Star tortoise not eating

[Swati]

Hello ,

I have male star tortoise around 3.5 years old. He has always been very active and had a good diet always. I dint face any problem with him in so many years but since one week when it started raining he is hardly eating . in whole day he hardly eats half a okra or very little lettuce. he is not eating any other thing. Whole day he keeps on moving here and there and very active in my home but is not eating .

Any suggestions on why he is behaving so ? does this happen in rainy season ? i have tried giving variety of food to him but he is not eating. i have been soaking him daily now but still not eating.

 

[jockma]

Is it possible he's finding food elsewhere or eating things you don't expect him to eat?

I think you're doing everything right, frequent soaks will help him poop if the problem is constipation. What kind of UVB does he get (bulb, natural sunlight etc)? Without adequate UVB they will not digest food properly and may lose their appetite. It's good that he's active.

 

[Swati]

Thanks for reply.. I am in India and we have sufficient natural sunlight here. So he gets natural direct sunlight for 95%days in a year.

 

[jockma]

Then the UVB issue is gone, he's in his natural habitat.

Could he have swallowed a rock or something that caused an impaction? Is he pooping at all? The soaks will help but what I prefer for impactions is putting the tortoise in a shower or under running water, the vibration on their shell and the simulation of rain helps their gut move. This helped my tortoise. If you have a shower, a bathtub or a sink you can try running warm water and letting him walk around under it.

I don't know if you have a reptile vet near you, if you do you can also get a fecal sample from him and send it in to test for parasites. Sometimes if the parasite numbers grow out of control they can affect appetite.