Advice for my baby tortoise - not eating and losing weight

Marco123

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Joined
Oct 6, 2020
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2
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Manchester
Hi guys,

I have a 2-year old marginated tortoise called Donatella. Earlier this year, in lockdown she became poorly and we took her to the vets as she had problems with her eyes and wasn't active/eating etc. The vet did tell us then that Donatella was underweight, but she had a course of antibiotics and had been growing in size and weight and had been doing very well.

The past week, Donatella has stopped eating and has only eaten a few pellets which have been fed from my hands. She has stopped doing this and isn't eating at all. She is around 4.5 inches long and weighs 174 grams, around 4 weeks ago she weighed nearly 200 grams. I bathe her every few days and I feed her a daily amount of pellets for her nutrition and typically give her kale/cress to enjoy as she doesn't eat the dried tortoise food I get from an exotic pet shop. The temperature in her tortoise table typically stays at around 30 degrees C in the day, and the humidity is always fine. Today I mushed her pellets with cucumber and also watermelon to see whether this would entice her - it didn't. She hasn't got any signs of infection or illness, she's still as active as she usually is (she's never been very active since we got her).

Does anyone have any ideas of what could be wrong with her? Do you think she may be attempting to hibernate? I'm reluctant to hibernate her as I think she's underweight - does anyone know if she is underweight, given her weight and measurements? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm cautious about taking her to the vets in case she is fine just due to the hefty price tag.

Thanks
 

Gentledragons

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Oct 3, 2020
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3
Location (City and/or State)
Massachusetts
I would also like to know the answer to this. My Russian tortoise is doing the exact same thing. I’m not sure what is going on. He’s acting totally normal but hasn’t been eating and has been less active. I’d love to know if it’s a hibernation response or not.
 

Marco123

New Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2020
Messages
2
Location (City and/or State)
Manchester
I would also like to know the answer to this. My Russian tortoise is doing the exact same thing. I’m not sure what is going on. He’s acting totally normal but hasn’t been eating and has been less active. I’d love to know if it’s a hibernation response or not.

Glad to know someone else is experiencing something similar! Hope our torts are OK!
 

Yvonne G

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Just be sure all enclosure parameters are according to specs from care sheet and keep the light on as long summertime days. If everything is as it should be, carrot babyfood soaks are in order - 50/50 warm water/strained carrot baby food and leave him in there for 45 min. to an hour.
 

Tom

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Hi guys,

I have a 2-year old marginated tortoise called Donatella. Earlier this year, in lockdown she became poorly and we took her to the vets as she had problems with her eyes and wasn't active/eating etc. The vet did tell us then that Donatella was underweight, but she had a course of antibiotics and had been growing in size and weight and had been doing very well.

The past week, Donatella has stopped eating and has only eaten a few pellets which have been fed from my hands. She has stopped doing this and isn't eating at all. She is around 4.5 inches long and weighs 174 grams, around 4 weeks ago she weighed nearly 200 grams. I bathe her every few days and I feed her a daily amount of pellets for her nutrition and typically give her kale/cress to enjoy as she doesn't eat the dried tortoise food I get from an exotic pet shop. The temperature in her tortoise table typically stays at around 30 degrees C in the day, and the humidity is always fine. Today I mushed her pellets with cucumber and also watermelon to see whether this would entice her - it didn't. She hasn't got any signs of infection or illness, she's still as active as she usually is (she's never been very active since we got her).

Does anyone have any ideas of what could be wrong with her? Do you think she may be attempting to hibernate? I'm reluctant to hibernate her as I think she's underweight - does anyone know if she is underweight, given her weight and measurements? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm cautious about taking her to the vets in case she is fine just due to the hefty price tag.

Thanks

Where is it 30C? What is the basking temp? What is the over night low?

Depending on which ones, pellets can be a good supplemental food, but that should not be their main food. Likewise with Kale or cress. Once in a while for some variety, but not daily or even several times a week.

Read this for the correct care info. This will explain how it should be, and you can compare to what you've got going on there:
 
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