tortoise not eating but..

[chelslpn]

I got my Russian tortoise, Goku, about a week ago... first few days he went in his hide and pretty much stayed and I left out some tortoise pellets, greens, and carrots until I can get some weeds, flowers, and plants (tomorrow.) I would come home and the carrots had teeth marks and bites taken out of them, and everything else was untouched, but he ate something so I didn't think much of it.

The last few days he's been getting more comfortable in his new house... comes out to sleep sometimes (buries himself.. especially his head lol), sits under his light, paces back and forth, and his new favorite... climbs on top of his hide / hut thing and then slides down the other side (and lands right on his face) ...which I guess doesn't bother him because he does it over and over again lol he goes through all the typical Russian escape behavior.. should've named him Houdini I'm building an outdoor enclosure for him tomorrow to hang out in on non-rainy days.. but I've been taking him outside regularly. I soak him outside before I let him roam around (supervised) .. he used the bathroom the first 2 times I did it and drank some water 2 days ago.. actually stuck his head under. But today, he didn't... he pretty much wanted out.

But he hasn't eaten in about 3 days now. I've even tried putting a piece of watermelon on top so he might eat everything else... but he completely ignores it. I've tried offering a mix of different things. I've tried hand feeding him. He just steps over (and on top of) his food like its part of the floor... same with his water bowl.. he seems to love getting his feet wet and dragging coco coir all over lol but he wants nothing to do with it.

He's a funny guy... late sleeper (stays in his hut or stays buried except for one arm and his head during the day) ..he sleeps in the back of his hut at night but every morning i wake up and his head and arms are all stretched out the front like a human lol.. but after I wake him up, take him outside, and bring him back in he is all over the place... climing, pacing, jumping... ive even tried letting him walk around my room and the porch. Finally he loses interest in escaping and sits under his heat lamp... but usually not for long. I do live in south florida where it's always pretty hot anyway especially during the day so I don't really blame him, but he probably wouldn't sit there at all if I didn't get him moving to begin with.

So in summary...ha.. he has energy (after he gets that outside boost) ..and is bright eyed and curious... but not hungry? Is there anything I can do to boost his appetite?

I guess I should also mention that I don't think he's ever been handled in his life... I got him from petsmart and judging by his size he's bw 6-10... he looks at me like i'm a giant monster.. so I know why he won't take food from my hand... but he always sees me put the food down. Could that be why he's not eating it?

 

[Yellow Turtle01]

Congrats on getting a tortoise But Petsmart was not the place to go. They mostly sell WC (wild caught) torts, which is why he seems scared of you did you take him for a herp vet visit? WCs can sometimes have parasites, and take a long time to show it.
I can't say much on that, because I bought my russian at a petstore.However, he got squeaky clean bill of health, he was very friendly right away, and liked to eat food offered by me. He took some time to warm up to different food (at first he only ate carrots and Romain. period.) and he took a few days to days to settle in to his strange new surrondings, and regain his champion appetite (russians eat like pigs ) Yours, probably being a wild caught tort, will probably never do some things that a captive bred and raised tort would do. Mine NEVER soaks himself . I have tried every dish, bowl. lid thing on the market and he just hates doing it. HEHE, mine gets so picky soemtimes (I probably spoil him just a bit) and he passes right over his food bowl, stomping around for a few minutes until he decides to choke down those carefully plucked weeds and greens.
They do love the outdoors, and that will be good for him. It is really good that he pooped. That's really good
How big is your enclosure? How hot are your bulbs? He may be trying to reach cooler spots by burrowing into the dirt. Hot temps can also cause lethargy. Russiand also need A LOT of room to walk because they are active little suckers.

 

[lismar79]

Try placing bits of food all around the enclosure. That way he is grazing a bit more natural like. Mine came from p.s too and she took a few days to eat. I noticed she eats like a pig after I soak her.... I think its her thowing a fit and taking it out on her food also you can try the fav colors foods. Red, orange, yellow. Raddichio is a big fav here. So are dandelion flowers, squash, pumpkin. These are more treats once he starts eating for you reg.

 

[smarch]

My Frank's from petco, so I guesss all of us who have the WC torts have experiences different than CB buds. What did the pet store feed him? Mine fed tomatoes and cucumbers a lot, so in the beginning he got a lot of those slowly adding in greens until he just gets a little tomato now and then as a treat.
I mean think, he was in the wild minding his own business eating weeds all around, then scooped up one day and expected to eat funny foods on a dish, That's one heck of a change for the little guys body, say all of a sudden no warning you only got to eat, say indian food, your body would be kinda confused, and then all of a sudden one day you end up in another new place with even more new food. Better to stick with the less than ideal foods they were fed in their diet to wean out than abrupt change.
He sounds quite right for a Russian so maybe he's just being picky and stubborn. Once franklin decided he wanted to eat romaine and only romaine... he went a good 4 days refusing to eat the dandelions I kept putting in, and that was food he did usually eat! They can be little pain in the butts sometimes

 

[chelslpn]

oh, Goku is definitely wild caught lol and I know that was not the best way to go, and I figured south Florida would have more choices to shop around a bit but... not really. ha. He still hasn't eaten.... about 4 days now. When he did eat for the first 2 or 3 days or so that I got him, it was only a few bites of carrots.

What's funny is that I picked him BECAUSE he was the one at petsmart in the bowl eating... now I get him home, and no such luck... I even bought the pellets he was eating in the store (mixed with veg.) I've tried spring mix, carrots, banana, a "cruciferous crunch" mix from Trader Joes (kale, broccoli, brussels sprouts, green & red cabbage), romaine, you name it ...I'm getting some dandelion plants this week to try those.. those weeds grow like crazy around here and of course now I can't find any anywhere lol.

The temps are about 95 under the heat lamp, 82ish under just his UVB, and in the 70s on the other side. The humidity goes up and down... at night it's pretty low, and when it's raining here (anywhere from 20-50%)... which is every day but after it rains its back up in the 80%'s.. strange. I've been misting his substrate lightly, even in his hide to create that humid environment. Dude just isn't going for the food. I worked all day today but I came home and found him sleeping in his hide, where I found him this morning.. didn't look like he went anywhere.

I guess I'm going to make him a vet appointment, at least for a check up since I did get him at petsmart... hopefully they can check for parasites. I'm guessing that could have something to do with his lethargy and lack of appetite? He's only lethargic when I don't bother him and get him up but still ...prob not normal for these active guys. I let him run around the floor in my bedroom yesterday while I installed a longer uvb light for him, and he let me pet his head after I picked him up so he's coming around a little bit at a time. I just lifted up his hide to say hello and he squinted at me like, what are you doing, i'm sleeping... ha. If anyone has any other advice please share, i'm always open to suggestions

 

[Yvonne G]

You're going to have to offer him the same foods that he was eating in the pet store.

 

[smarch]

start soaking him in some nice warm water daily for like 15-20 minues (new water if "soiled" , they like to potty in the bath)
When franklin stopped eating out of nowhere I started doing that as soon as I noticed him being lethargic which was very not normal!! 3days in when we got to the vet (thank goodness my vet was good with next day apts on my first time going!) by the time we were at the vet he was being less lethargic and I was like really dude!!? come on! But still not eating, so the vet said he could be dehydrated so he gave him a fluid shot and he perked up, and ate that night! A few more days soaking he may have been fine on his own.
But since he was from petsmart who knows if he used his water and who knows if he was soaked, he may be low on fluid.
Vet is good too though, but soaks until you get there are also a good idea

 

[chelslpn]

turns out he is just picky ...he will only eat butter lettuce and radicchio ...go figure. if i put out anything else, he stomps on it and runs it over... i guess he's opinionated lol but I soak him every few days and he puts his head under for a sip... that's about it, and sits still for all of 10 seconds before he demands to get out. I usually last about 5 minutes before I just let him go run in the grass because that's what he wants... Russian's really are full of personality.. I mean everybody says it and I was just kind of like yeah, sure.. but he's a funny guy.