Tortoise won't eat

[tort friend]

So, I'm on my first winter with my ten year old Russian and he has just stopped eating.
I think the reason here is because he is trying to hibernate so I have been soaking him in a warm bath nearly every morning to keep him a good temperature and dissuade him from hibernation. This worked for a while, I would give him a soak, then put him in a warm place with his food and he would have a few leaves of lettuce (he has recently foresworn all other food, but I was slowly introducing a variety back into his diet) then he would dig himself a hole and sleep for the rest of the day, which was not the most ideal but I figured he would be a little sleepy and not as hungry in the winter so I didn't worry much.
But last week I started soaking him every day-since when I didn't soak him he would not eat at all- and he stopped eating entirely. At first I thought he was just being distain full of lettuce, but he refused aloe vera as well. I even tried putting him in a shallow bath and hand feeding him in there, but he just isn't eating and trying to go into hibernation. Any advice for this?

 

[wellington]

A warm place should be his enclosure. Basking 95-100, over all 80 and night temps if keeping him up for winter is better to stay around 70. Be sure he has a bright enclosure for the day time.

 

[TammyJ]

The brumation instinct is powerful and essential for their very survival in nature. You have to keep them at the recommended temperatures consistently if you are not going to let them brumate.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome!

I don’t suppose you’d mind sharing how you keep him? It’ll definitely help advising you, plus it’s always nice to check in with newer members

Is he indoor or outdoor?
What sized enclosure does he have?
What are your temperatures like? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps, night temps?
What lighting&heating are you using specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any!
How’s your humidity? What do you use for substrate?

A photo of your full set up would be great if you’re willing to share! Along with one of your tortoise

 

[Tom]

So, I'm on my first winter with my ten year old Russian and he has just stopped eating.
I think the reason here is because he is trying to hibernate so I have been soaking him in a warm bath nearly every morning to keep him a good temperature and dissuade him from hibernation. This worked for a while, I would give him a soak, then put him in a warm place with his food and he would have a few leaves of lettuce (he has recently foresworn all other food, but I was slowly introducing a variety back into his diet) then he would dig himself a hole and sleep for the rest of the day, which was not the most ideal but I figured he would be a little sleepy and not as hungry in the winter so I didn't worry much.
But last week I started soaking him every day-since when I didn't soak him he would not eat at all- and he stopped eating entirely. At first I thought he was just being distain full of lettuce, but he refused aloe vera as well. I even tried putting him in a shallow bath and hand feeding him in there, but he just isn't eating and trying to go into hibernation. Any advice for this?

Read through this for more explanation:

Tom's Brumation Thread

Every fall we get bombarded here on the forum with all sorts of questions and problems regarding hibernation and tortoises "slowing down" for winter. The purpose of this thread is to talk about all aspects of this subject, to dispel some of the myths and mysteries, and give a "how to" list of...

tortoiseforum.org

More info here too:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[tort friend]

Hello and welcome!

I don’t suppose you’d mind sharing how you keep him? It’ll definitely help advising you, plus it’s always nice to check in with newer members

Is he indoor or outdoor?
What sized enclosure does he have?
What are your temperatures like? Ie basking temp(directly under the bulb), overall day temps, night temps?
What lighting&heating are you using specifically? Packaging photos are good if you have any!
How’s your humidity? What do you use for substrate?

A photo of your full set up would be great if you’re willing to share! Along with one of your tortoise

Thanks for your reply! He's an indoor tortoise, I keep him in a 3.5 x 3.5 foot tortoise table. I have two types of substrate, half is Timothy hay and the other is coconut fibers. For his heat lamp I have a 100 watt Simple Deluxe ceramic heat emitter, and a 20 watt Zilla Desert Fluorescent UVB/UVA Bulb for lighting. His basking spot is 90° and overall day temperature 70°. In winter, his night temperature is around 68°.

I don't pay much attention to his humidity, but the usuall around this time seems to be~ 50% to 90%.



His shell is a little peely and dinged up, probably from his previous owner who only fed him romaine lettuce and cooked green beans so I wouldn't say he's the most healthy but I'm trying to get as much calcium and diet variety as possible in him.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for your reply! He's an indoor tortoise, I keep him in a 3.5 x 3.5 foot tortoise table. I have two types of substrate, half is Timothy hay and the other is coconut fibers. For his heat lamp I have a 100 watt Simple Deluxe ceramic heat emitter, and a 20 watt Zilla Desert Fluorescent UVB/UVA Bulb for lighting. His basking spot is 90° and overall day temperature 70°. In winter, his night temperature is around 68°.

I don't pay much attention to his humidity, but the usuall around this time seems to be~ 50% to 90%.

View attachment 380849
View attachment 380850
His shell is a little peely and dinged up, probably from his previous owner who only fed him romaine lettuce and cooked green beans so I wouldn't say he's the most healthy but I'm trying to get as much calcium and diet variety as possible in him.

You've gotten the usual bad care and housing advice, and that is at least part of the problem you are experiencing. I list the problems in an effort to help you understand what is going on and improve the situation.
1. He is dinged up because this is a wild caught imported tortoise.
2. You have the wrong lighting and UV bulb. CHEs are good for ambient temperature maintenance, but your tortoise needs a basking bulb. For UV, you need a HO florescent tube type, not a cfl bulb. The cfl types are ineffective and sometimes burn their eyes. This is likely a contributing factor for why the beak is over growing too.
Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

3. Coco fiber is not a good substrate. Coco coir can work, but not fiber.
4. This is not a grass eating species. Hay is too dry, and it will mold when it gets wets. Not a suitable substrate.
5. Your enclosure is much too small. Double that size is still on the small side. You need something 4x8 feet as a minimum.

If you'll read those two threads I linked, you will have a much better understanding of what is going on. Questions are welcome.

 

[tort friend]

You've gotten the usual bad care and housing advice, and that is at least part of the problem you are experiencing. I list the problems in an effort to help you understand what is going on and improve the situation.
1. He is dinged up because this is a wild caught imported tortoise.
2. You have the wrong lighting and UV bulb. CHEs are good for ambient temperature maintenance, but your tortoise needs a basking bulb. For UV, you need a HO florescent tube type, not a cfl bulb. The cfl types are ineffective and sometimes burn their eyes. This is likely a contributing factor for why the beak is over growing too.
Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

3. Coco fiber is not a good substrate. Coco coir can work, but not fiber.
4. This is not a grass eating species. Hay is too dry, and it will mold when it gets wets. Not a suitable substrate.
5. Your enclosure is much too small. Double that size is still on the small side. You need something 4x8 feet as a minimum.

If you'll read those two threads I linked, you will have a much better understanding of what is going on. Questions are welcome.

Alright, thanks for your response!

 

[Yvonne G]

The things Tom has listed are all contributing to the not eating problem. But besides that, this is the time of year for brumating species to start getting ready to brumate. Sometimes it's hard to convince them they don't need to brumate. Keep his lights turned on like a summer sun. . . 12 to 14 hours a day. Every time you think of it put him in front of the food. Pester him. Maybe even wrap.something absorbent around him and carry him around for a bit while you clean house.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

For future, when you start broadening his diet, this article helped me: https://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/tortoise-diet/introducing-a-new-diet/

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Thanks for your reply! He's an indoor tortoise, I keep him in a 3.5 x 3.5 foot tortoise table. I have two types of substrate, half is Timothy hay and the other is coconut fibers. For his heat lamp I have a 100 watt Simple Deluxe ceramic heat emitter, and a 20 watt Zilla Desert Fluorescent UVB/UVA Bulb for lighting. His basking spot is 90° and overall day temperature 70°. In winter, his night temperature is around 68°.

I don't pay much attention to his humidity, but the usuall around this time seems to be~ 50% to 90%.

View attachment 380849
View attachment 380850
His shell is a little peely and dinged up, probably from his previous owner who only fed him romaine lettuce and cooked green beans so I wouldn't say he's the most healthy but I'm trying to get as much calcium and diet variety as possible in him.

No problem thank you for your reply too!

You’ve been given some good pointers already, sizing needs addressing as soon as you’re able, it really is vital to their health, the substrates aren’t a good choice for multiple reasons as mentioned, heating and lighting definitely does need sorting and is likely heavily contributing, any kind of compact screw in uv bulbs aren’t the best or safest choice unfortunately. Basking temperature needs raising to 95-100f, the rest of the enclosure ranging 75-80 during the day, especially when trying to keep them active, night temps sound fine.

Toms threads are a great read but hopefully you’ll also find this one useful, I cover correct equipment(lighting heating, the right uv), levels, substrates, sizing, appropriately maintaining humidity, there’s lots of visual examples for everything along with a really handy diet link!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This one will also be really good it you to go over, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc moving forward, I always encourage checking purchase on here before buying too!

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they help! Always happy to try and answer any further questions

 

[tort friend]

Thanks to everyone for their comments! For those who are concerned about his enclosure size, I do plan on upgrading him to a full greenhouse eventually, but for now he's happy enough with the little one. I take him outside at least every other day when it's nice out.