Tortoise won't eat

OrbOfMandrills said:

I know that corn on the cob shouldn't be fed to Tortoises, though I thought that baby, miniture corn was okay to feed to them.
The main thing she eats the most are weed leaves, dandelions and lamb lettuce.

Click to expand...

Good to know she's getting most of the right things; the corn will still have to go. Sorry.

OrbOfMandrills said:

I think the water dish is fine too and she can fit into it well.

Click to expand...

It really isn't. She can't bend her body, like other reptiles, which means it's a flipping hazard. I know those bowls are expensive (I had to return the one my husband brought home!). At the price for a replacement saucer, however, most experienced users wouldn't take the risk.

I'll let the others help with the lighting and humidity. Our grown Russian is entirely outdoors, except for hibernation, which means I don't have to fuss with the more difficult things.

RosemaryDW said:

Good to know she's getting most of the right things; the corn will still have to go. Sorry.

It really isn't. She can't bend her body, like other reptiles, which means it's a flipping hazard. I know those bowls are expensive (I had to return the one my husband brought home!). At the price for a replacement saucer, however, most experienced users wouldn't take the risk.

I'll let the others help with the lighting and humidity. Our grown Russian is entirely outdoors, except for hibernation, which means I don't have to fuss with the more difficult things.

Click to expand...

I did feel the same way with the water bowl since it seems that there's something wrong with it and I wasn't sure what, I'm not sure what will be a better alternative.

As an update, she has eaten a bit more today than yesterday with lettuce and dandelions, I'm hoping this is an indication that her eating is gradually improving. Thank u all for help and advice. The weird thing about is that I don't think the no-eating phase has ever happened before. I also tried the idea of applying warm water amongst the substrate by hand (but not too much), hopefully that'll add more moisture.

OrbOfMandrills said:

I did feel the same way with the water bowl since it seems that there's something wrong with it and I wasn't sure what, I'm not sure what will be a better alternative.

Click to expand...

Go to a plant store and get a cheap terra cotta saucer big enough for her to soak in. Bury it into the substrate so that the top is flush with it. Then she can just walk in.

OrbOfMandrills said:

I also tried the idea of applying warm water amongst the substrate by hand (but not too much), hopefully that'll add more moisture.

Click to expand...

That's good. If you get it damp enough that it sticks together a bit when you squeeze a handful, that's good. But with a yearling, you may be better off with a closed enclosure. They don't have to be expensive. I'll let another member describe how you might set yours up.

RosemaryDW said:

Go to a plant store and get a cheap terra cotta saucer big enough for her to soak in. Bury it into the substrate so that the top is flush with it. Then she can just walk in.
View attachment 215971

That's good. If you get it damp enough that it sticks together a bit when you squeeze a handful, that's good. But with a yearling, you may be better off with a closed enclosure. They don't have to be expensive. I'll let another member describe how you might set yours up.

Click to expand...

I see =D I may buy one, or find one from our greenhouse if we have one that's big enough.

I've not heard much about closed enclosure sadly, I heard about covering the enclosure.

Gretta has also been relaxing under the heat lamp today a lot.

OrbOfMandrills said:

I've not heard much about closed enclosure sadly, I heard about covering the enclosure.

Click to expand...

It's close to the same thing. If you pop over to the enclosure-specific forum with a picture of your setup, someone should be able to give you quick tips that won't cost too much money. They'll have feedback on tube lighting possibilities as well.

OrbOfMandrills said:

Gretta has also been relaxing under the heat lamp today a lot.

Click to expand...

Good to hear!

Here's a good start : http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/

Tidgy's Dad said:

Here's a good start : http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/

Click to expand...

Thank you =D I'll read up on it

Update: Even though Gretta hasn't ate much yesterday, she ate an amount of dandelions today and hopefully some weed leaves too that I picked up.

A weird thing I noticed is that, since I have two temperature meters, one of them says that it's 29 degrees, whereas the other one (which is arguably more advanced and has a humidity meter too) says it's 32 degrees. That's weird.

Analog thermometers are often rather inaccurate, digital ones are better, but a good laser temperature gun, when used at the correct distance is the best, in my opinion.

If your gauges present two different temperatures, it's just one more reason to replace them with something more accurate. Her temperate (and thus her eating) should not be give and take.

RosemaryDW said:

If your gauges present two different temperatures, it's just one more reason to replace them with something more accurate. Her temperate (and thus her eating) should not be give and take.

Click to expand...

I was thinking of purchasing the temperature gun reader at some point.

I don't know if it's just me or if my Tortoise's tounge looks a bit pale today? It's not pure, bone white, it just seems less pink than usual. I'm thinking of taking her to a vet at some point just be safe. There were days where her mouth looked healthy red-pink ish like it should do, and other days where it looked pale.

Also yesterday she ate more, including dandelions and lettuce as usual

A cute little tort! GOD bless.

Please keep in mind that torts do not like change. Therefore your tort will need time to get used to a new: place, enclosure climate/weather, food, and even a new "mum/dad" so as to say.

And welcome to the forum @OrbOfMandrills !

I might replace the coconut coir wood chipping with soil substrate. This is because the coconut coir creates a lot of dust in her home which is not good for her breathing at times.

If the coco coir is kept moist and packed down it will not create dust.
If you need a change fine grade orchid bark from the garden centre is a better choice than just soil.

If the coconut coir is dusty it means it is too dry. While soil is a fine substrate it dries out quicker and you have to be careful there are no fertilizers or pesticides in it which can be harmful. I would dampen your coir and see if that takes care of the dust.

Ehm... well, this is confusing. It turns out that the wood chipping may have not been coconut coir at all, but I thought it was the whole time. I'm not sure if it was or not, weird.

We're considering coconut coir, not the wood chipping thing, but the more soil-y type I think.

The wood chipping we used previously was named Beech Chaff Wood Chips I think, sorry for the confusion. But we're more likely not going to use that anymore. Sorry for the confusion, I was getting very mixed up with it lol

Though Gretta has been eating average amount now and again earlier this month, she's gotten back to not eating. Earlier this month we replaced the beech chip substrate with coconut coir. The temperature displays usually around 32 degrees and even the humidity improved a lot after we replaced the substrate, increasing to 60% often. It's strange and I'm not really sure what else could be causing her food strike. Her home wasn't perfect earlier this year and her home conditions are a lot better now, but she even ate normally back then anyway regardless of the conditions, and seemed okay for months until August. As stated before, her drinking is fine, choice of food is usually weed etc, she's sometimes taken out in back garden for exercise, has a warm bath everyday, and the colour of her tounge has normal light pink colour etc. So its all confusing.

We may take her to vet at some point. It might be expensive if they end up using blood tests or x-ray, so hopefully it'll be just a simple check-up.

It may be that she is feeling it is time to prepare for hibernation now that we are approaching winter.
You need to make sure she gets 12 to 14 hours of light a day, up the temps by a few degrees for a bit and convince her it's still summer. She'll soon eat again if that's the case.

Tidgy's Dad said:

It may be that she is feeling it is time to prepare for hibernation now that we are approaching winter.
You need to make sure she gets 12 to 14 hours of light a day, up the temps by a few degrees for a bit and convince her it's still summer. She'll soon eat again if that's the case.

Click to expand...

Thank u for the advice, I may try increasing the hours for the lights amd see of that works. She has always been indoors so I had no idea she was going to hibernate since I always thought it was only an outdoor thing lol I think originally she had 10 hours of heat lamp.

Then again I've never had her during the Autumn since we first had her last December, so I didn't know what to expect from her in Autumn beforehand