Russian who wont eat

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grettas mom

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I work at a petstore and we have a russian tortoise who refuses to eat. He has been to a reptile vet 3 or 4 times now and the vet has finally discovered that he has a vitamin deficiency (I cant remember which vitamin it is) but the vet said he can survive with this but he will be a "Special tortoise" because he may not eat all the time and may even need to be force fed occassionally too. Well, needless to say we have had to force feed him a few times now buthe simply will not eat on his own...at all. I already have a redfoot and I am actually thinking about "adopting" this little guy so I can try to help him but Im not sure what to do with him to try to get him to eat on his own. I do not want to have to force feed him forever..I just dont think its fair to him, being force fed just doesnt seem like a life to me...any ideas of how to get him to eat would be great! Thanks! (Sorry for the long post)
 

egyptiandan

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We would need to know what you have tried to feed him and how he is set-up.

Danny
 

grettas mom

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Well, he is set up in a 20 gallon-long aquarium right now with a full spectrum uvb light and a 60 wt (I think) basking bulb with reptibark substrate. He has been offered everything from kale, romaine, mustard greens, collard greens, danedlion greens, topped with tomatoes, strawberries, bananas, or blueberries. Thats all I can think off of the top of my head. It seems like he never eats, regardless of what we offer him. I do realize that he isnt in an ideal set-up but we only have so much space for him at work which is exactly why I am thinking about purchasing him but I am trying to figure out what I would be getting myself into before I actually do it. I am open to any suggestions that anyone may have for me :)
 
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Maggie Cummings

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I bet he is too cold and just not used to his surroundings. Make sure his temp on the hot side is 90-95 degrees. About 65-70 on the cool side. Then if the temp is correct when he gets used to his house he will eat. It's pretty tough to get a Russian to eat when they are unhappy. Can't you take him home and set him up for a while?
OK...I am going to say something that everyone will jump on me for...I can hear the screaming all over the US...but I have raised numerous tortoises in aquariums. I have an Eastern box turtle in a 200 gallon tank right now, and the Goof Ball a sex crazed male 3 toed lives in a 150 gallon. He won't leave the girls alone in the tort table so he needs to be separated, for their sake and for his...so I think that if you pay attention to the temps and make sure there's an air flow and everything is correct using a glass tank isn't too terrible. Don't offer bananas. They get hooked on them and that's all they will eat then...
 

ChiKat

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maggie3fan said:
OK...I am going to say something that everyone will jump on me for...I can hear the screaming all over the US...but I have raised numerous tortoises in aquariums. I have an Eastern box turtle in a 200 gallon tank right now, and the Goof Ball a sex crazed male 3 toed lives in a 150 gallon. He won't leave the girls alone in the tort table so he needs to be separated, for their sake and for his...so I think that if you pay attention to the temps and make sure there's an air flow and everything is correct using a glass tank isn't too terrible. Don't offer bananas. They get hooked on them and that's all they will eat then...

*screaming in Chicago*
;)

The difference is that your turtles are in 150 and 200 gallon tanks. This is a nearly full-grown Russian in a 20-gallon. Not to mention you're much more experienced and you pay attention to temps and air flow!
 

grettas mom

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Trust me, I would love to take him home for a while to try to help him get better but I cant. The only way I can take him is if I buy him and I really want to but I am so afraid to because I am afraid he may not survive :( I know that shouldnt matter but I really dont have the money to spend on a tortoise to have him not make it. I guess I am going to find out as much info as I can about Russians and see what my options are. I can tell you now tho, knowing me, I will end up taking him home in the near future. :) I do plan on checking on his temp at work on Friday to see how close it is to 90-95 degrees...ill post what I discover tho

ChiKat said:
maggie3fan said:
OK...I am going to say something that everyone will jump on me for...I can hear the screaming all over the US...but I have raised numerous tortoises in aquariums. I have an Eastern box turtle in a 200 gallon tank right now, and the Goof Ball a sex crazed male 3 toed lives in a 150 gallon. He won't leave the girls alone in the tort table so he needs to be separated, for their sake and for his...so I think that if you pay attention to the temps and make sure there's an air flow and everything is correct using a glass tank isn't too terrible. Don't offer bananas. They get hooked on them and that's all they will eat then...

*screaming in Chicago*
;)

The difference is that your turtles are in 150 and 200 gallon tanks. This is a nearly full-grown Russian in a 20-gallon. Not to mention you're much more experienced and you pay attention to temps and air flow!

Actually, I dont think he is nearly full grown. I would say he is probably rounghly 4 inches in length, he is quite small yet. ALthough, maybe that is because he hasnt been eating :(
 

Stephanie Logan

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It sounds very similar to Taco's situation. She lived in a 10-gallon aquarium till last summer. She didn't eat anything when I first tried to wean her from Romaine. I am still working diligently to get the little picky princess to eat like a real tortoise, with limited but significant success.

The folks on this forum are invaluable and always offer meaningful, reliable advice. Your tortoise would benefit from all the years of experience and expertise of TFO members.

I think Taco survived by living in a state of suspended animation...she ate enough to keep her alive, but the inappropriately cool temps prevented her from digesting much, and now she doesn't recognize proper foods so we are tricking her into eating right now.

Good luck on your decision. I hope someone adopts that poor guy so he can become a normal, healthy tortoise again. Is his shell OK?
 

Tom

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Maggie, you are not alone. I still occasionally use appropriately sized glass tanks too. I know, horror of horrors...

Gretta's Mom, this little guy may just think its still time to be hibernating. If he's an adult in a pet store its likely he's wild caught and has been hibernating every year for many years.

I say warm him up , like Maggie said, put him in a bigger enclosure, and give him a MVB. I'll betcha the heat and UV will wake him up. Daily warm water soaks will also help and, if possible, good old fashioned sunshine works better than anything. Even sunshine through the store front windows will help. Just don't do it in a glass tank or you'll cook him. Glass filters out most of the UV, but didn't you ever get a sunburn on a road trip with the windows rolled up? I have.

The vitamin deficiency thing sounds questionable to me. How did the vet test for this? They probably all have vitamin deficiencies when they don't eat for months at a time during hibernation. "Vitamin deficiency" sounds like vet-speak for "I don't really know what's wrong, but this will sound good enough to charge them money for it." Sorry for the cynicism, but I've dealt with a lot of vets and in SOME cases the people bringing the animal in know more than the vet and his staff combined. Don't know if this is the case with your vet. Just a hunch.
 

grettas mom

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Stephanie Logan said:
It sounds very similar to Taco's situation. She lived in a 10-gallon aquarium till last summer. She didn't eat anything when I first tried to wean her from Romaine. I am still working diligently to get the little picky princess to eat like a real tortoise, with limited but significant success.

The folks on this forum are invaluable and always offer meaningful, reliable advice. Your tortoise would benefit from all the years of experience and expertise of TFO members.

I think Taco survived by living in a state of suspended animation...she ate enough to keep her alive, but the inappropriately cool temps prevented her from digesting much, and now she doesn't recognize proper foods so we are tricking her into eating right now.

Good luck on your decision. I hope someone adopts that poor guy so he can become a normal, healthy tortoise again. Is his shell OK?

From what I know about their shells, his shell looks ok. Im just concerned that he isnt eating. I hopoe everything works out with taco too. At least she was lucky and had someone rescue her :) I have a lot to think about before I decide to adopt the poor little guy at work. I just dont want to get myself involved in something that I cant handle. So I want to think about it long and hard before I decide to take him home.
 
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