Tortoise isn't eating!

Rylatts

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Hello everyone,

I have a spur-thighed tortoise that was hatched in august 2015, his name in Sheldon (Original i know :) )

IMG_20160711_181929006.jpg


Recently Sheldon hasn't been eating his food, also unless woken he doesn't wake up.
I haven't seen him poo in a while also, at least a week. same with urates.

He has lots nearly 10g which is very worrying!
I bath him daily with added Reptoboost, he gets fed weeds from the garden and also weeds that i have grown.
Recently i changed his enclosure and build my own one, he used to live in a vivarium (New home below)
IMG_20160705_172029446.jpg

He used to have wood chip as his substrate which was changed as i didn't think it was good for him, he now has "Tortoise life" as it was new i fear he ingested some of it.
At the basking end of the enclosure the temps are 30 Degrees c and at the opposite end it is 20-25 Degrees C.
I also have a cuttlefish in the enclosure for him to attack, and have a calcium supplement that i put on his food from time to time. Also as you can see there is a UV tube in his enclosure, also there is a heat mat in his home which is set to turn on when it drops below 19 Degrees C.

I think that's about it, if anyone has any other questions please ask as i'm starting to get worried :(

I'm thinking about making an appointment to see the vets soon!​
 

BrianWI

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I read some reviews on that substrate and saw a couple got sick/ died from eating it :(
 

Rylatts

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I read some reviews on that substrate and saw a couple got sick/ died from eating it :(
I will be phoning the vets tomorrow to book an appointment, is there a substrate that you would recommend?
 

BrianWI

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I like coarse coco fiber over fine coco fiber.
 

jockma

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I don't know if this will help with every tortoise, but when my RF had an impaction it helped to put him in a shower. I think the vibration on his shell as well as the larger area to walk around in helped.
 

Gillian M

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Sorry that your tort is not eating. I'd suggest a visit to the vet, the sooner the better. Good luck and please keep us updated.

And welcome to the forum!
 

Rylatts

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Appointment has been made, unfortunately the earliest they could do is Friday :( but the upside is that's the day the tortoise specialist is in. Hope Sheldon will be okay for now, he did eat a small amount this morning but not much at all :(
 

jockma

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If it's been only a week and he hasn't gotten worse, that's good news. The fact that he ate a bit is good news too. I'm hoping for the best for both of you.
 

Linhdan Nguyen

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If it's been only a week and he hasn't gotten worse, that's good news. The fact that he ate a bit is good news too. I'm hoping for the best for both of you.
Eating a little should be okay. My tortoise ate some fir bark chips when i added it to her enclosure. I guess she was just curious cause she hasnt done it since.
Your tortoise may have internal parasites. When you go to the vet, ask to do a fecal sample to check. My other tortoise had really bad parasites and he was the like yours, except he wouldnt eat
 

TammyJ

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All the best of luck and I hope the vet trip is the turning point for his recovery!
 

Rylatts

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Sheldon seems to be eating a little bit more now and isn't loosing weight, the vet phoned me and said that if there isn't any change bring him in. As there has been change i have decided for now to leave the trip to the vets, his substrate has been changed back to woodchip which was the one he was used to, i will be searching for a new substrate to use though!

Thanks for all the help everyone!

Brian suggested using "coarse coco fiber" is there any other recommendations or is this the best stuff to use? i have had so many people say different things, starts to get a bit confusing...
 

BrianWI

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Coco fiber is great for humidity, cheap and easy.
 

jockma

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Gorgeous baby!

I'm glad he's eating more. Sometimes things like this just happen out of the blue. Mine didn't eat for 2 weeks because he didn't like one of the foods I was feeding him.

I recommend coco anything, I haven't tried the long fiber kind and only tried the compressed coir bricks but they're great at retaining moisture, don't cause impactions, and they don't mold so bugs don't infest the enclosure as easily (if you don't want them to, that is). Coco substrate also smells great.
 

TammyJ

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I don't like wood chips for any animal. What kind of wood anyway? Some is toxic.
 

TammyJ

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I don't like wood chips for any animal. What kind of wood anyway? Some is toxic.
Plus, I think the food and water containers are too deep/too high-sided, depending on how big he is as I have not seen him in his enclosure so I am not aware of how big he is compared to the dishes. If he is small he may climb them and end up on his back, just telling you one of my experiences (and I am pretty new to tortoises).
 

JoesMum

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Hello

Taking a quick look at your enclosure, it does look rather dry. You need to raise humidity for your tort to grow smoothly.

Coco coir and orchid bark are substrates that both hold moisture well.

I also suggest you change over your food bowls.

Those reptile bowls are not suitable for tortoises - they're a tipping hazard and torts find them difficult to drink from. Use your terracotta plant saucer for water - sink it into the substrate a little.

Use a piece of slate or flat rock for food. Eating off it helps to abrade the beak, stopping it from overgrowing, and walking over it helps with keeping claws worn down.

You could also do with some plants in there so your tort can graze and hide under them. Sink plants pots into the substrate so the plants can be changed easily - with a bit of the rim standing proud so your tort is less likely to flatten the plant by walking over it.
 

TammyJ

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Did I say his hide looks amazing? Nice job!
 

Rylatts

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Thank you everyone for your help, the picture of the enclosure has changed a little bit.

i'm now using slate to feed him from and will change the water dish to the terracotta pot, as for plants i have wheat grass growing in there and i sometimes put white clover plants growing also.

I will be buying a coco coir substrate soon also!

thanks again!!!

I will keep everyone updated :)
 
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