Tortoise not eating and sleeping

Bluegecko

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Joined
Jan 22, 2022
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17
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Oman
I have a small Greek tortoise for 4 years
With another male tort but I seperated then after I noticed he was trying to mate
He was small and young when I first rescued him (he’s doing fine now however)
Anyway she suddenly started sleeping all day not moving and barely eating when I feed her by hand very recently she stopped eating
Even I hand feed her she takes a bite opens her mouth as if something is stuck then either pops it back inside her shell or just closes her eyes and sleeps
She also wiggles her shell, she lifts her upper part up then wiggles around after I soak her because that’s the only time she ever opens her eyes but then she goes back to sleep, she’s very lethargic
And barely poops too yesterday when I soaked her she pooped but today she didn’t she also doesn’t have diarrhea her poop is very small
I have been soaking her in warm water daily and also keep the temp higher
Although where i live it’s 25C or 77F
But recently the weather got a bit cooler and these past days has been windy
But she’s indoors
Where I live there’s reptile vets
Most of the vets here don't care unless the animal's livestock or quarterhorse...they treat dogs/cats as an exception to their standard practice; any other pets are beyond them
If there was a vet I’d have taken here asap
I have been for symptoms or treatments I can do at home
 

Lyn W

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Hi and welcome,
I'm glad you separated your torts they are solitary creatures and should never be kept in pairs. Maybe what you saw wasn't mating but bullying behaviour which happens when 2 torts are forced to live together in a small enclosed space.
I think you are doing the right thing by warm soaking and keeping her warm. How long has she not been eating?
The first thing we do when torts are behaving differently is to check husbandry because most tort problems are caused by things we do or don't do for them and are often easily corrected.
This is the up to date caresheet you need for your tort so read that and make any changes that may be necessary.
Pictures of the enclosure and the lamps you use will also help members help you provide the correct care. We also need to know what she eats - a picture of your tort will be helpful too.
Have you been able to look in her mouth to see if there is anything stuck?
My tort raises his rear end when he poops and passes urine or urates. If she is not passing anything she could be straining to pass a stone or poop. How often does she normally poop? If she's not eating much then she will poop less.
There are a lot of members here with good medical knowledge of torts so the more information and pictures you can post the better.
 

Bluegecko

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Joined
Jan 22, 2022
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17
Location (City and/or State)
Oman
Hi and welcome,
I'm glad you separated your torts they are solitary creatures and should never be kept in pairs. Maybe what you saw wasn't mating but bullying behaviour which happens when 2 torts are forced to live together in a small enclosed space.
I think you are doing the right thing by warm soaking and keeping her warm. How long has she not been eating?
The first thing we do when torts are behaving differently is to check husbandry because most tort problems are caused by things we do or don't do for them and are often easily corrected.
This is the up to date caresheet you need for your tort so read that and make any changes that may be necessary.
Pictures of the enclosure and the lamps you use will also help members help you provide the correct care. We also need to know what she eats - a picture of your tort will be helpful too.
Have you been able to look in her mouth to see if there is anything stuck?
My tort raises his rear end when he poops and passes urine or urates. If she is not passing anything she could be straining to pass a stone or poop. How often does she normally poop? If she's not eating much then she will poop less.
There are a lot of members here with good medical knowledge of torts so the more information and pictures you can post the better.
She stopped eating entirely about a week now but she also was barely eating for the past 2 month before she’d only eat from my hand but when I got her outside in the sun
But now she won’t it even like that
Also at that time when she started eating less I got her out of the enclosure and she started eating again but then stopped shortly after that was a month ago maybe
I keep her enclosed in a warm room under a very sunny window and get her occasionally on the balcony to walk
She mainly eats romaine lettuce I’ll sometimes sneak other greens such as turnip greens but she only likes lettuce so that’s what I mostly give her
Yes she looks like she’s straining and nothing comes out especially today

That’s her enclosure but I replaced the sand with coconut husks a long time ago
But she isn’t in it anymore I let her out when she stopped eating since she looked more comfortable and moves a bit at least
And the weather where I live is very hot outside except for now it’s a bit Wendy but it’s still warm
 

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Bluegecko

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This is her now
 

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Lyn W

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That's a long time to have not eaten, good job you are keeping her hydrated.
Read the caresheet to make sure her temps are OK and not dropping too much at night.
If she is indoors do you have A/C that could be keeping temps too low for her at tort level?

Torts need UVB from a lamp or the sun but uvb is filtered out through glass so she wouldn't have been getting that through a window, so some supervised outdoor time with shelter and cool areas available would be good for both torts. Obviously you have to be careful not to overheat them in hot sun.

How big are their enclosures? At that age they need a 4 x 8 feet minimum each so that they have room to roam for digestion and bone health. Sand is not good to use as it can cause impaction in the gut if ingested on food so it's a good job you've changed that.

Romaine is OK occasionally but there is not a lot of nutritional value in it - torts need a much more varied diet. The caresheet will help you there; also have a look at www.thetortoisetable.org.uk - it is based on UK plants but you may find some you have in common with us.

I'm going to tag some other members with more medical knowledge than me who may be able to help when they log in @zovick @ZenHerper @TeamZissou @Yvonne G @Tom @Markw84
 

Ink

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Is that sand? It can cause impaction. Please read the care sheet.
 

Bluegecko

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Jan 22, 2022
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17
Location (City and/or State)
Oman
I just checked and the temps are okay during the day and the lowest it gets at night is 66 so a bit less than it should be but I’ll try to adjust that a bit at night
I don’t use an AC in the room the torts
And I leave the window open near their enclosures but I also get them in a safe place outside to get sun occasionally although recently I haven’t done that due to the weather being so windy

The problem is that both would only eat lettuce as the previous owners I got them probably only fed lettuce I guess
They will eat other greens but will get bored of them and eventually stop eating them and only eat lettuce haha
I’ll try to grow some greens for them tho
Thank you for taking the time to reply
I’m really worried about her:(
I hope she gets better
 

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