Why won't he eat?

[akp022]

For the past week and a half now, Aggie has barely eaten anything. The only thing I can get him to eat is radicchio (he loves it but it's not a healthy diet I know). He's really active still, his UVA/UVB light is only 3 months old, basking temp is between 90-100, ambient temp is mid 70s and night temps are between 70-80 (depending on how warm it is in my house that night...usually around mid 70s though). He goes through phases where he won't eat for a few days but this is past just a few days and he doesn't show any signs of being sick, so I'm at a loss ...

 

[Joanne]

I find dandelions are hard to turn down if you can find some just keep offering food and he will eat some eventually.

 

[ascott]

Does he get exercise/room for running around? Does he get soaked ? Does he poo daily?

It is not unusual for a wild tort to eat in this fashion, however a captive tort can still keep this pattern....OR he may not be hydrated enough and so when he eats he is not passing it on out on a routine basis so he will slow on eating until he is able to eliminate...

 

[akp022]

Does he get exercise/room for running around? Does he get soaked ? Does he poo daily?

It is not unusual for a wild tort to eat in this fashion, however a captive tort can still keep this pattern....OR he may not be hydrated enough and so when he eats he is not passing it on out on a routine basis so he will slow on eating until he is able to eliminate...

He does get plenty of exercise so that's not a concern; however I had not been giving him soaks because of how much he hates them, but as soon as I read this I realized that he is probably dehydrated so I have resumed his soaks (which I used to do once a week) and I can only keep him in there for 5-10 minutes before he starts to get really stressed out so I've been doing it everyday until he begins to rehydrate. Thanks for the advice, I don't know how I missed that he hasn't been going to the bathroom and that was probably at least part of the problem.

He also finally did poo yesterday and it seems that he has been eating his coconut coir and that could be another part of the problem, is that possible?

 

[JoesMum]

Soaking for success:
1. Do it first thing in the morning befire he has warmed up properly. A warm tort will be intent on escape
2. Use a high sided bowl that he can't see through or out of
3. Experiment with water temperatures until you find the right degree of warmth for your tort too relax. If the aater is too hot or cold, he'll want out.
4. Soak for a good 20 minutes which will haooen if he's cool and the water temperature is right
5. Feed straight after the soak