Sulcata woke up acting unusual, not eating - help?

[vladimir]

I was getting his food together this morning, and usually Vlad will come out from wherever he slept and sit on his kane heat mat until the food is ready. I put his food down, and unlike usual he didn't immediately come right over and start eating. I checked on him a little later and noticed he was kind of half asleep.

I moved him under his basking lamp thinking he just needed to warm up more, but he didn't show any interest in the food and actually put his head down and closed his eyes again.

Am I just being paranoid? He was outside for a few minutes yesterday since it was so warm, but I don't think he ate anything he should not have. He was trying to nibble at what bits of green grass there were, and I ended up taking him inside early because he was starting to get some dirt when he was biting at the grass.

Any thoughts? He's about 3 years old and weighs around 12 pounds. Usually eats like a machine, so this is unusual.

Edited to add that his ambient temp in his enclosed areas is around 81 with a RHP and the Kane heat mat. Basking temp is in the mid 90s. Substrate is a mix of organic garden soil and Reptibark and cypress mulch

 

[vladimir]

@Yvonne G @Tom

I hate to bother anyone but in case I need to take him to the vet I want to act as quickly as possible.

 

[Jay Bagley]

I was getting his food together this morning, and usually Vlad will come out from wherever he slept and sit on his kane heat mat until the food is ready. I put his food down, and unlike usual he didn't immediately come right over and start eating. I checked on him a little later and noticed he was kind of half asleep.

I moved him under his basking lamp thinking he just needed to warm up more, but he didn't show any interest in the food and actually put his head down and closed his eyes again.

Am I just being paranoid? He was outside for a few minutes yesterday since it was so warm, but I don't think he ate anything he should not have. He was trying to nibble at what bits of green grass there were, and I ended up taking him inside early because he was starting to get some dirt when he was biting at the grass.

Any thoughts? He's about 3 years old and weighs around 12 pounds. Usually eats like a machine, so this is unusual.

Edited to add that his ambient temp in his enclosed areas is around 81 with a RHP and the Kane heat mat. Basking temp is in the mid 90s. Substrate is a mix of organic garden soil and Reptibark and cypress mulch

I will save the advice for the experts, just wanted to say I hope he feels better, and hoping for the best. Good luck

 

[vladimir]

I will save the advice for the experts, just wanted to say I hope he feels better, and hoping for the best. Good luck

Thanks Jay!

Update: I put him in his tub for another soak, and after about half an hour he started to go. I think he might have been a little blocked up. We'll see if he's interested in food after the soak.

Thanks in advance

 

[Jay Bagley]

Thanks Jay!

Update: I put him in his tub for another soak, and after about half an hour he started to go. I think he might have been a little blocked up. We'll see if he's interested in food after the soak.

Thanks in advance

Hey no problem!! Hope that's all it was, and I hope he engulfs his next plate of food.

 

[vladimir]

Thanks. He's back home now but just wanted to sit on his heat mat. Still no interest in food - not even mazuri, which is really unusual for him.

 

[Tom]

@Yvonne G @Tom

I hate to bother anyone but in case I need to take him to the vet I want to act as quickly as possible.

What size enclosure is he in and what are you feeding this time of year? How often do you soak him?

 

[vladimir]

Hey, good morning. Currently he's in a 300 gallon stock tank from Tractor Supply which measures about 4x6. His larger enclosure is currently under consutrction. I have a 2" foam board covering 80% of the current enclosure, with plastic flaps to keep the heat inside the covered area. The RHP and the heat mat are inside the enclosed area. Ambient temp is around 84 in there.

He typically eats in the morning, a variety of escarole, chicory, kale, dandelions, collards, arugula. Maybe 2-3 mazuri pellets a day as a snack, but he usually has no problem soakinig.

We were having some issues with dryness on his shell due (I believe) to the CHE I had installed previously. We were soaking him 2-3 times a week, and since then (back in November) we've been doing it more like every other day, although I'm aiming for every day.

Thanks for your time - I appreciate your input

Edit: Oh yeah, I keep a supply of orchard grass/timothy hay available for him, which he'll snack on throughout the day. He doesn't seem to like to eat it in front of me though

 

[wellington]

Double check temps. What is the night temps? How cold/warm was it when you put him outside and how long was he out there?
Is he back to normal yet?

 

[vladimir]

Double check temps. What is the night temps? How cold/warm was it when you put him outside and how long was he out there?
Is he back to normal yet?

Night temps stay pretty stable in the enclosed area where he sleeps. If it's about 84 in the day it drops to around 81-82 at night. I just scanned the area again with the temp gun. Basking spot is 98-103, there's a range that goes into the 80s and one section in the 70s at the far end away from the heat light.

It was in the 70's outside yesterday, and he was only out for about ten minutes. He kept trying to eat the grass, which there wasn't much of, so he ended up biting some dirt before I could wrestle it away from him. I thought I got it all but it's possible he swallowed some . Because of this we cut it short and went inside fairly quickly. That was the only thing unusual that I can think of recently (aside from venturing outside at all, of course)

Thanks for your feedback

 

[wellington]

The dirt shouldn't really hurt him unless of course it had chemicals in it or possibly any winter salt.
I would give a couple warm soaks a day and maybe even add some kids/baby piedialyte to it. If not any better in the next day or two you may want to take him to a vet.

 

[Yvonne G]

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. My answer at the very beginning would have been to put him into a large tub of water, a tub big enough that he can scramble around trying to get out, and just leave him in there for an hour or more, checking so often to make sure he hasn't gotten into trouble. You can position a light over one side to keep him warm.

 

[vladimir]

No worries! Thanks for the feedback I went back and found an older thread where you offered that advice @Yvonne G, and it seemed to do the trick to get him to go. That made me think maybe he was just a little constipated, but he's still not interested in food. I'm going to give him another soak in a little bit, but right now he's back lying on his heat mat.

@wellington thanks, I'm going to continue with frequent soaks and hope his appetite comes back soon. I don't think there would have been any chemicals or salt in the yard area where he was, but I don't know if maybe he got a dead leaf or something that just isn't agreeing with him.

 

[vladimir]

I gave him two more soaks today but still no interest in food. Pretty normal behavior otherwise aside from the not eating thing.

I'll see how he is tomorrow. I really hope I'm just worrying too much.

Thanks again for the input!

 

[Jay Bagley]

I gave him two more soaks today but still no interest in food. Pretty normal behavior otherwise aside from the not eating thing.

I'll see how he is tomorrow. I really hope I'm just worrying too much.

Thanks again for the input!

Thanks for the update, hopefully today just turns out being an isolated incident. I hope Vladimir feels better tomorrow.

 

[vladimir]

Thanks for your concern Jay

Still no interest in food. He seems lethargic compared to his normal self, although he did dig a little bit before settling in to bed last night.

I think I'm going to get a vet appointment for him. This isn't like him at all.

 

[Jay Bagley]

Thanks for your concern Jay

Still no interest in food. He seems lethargic compared to his normal self, although he did dig a little bit before settling in to bed last night.

I think I'm going to get a vet appointment for him. This isn't like him at all.

You are very welcome, very sorry to hear that he is still not feeling well. Hopefully he will perk up before his vet appointment.

 

[Dizisdalife]

Last week my sulcata exhibited similar behavior. It was a sunny 75° outside and he stayed in his nightbox sleeping all day. When I peeked in on him he would raise his head and look at me, but go right back to sleeping. I was worried, of course, but the next day he returned to his normal behavior. As a contrast, yesterday was a cool 56° with almost no sunshine, but my sulcata came out and grazed for about 2 hours before retreating to his box. Although this behavior is baffling to me, and always unexpected, it happens several times a year. It is not as obvious during summer months, but it happens then as well. I sincerely hope that your sulcata is not ill, and will return to its normal behavior soon.

 

[vladimir]

Thanks again for everyone's feedback. We're back from the vet now.

* The vet suspected he had worms or some kind of parasite that was causing the change in eating behavior,
* He said that the colder temperatures this time of year might have contributed to a slightly weaker immune system, which brought out the symptoms
* They were able to do a fecal exam, as he had just gone on the ride down to the vet
* They gave us some Oxbow Critical Care food in case he continues to not eat.

The test was positive for pinworms. They had started calculating the Panacur dosage for him while waiting for the test results.

Unfortunately, they were not successful in getting him to cooperate and open his beak for the medicine. We've got him home now and are trying to figure out the best way to do it. Hopefully he'll cooperate enough to get the stuff inside his mouth.

 

[TammyJ]

Hoping that he will be OK after treatment and TLC.