I trick my little guy sometimes. If I see that she's only going for one type of food, I pick up her favorite food and when I see her mouth open, I do a quick switchoroo lol.
The biting at the air was when I first got him and now he has improved a lot but sometimes he still miss. I put him on the regular light bulb and then replace it with the MVB for day time.Tom said:The biting at the air concerns me. Has he ever been under one of those U/V coil type bulbs?
I checked my scale and you are right: 4 quarters weighs 23 grams (on my scale) so my tort weighs less than 4 quarters... that's pretty hard to believe.yagyujubei said:When you feed him, put him right in front of the food. If he walks away, repeat. Sometimes, a poor eater will eat on the forth or fifth try. An hour later, do it again. Try feeding right after a warm soak.9usually an appetite stimulant)If he won't eat one thing, try something else. Try soaking some rolled oats, some will eat this. In my opinion, I think that you should be very worried. He won't stay alive at that weight for very long, I'm afraid. Check your scale. On mine, 4 quarters weighs 22.6 grams. Five dimes weighs 11.7grams.
No I use a regular light bulb or MVB during the day and a black infrared heat lamp for the night so it maintain the night time temperature to around 85-90. Is that too warm for the night?Tom said:So you are using a regular light bulb all night, and the MVB all day?
They need it dark at night, but still warm. "Black" incandescent bulbs work fine for this. I use ceramic heating elements for night time heat. They are more expensive initially, but they last forever, and generate more heat than a bulb.
At any time in his past, like at the breeders, was he under a coil type UV bulb? These can damage their eyes and would explain a lot.
Thank you for your response. You said your tort also missed targeting the food when he was young. So did he outgrow it? How long did it take for him to pick up the speed? Some people said their baby tort could finish his food in 15 mins. Mine takes all most an hour becuase he seems to have a poor perception or coordination.DocNezzy said:I know that I am a little late on the response.Been busy at work. One of my little ones was extremely light when I got him. He also would miss the food when biting at it. I had to had feed him for 2 or 3 months before he started eating well. I also found some powdered stuff at the reptile store that was used for malnurished reptiles. I would mix that up with some water and pour it over his food. It seemed to work well. I will see if I still have the box so that I can get you a name.
About the scale, the best way to check and see if the scale is correct is to weight a nickel and a dollar bill. A nickle weighs 5 grams and a dollar bill weighs 1 gram. Don't ask me how I know these things!![]()
pk2610 said:I did all the wrong things at first and then took the advice from Yvonne and others like changing the substrate to cypress mulch, using MVB and heat bulbs, placing food on a flat rock, water dish, hiding away from tort after placing food, etc. etc. My baby is going from not eating or biting on air to eating some not very good veggies, I feed him twice once in the morning and once in the evening after I come home from work but the growth is still very slow. May be I should wait for another month or so to see if he will improve. It just shocked me yesterday when I placed him on the scale the first time and found out he only weights 20g.
pk2610 said:Thank you for your response. You said your tort also missed targeting the food when he was young. So did he outgrow it? How long did it take for him to pick up the speed? Some people said their baby tort could finish his food in 15 mins. Mine takes all most an hour becuase he seems to have a poor perception or coordination.DocNezzy said:I know that I am a little late on the response.Been busy at work. One of my little ones was extremely light when I got him. He also would miss the food when biting at it. I had to had feed him for 2 or 3 months before he started eating well. I also found some powdered stuff at the reptile store that was used for malnurished reptiles. I would mix that up with some water and pour it over his food. It seemed to work well. I will see if I still have the box so that I can get you a name.
About the scale, the best way to check and see if the scale is correct is to weight a nickel and a dollar bill. A nickle weighs 5 grams and a dollar bill weighs 1 gram. Don't ask me how I know these things!![]()
Yes, my scale is pretty accurate. He is still 20 grams. He gained one gram a few days ago and lost it again. I am really worried. How are your two leopards? Do you still have them? Do they have normal weight?
No, I didn't. I checked vets from some local petshops. But they are not specialized in tortoises. But reading more threads from here, I had a feeling that my baby was too small to begin with (around 15 grams). He might not even be a month old when I got him.DesertGrandma said:I am so sorry to hear this Kai. I know how sad you are, as this happened to me with my first tort too. Just out of curiosity and to help us all learn from this, were you ever able to get a fecal sample or a visit to the vet? I know you tried your best and I hope that your next tort will be healthy for you.