in his yard so we can get him to walk around and he can bask. Hopefully he will poop soon. He still hasn’t eaten.

Have you offered him lettuce or any other high water content foods. The not pooping could mean a blockage of some kind. I know lettuces are not recommended but if they are not eating anything or greatly less than normal the high water content food is better than nothing. And may help dissolve or pass what ever is causing the blockage if one exist. If he will eat the lettuce give him whatever he wants, and at this time don't think just about nutrition, that can be taken care of after he is feeling better and back to normal.

 

[Peggy Sue]

Have you offered him lettuce or any other high water content foods. The not pooping could mean a blockage of some kind. I know lettuces are not recommended but if they are not eating anything or greatly less than normal the high water content food is better than nothing. And may help dissolve or pass what ever is causing the blockage if one exist. If he will eat the lettuce give him whatever he wants, and at this time don't think just about nutrition, that can be taken care of after he is feeling better and back to normal.

He has absolutely no interest in food at all 😞 still no poop or pee. Officially worried trying to get a vet appointment. To see if there is a blockage. We have bumped up all his temps and soaking 3x daily. He has made a burp/moaning noise a couple times.

 

[Len B]

He has absolutely no interest in food at all 😞 still no poop or pee. Officially worried trying to get a vet appointment. To see if there is a blockage. We have bumped up all his temps and soaking 3x daily. He has made a burp/moaning noise a couple times.

Does he have a bottom heat source? As they get larger sometimes heat from just above isn't enough to get the inner core to a proper temperature because the floor is the coolest part of the shed.

 

[Peggy Sue]

Does he have a bottom heat source? As they get larger sometimes heat from just above isn't enough to get the inner core to a proper temperature because the floor is the coolest part of the shed.

We do have a Kane heat Matt that wasn’t installed yet. I did get it out and have it plugged in for him. He hasn’t shown much interest in it yet

 

[Len B]

We do have a Kane heat Matt that wasn’t installed yet. I did get it out and have it plugged in for him. He hasn’t shown much interest in it yet

It might take a few days for him to accept it, Sulcatas don't like change.

 

[Len B]

Another question, Are you using a rheostat or thermostat to set the mat temperature? I don't use Kane I have Stanfield mats in all my houses but pretty sure the Kane mats heat up to a certain temp above the ambient surrounding temperature of no controller is used. I use rheostats to cut the wattage down to set the temperature I'm looking for. It's makes for a constant temperature above the surrounding ambient temperature. I have 3 different heat sources in the houses.

 

[Peggy Sue]

Another question, Are you using a rheostat or thermostat to set the mat temperature? I don't use Kane I have Stanfield mats in all my houses but pretty sure the Kane mats heat up to a certain temp above the ambient surrounding temperature of no controller is used. I use rheostats to cut the wattage down to set the temperature I'm looking for. It's makes for a constant temperature above the surrounding ambient temperature. I have 3 different heat sources in the houses.

Yes it is on a thermostat. The Shed has built in heater that we can control and he still has a CHE in his box. We are needing to change that out to a radiant heat Matt either mounted to the lid or wall. I haven’t figured out what size. Have you used chicken broders for heat?

 

[Len B]

Yes it is on a thermostat. The Shed has built in heater that we can control and he still has a CHE in his box. We are needing to change that out to a radiant heat Matt either mounted to the lid or wall. I haven’t figured out what size. Have you used chicken broders for heat?

Yes I do, the one Tractor Supply sells. It has 2 settings 40 and 200 watts. I us the 200 watt setting and use a lamp dimmer to adjust the wattage output down to get the temperature I'm looking for. If using rheostats the radiant heater and a CHE will effect the temperature of the heat mat so take the time to adjust and get them set properly. I'm going this week to get another brooder heater for the house I'm building now.

 

[Peggy Sue]

Well since we haven’t had any improvements was able to get a vet appointment. They will see him at 10:30. Had to drive to the next town over since our area doesn’t have many options when it comes to tortoise vets. I will keep everyone posted. Please send positive thoughts for poor Sheldon