sick tortoise?!

[happyredtortoise]

My red footed tortoise is about 2 years old. I have had him his whole life and he has been fine up until a few weeks ago. He has stopped walking, but he will still lift himself up and move in a circle. He has just recently stopped eating within the last couple days and he doesn't stick his head out of his shell. He also won't open his mouth all the way. He has been kept in a glass 40 gallon tank with a UV 100W bulb and I also soak him in warm water just about daily. Any advice please...

 

[Yvonne G]

Naturally, we won't be able to diagnose a sick tortoise over the internet, all we can do is give some opinions and GUESSES.

My first thought when I read your post is that the tortoise hasn't been getting the calcium/vitamin d3 he needs to make his bones and shell strong. You mentioned that you are using a 100 watt UVB bulb, and that's great. He gets the vitamin d3 from that, but what about calcium? Besides calcium-rich foods, you should supplement with a little powdered calcium occasionally.

A couple of the symptoms you see in tortoises that haven't gotten the calcium/vitamin d3 they require are soft shell or inability to move back legs.

Metabolic bone disease (calcium deficiency) is quite painful to the tortoise. That's why he's stopped moving much. I think your tortoise needs to see a vet as soon as possible.

 

[happyredtortoise]

sick tortoise

My red footed tortoise is 2 years old. I have had him since he was only a few weeks old and he has been great up until a few weeks ago. He has stopped walking, he will still lift himself and turn in a circle but will not move forward. He has also stopped eating a few days ago! He also will not bring his head out of his shell and he can only open his mouth a little bit. He has been kept in a 40 gallon glass tank with a 100w UV bulb and 50%-80% humidity.