why is my tortoise not eating?? Urgen help please!!

[Yvonne G]

I have seen it at my local mom and pop pet store, so more than likely you can buy it at Petco. If they don't have it, maybe they can order it for your. Here's a link to Drs. Foster & Smith, but other places sell it too.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=6107

Yvonne

I just found this: http://www.petco.com/product/4463/8-in-1-Pro-Ultra-Care-Vita-Sol-for-Caged-Birds.aspx

So, yes, Petco has it!!

 

[dcoolguy68]

Oh perfect! I'll make sure to stop by tomorrow and pick some up after school, thanks a lot.

 

[dcoolguy68]

What's the difference b/w that multi-vitamin and soaking them in V8 juice? Are there any other alternatives for giving them all the vitamins they need?

 

[Yvonne G]

I've never used the V8 for soaking. I imagine if you can find it without salt or sodium it might be ok. Read the ingredients and compare ingredients with the baby food. I only have baby food, not V8, so I can't compare...but the ingredients listed on the Gerber sweet potatoes is: sweet potatoes, water

That's all...nothing that you can't pronounce, no preservatives, no additives... just those two things. I can't recommend something I haven't tried. The baby food works for me, so that's why I recommend it. The vitamins work for Danny, that's why he recommends it.

I just don't know about V8. But if you do decide to use it, let us know how it works out.

Yvonne

 

[dcoolguy68]

Oh okay, I didn't buy the V8 juice cause I saw that it had like less than 2% salt but idk how much of sodium and I was a little skeptical about it. I went to petco but they were out of the Vitasol Ultracare, I did however buy the Ultravite. They both sound similar but the picture I saw on the petco was different than the ones I bought.

 

[dcoolguy68]

I had another question, what if I soak him in water mixed w/the herptivite multivitamin? Does that work?

 

[Yvonne G]

I had another question, what if I soak him in water mixed w/the herptivite multivitamin? Does that work?

Is Herptivite a liquid vitamin? It would probably work...however, I'm not familiar with using that vitamin and can't recommend it.

Yvonne

 

[dcoolguy68]

no its a powdered supplement. He's not eating but i want him to get him his vitamins like calcium and protein and stuff like that instead of just giving him Vitamin A all the time.

 

[Yvonne G]

no its a powdered supplement. He's not eating but i want him to get him his vitamins like calcium and protein and stuff like that instead of just giving him Vitamin A all the time.

Oh...now I'm understanding why you keep wanting to change the soaking medium. The two recommended soaks don't just contain Vit. A. Your baby will get other nutrients too, especially if you use the bird vitamins.

Yvonne

 

[dcoolguy68]

how often should I soak him in the bird vitamin? But what about calcium, how do I give him calcium?

 

[Yvonne G]

If I'm not mistaken, the Vitasol contains calcium. Read the ingredients to see. If he's eating at all, you can grate some cuttlebone over his food. Not a whole lot, just a little bit.

Yvonne

 

[dcoolguy68]

Vitamin A, D3, Thiamine, Riboflavin, B6, Niacin, d-Pantothenic Acid, and Choline

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I personally think that sometimes we can over-think tortoise care. If he is eating a varied diet he doesn't need too much of a supplement. For instance, Danny says to add a couple of drops of bird vitamins in the soaking water. Simple...I don't need to know what's in the bird vitamins, and 2 or 3 times a week I sprinkle TNT on their food.
My sister in her infinite wisdom says to soak a sick turtle or tortoise in strained carrots and they will soak up Vit A thru the thin skin on parts of their body. Simple, so when I have a sick turtle or tortoise I follow her advice. It's worked for her for years, that's all I need to know. I don't need to know exactly what's in the baby food. I am not too concerned about them getting the nutrients they need because I feed a diet full of variety.
Maybe I sound like a simpleton, but I do what others before me have done and it works. I don't need to know the calcium ratio, or the exact content minerals or vitamins of collard greens or dandelion leaves or flowers. Maybe I should know...but I'm too busy playing with my animals to worry about vitamins and minerals...
And here I am proving I am a simpleton because I am not expressing myself very well...

 

[dcoolguy68]

Yeah but his shell is soft so he obviously needs calcium for his shell to get stronger. And its hard especially if he's not eating so that's why I'm asking around.

 

[Yvonne G]

If your baby's shell is soft, he needs a more aggressive calcium approach. You need to find a tortoise vet and get the calcium supplement and dosage from him. There are a couple of products that I know of, Calcionate and Neocalglucon. These are liquid and you squirt it by a dropper into their mouth. Then they have to have the UVB light to make the product work inside the tortoise.

Yvonne

 

[dcoolguy68]

I have neocalglucon that they told me to put on his food, buts its pretty hard to open his mouth. I'm going to take him again this week for a recheck and hopefully she can give me some more syringes filled with calcium or something. When he was on medication his shell was hardening up and now its starting to soften up again. What I find weird is that he's still pretty active, when he's outside he walks a lot.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

dcoolguy68...I didn't mean to imply anything wrong in your post. Mine was meant to be a general post because I see that in several threads that people are over thinking tort care. I know you are doing the best you can for your torts, so you just keep questioning and keep trying to give the best possible husbandry. Your baby will start eating soon I hope...keep up with the spring mix, but take out the spinach...

 

[dcoolguy68]

Oh I didn't mean anything bad by it, what's wrong with the spinach?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

simply put, spinach binds calcium to it meaning that it (calcium) is not used by the tortoise, it's expelled. Your small tortoises need the calcium.

 

[dcoolguy68]

Oh okay, thanx.