Hello everyone,
I'm actually going to call a vet after this, but I would appreciate advice on this from experienced owners too.
I have a a fully matured Russian tortoise female who has been pretty darn active, but has rather suddenly decided she doesn't want to eat anymore. I live in an apartment so she's an inside tortoise and I've had her 3 years. I've scoured the forums on here already for similar problems, but all threads I've come across (that went into enough specifics) are about tortoises that have also become less active along with decreased appetite. Still, I've checked and rechecked her enclosure temperatures to make sure they're all correct, especially her basking, but haven't found anything wrong.
I've tried rotating different greens for her, things she's usually been all too happy to eat. She's refused radicchio. Radicchio! She LOVES radicchio! But no, whatever variations I try, she seems to just go over to her bowl, walk all over her food and spread it 'round her enclosure. I've tried to bathe her more often, these days to see if that would help. And while usually she'd pee and poo in the bath, she hasn't now. Not that I particularly expected her to poop when she hasn't been eating. She's peed when I've left her to run around, and that at least has looked normal.
I've put some cucumber in her salad and she's picked those out, and left everything else. I've fed her a strawberry which she was all too keen on so i spread some of the juice on her usual greens, and she's then eaten some of them. However, she hasn't otherwise been eating, active though she is. (unless tiny amounts when I'm not looking, it's hard to tell since she makes a mess) Also the strawberry was a one time deal, as I realize she can't process the sugar too well.
She digs around a lot in her enclosure, before climbing around to try and get out, especially if she sees me close by. I've never seen her this active, and still refuse to eat so I'm pretty worried.
Some people have suggested parasites in other threads, and am unsure what to make of that. My tort's foods are all store bought except when it's warm enough to actually grab stuff from outside (I live in Finland). The last time she got food from the garden was around August. Could a parasite have been dormant inside her and started causing her problems only now?
Any advice is much appreciated guys, thank you!
I'm actually going to call a vet after this, but I would appreciate advice on this from experienced owners too.
I have a a fully matured Russian tortoise female who has been pretty darn active, but has rather suddenly decided she doesn't want to eat anymore. I live in an apartment so she's an inside tortoise and I've had her 3 years. I've scoured the forums on here already for similar problems, but all threads I've come across (that went into enough specifics) are about tortoises that have also become less active along with decreased appetite. Still, I've checked and rechecked her enclosure temperatures to make sure they're all correct, especially her basking, but haven't found anything wrong.
I've tried rotating different greens for her, things she's usually been all too happy to eat. She's refused radicchio. Radicchio! She LOVES radicchio! But no, whatever variations I try, she seems to just go over to her bowl, walk all over her food and spread it 'round her enclosure. I've tried to bathe her more often, these days to see if that would help. And while usually she'd pee and poo in the bath, she hasn't now. Not that I particularly expected her to poop when she hasn't been eating. She's peed when I've left her to run around, and that at least has looked normal.
I've put some cucumber in her salad and she's picked those out, and left everything else. I've fed her a strawberry which she was all too keen on so i spread some of the juice on her usual greens, and she's then eaten some of them. However, she hasn't otherwise been eating, active though she is. (unless tiny amounts when I'm not looking, it's hard to tell since she makes a mess) Also the strawberry was a one time deal, as I realize she can't process the sugar too well.
She digs around a lot in her enclosure, before climbing around to try and get out, especially if she sees me close by. I've never seen her this active, and still refuse to eat so I'm pretty worried.
Some people have suggested parasites in other threads, and am unsure what to make of that. My tort's foods are all store bought except when it's warm enough to actually grab stuff from outside (I live in Finland). The last time she got food from the garden was around August. Could a parasite have been dormant inside her and started causing her problems only now?
Any advice is much appreciated guys, thank you!