Sulcata Dementia?

[2Bamboo]

Our Sulcata is about 20 years old. We got her when she was just a handful. She is now well over 100 pounds. She has a huge enclosure with a heated house. Usually in the Winter she comes out to eat, walk around and goes back inside. This year it has been a whole different adventure. Winters in California are mostly low 50s sometimes low 40s. It's wet and muddy but she has some drier areas. She has never been a problem, until now. Lately she wanders in to a corner, burrows in to the leaves and stays there...in the cold and rain. I have to get my son to carry her back up the hill and put her in her heated house. In the morning she has wandered off again. She does not respond to hands in front of her face where usually she would retract in to her shell. She has hardly eaten anything in over a week. She usually loves the colored pellets and zucchini. Now, only a few bites, while mostly walking right over the food bowl. I understand that white poops indicate dehydration but she has plenty of water available although I don't know if she is drinking it as it has been raining. She acts like she has dementia. Wanders off, forgets where she is going or where she is. She is a beloved family pet and I am worried.

 

[Yvonne G]

It's probably the cold. She wanders off, gets cold, then sits in a corner waiting to warm up. Best bet is to get a piece of plywood to cover the door and prop up a cinderblock in front of it so she can't get out on those cold days. That's why I made a shed instead of a smaller night box. . .more room inside for when she can't come out.

 

[TammyJ]

Do you think she can see ok?

 

[2Bamboo]

Do you think she can see ok?

That's what we are wondering. Maybe because she is cold her reflexes are just slower. But walking over her food has us concerned.

 

[2Bamboo]

It's probably the cold. She wanders off, gets cold, then sits in a corner waiting to warm up. Best bet is to get a piece of plywood to cover the door and prop up a cinderblock in front of it so she can't get out on those cold days. That's why I made a shed instead of a smaller night box. . .more room inside for when she can't come out.

That's what our project of the day is going to be. Making her outside enclosure much smaller. She likes to come out and sit in the sun when available so we want her to be able to do that since today it is finally sunny however, we want to limit her wandering. Her house is pretty big (in profile pic) with a heat lamp but obviously, for some unknown reason, she chooses to leave. My concern is more along the lines of wondering if there is an illness or something we are missing. Also, my back and shoulders are not happy with my Tortoise lifting exercises.

 

[Tom]

Our Sulcata is about 20 years old. We got her when she was just a handful. She is now well over 100 pounds. She has a huge enclosure with a heated house. Usually in the Winter she comes out to eat, walk around and goes back inside. This year it has been a whole different adventure. Winters in California are mostly low 50s sometimes low 40s. It's wet and muddy but she has some drier areas. She has never been a problem, until now. Lately she wanders in to a corner, burrows in to the leaves and stays there...in the cold and rain. I have to get my son to carry her back up the hill and put her in her heated house. In the morning she has wandered off again. She does not respond to hands in front of her face where usually she would retract in to her shell. She has hardly eaten anything in over a week. She usually loves the colored pellets and zucchini. Now, only a few bites, while mostly walking right over the food bowl. I understand that white poops indicate dehydration but she has plenty of water available although I don't know if she is drinking it as it has been raining. She acts like she has dementia. Wanders off, forgets where she is going or where she is. She is a beloved family pet and I am worried.

Females almost never reach 100 pounds. Are sure sure its female? Have you had it on a scale or are you estimating that weight?

I keep them closed in until later in the day on cold, overcast and rainy days. Once I do open the door and let them out, I keep an eye on them. If they park somewhere and are just sitting there getting cold, I put them back in their heated box. They come from the tropics, and where they come from, there is no such thing as too cold. anywhere they park is warm enough, and they don't have the power of logic to rationalize this heat issue and figure it out.

What is the temperature inside the box? How close is the heat lamp to the tortoise? Heat lamps are not an effective way to heat larger tortoises and often end up burning the carapace. Is there another heat source in addition to the heat lamp?

 

[2Bamboo]

Females almost never reach 100 pounds. Are sure sure its female? Have you had it on a scale or are you estimating that weight?

I keep them closed in until later in the day on cold, overcast and rainy days. Once I do open the door and let them out, I keep an eye on them. If they park somewhere and are just sitting there getting cold, I put them back in their heated box. They come from the tropics, and where they come from, there is no such thing as too cold. anywhere they park is warm enough, and they don't have the power of logic to rationalize this heat issue and figure it out.

What is the temperature inside the box? How close is the heat lamp to the tortoise? Heat lamps are not an effective way to heat larger tortoises and often end up burning the carapace. Is there another heat source in addition to the heat lamp?

Thank you Tom for your response. We have not had her on a scale, I just know that it is getting very difficult to pick her up...and I work out and am strong. We were told by a Vet when we first got her that she was female. Something about the curve, or not, of her shell. She was a Christmas present to our daughter from her Grandparents. She asked for a "turtle"...and she got a Tortoise that will outlive us. Our daughter has happily moved on with her life and her Christmas present will forever live with us. Her name is Noel. We think we have discovered the "problem". We had a period of cold weather...for California that is anything in the 30s...and our son turned up her heat when we were on vacation for the Holidays and he was housesitting. It is a ceramic heat bulb and sits high in the apex of her house. When she was much smaller and inside in a terrarium she pressed herself against a heating device and burned the top of her shell. She still has the scarring of that. We have been very careful that does not happen again. Learning curve. The heat never got turned back down and we think she heads outside to cool off. We are now curious to see if she decides to stay inside at night now that her heat is back to normal. Currently there is not a way to lock her in. The doorway just has heavy rubber flaps. Thanks again.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Thank you Tom for your response. We have not had her on a scale, I just know that it is getting very difficult to pick her up...and I work out and am strong. We were told by a Vet when we first got her that she was female. Something about the curve, or not, of her shell. She was a Christmas present to our daughter from her Grandparents. She asked for a "turtle"...and she got a Tortoise that will outlive us. Our daughter has happily moved on with her life and her Christmas present will forever live with us. Her name is Noel. We think we have discovered the "problem". We had a period of cold weather...for California that is anything in the 30s...and our son turned up her heat when we were on vacation for the Holidays and he was housesitting. It is a ceramic heat bulb and sits high in the apex of her house. When she was much smaller and inside in a terrarium she pressed herself against a heating device and burned the top of her shell. She still has the scarring of that. We have been very careful that does not happen again. Learning curve. The heat never got turned back down and we think she heads outside to cool off. We are now curious to see if she decides to stay inside at night now that her heat is back to normal. Currently there is not a way to lock her in. The doorway just has heavy rubber flaps. Thanks again.

I place a cement block in front of my tortoise house door flaps at night. But I keep 20 pound Redfoot. Not a 100 pound Sulcata.
You'll need a sturdy door with sturdy hinges and a latch of some sort.

 

[Yvonne G]

Thank you Tom for your response. We have not had her on a scale, I just know that it is getting very difficult to pick her up...and I work out and am strong. We were told by a Vet when we first got her that she was female. Something about the curve, or not, of her shell. She was a Christmas present to our daughter from her Grandparents. She asked for a "turtle"...and she got a Tortoise that will outlive us. Our daughter has happily moved on with her life and her Christmas present will forever live with us. Her name is Noel. We think we have discovered the "problem". We had a period of cold weather...for California that is anything in the 30s...and our son turned up her heat when we were on vacation for the Holidays and he was housesitting. It is a ceramic heat bulb and sits high in the apex of her house. When she was much smaller and inside in a terrarium she pressed herself against a heating device and burned the top of her shell. She still has the scarring of that. We have been very careful that does not happen again. Learning curve. The heat never got turned back down and we think she heads outside to cool off. We are now curious to see if she decides to stay inside at night now that her heat is back to normal. Currently there is not a way to lock her in. The doorway just has heavy rubber flaps. Thanks again.

Like I said, a piece of plywood blocked up with a cinderblock. That's how I close my tortoise doorways.

 

[Tom]

Thank you Tom for your response. We have not had her on a scale, I just know that it is getting very difficult to pick her up...and I work out and am strong. We were told by a Vet when we first got her that she was female. Something about the curve, or not, of her shell. She was a Christmas present to our daughter from her Grandparents. She asked for a "turtle"...and she got a Tortoise that will outlive us. Our daughter has happily moved on with her life and her Christmas present will forever live with us. Her name is Noel. We think we have discovered the "problem". We had a period of cold weather...for California that is anything in the 30s...and our son turned up her heat when we were on vacation for the Holidays and he was housesitting. It is a ceramic heat bulb and sits high in the apex of her house. When she was much smaller and inside in a terrarium she pressed herself against a heating device and burned the top of her shell. She still has the scarring of that. We have been very careful that does not happen again. Learning curve. The heat never got turned back down and we think she heads outside to cool off. We are now curious to see if she decides to stay inside at night now that her heat is back to normal. Currently there is not a way to lock her in. The doorway just has heavy rubber flaps. Thanks again.

What is the temperature inside the house? There is no way a single CHE is going to be able to keep it warm enough, and certainly not too warm in a CA winter.

You need a door for the house to keep the heat and the tortoise in at night. Yvonne's suggestion will work in the short term, but something with insulation, hinges and a latch would be really beneficial.

 

[wellington]

That's what we are wondering. Maybe because she is cold her reflexes are just slower. But walking over her food has us concerned.

Tortoises walk over their food all the time. My one leopard does it daily. The reflex will be slow when they are cold
I would do what Yvonne said or run something, an easily removable barrier across the yard so she has a smaller area for those colder days but she still wants to come out.

 

[Len B]

What is the temperature inside the house? There is no way a single CHE is going to be able to keep it warm enough, and certainly not too warm in a CA winter.

You need a door for the house to keep the heat and the tortoise in at night. Yvonne's suggestion will work in the short term, but something with insulation, hinges and a latch would be really beneficial.

I think the floor temperature is a important thing to look at. If its cool and the outside ground temp is warmer and sunny even with cooler temps outside at that moment a tortoise may sedle there to warm and slowly cool down enough to for it not to realize it as it's body temperature goes down. I wish the OP luck with figuring out what's going on with his tortoise. I have never had this problem, but I use bottom heat in all the houses.