18 year old Russian Tortoise, not eating, and sleeping all the time... Brumating?

[Grace-Sophia]

Hello all, I haven't posted here in a while, my life has been quite crazy recently.

I have a RT that is 18 years old, starting in about November, he has been sleeping, and been being very lazy. I have been making sure to soak him multiple times a week, as well as make sure that he is getting warm enough. I was taking him out the other day, to soak him, and do a check in, when I realized that he was quite a bit lighter than I would expect. This all going to say, that he hasn't been eating much... at all, maybe a few nibbles here and there, but, this has been going on for the last few months. I am now stating to get a little worried, is there anything that I can do to help get him eating again? Is this just him brumating, and will it get better come spring time? I am going to run to the store, hopefully today to pick him up some of the things that I know that he likes, so hopefully he will eat at lease a little bit. If not, and if it becomes more of an issue, I am going to take him into his veterinarian. I have also heard of a baby food carrot soak, to get a few nutrients and calories into a tort, is this a good option as of now? I would really appreciate some feed back, I'm not quite sure what to do as of now, any thoughts or suggestions would be very helpful, thank you.

 

[jsheffield]

Hello,

I don't brumate my Russians. A few of my Russians slow down a bit in the winter months even though I try to keep the light and heat roughly the same year around.

I get all of them out for soaking, and to track their weight, every few weeks, but I think so long as you can keep them hydrated, they'll be fine until the days get longer and warmer and they begin to eat more.

I have a few Russians that don't slow down at all... I assume that whatever makes the difference is in their background/genetics.

As long as your Russian isn't losing a lot of weight, they should be fine slowing down a bit in the darker/colder months... you could try feeding them one of their favorite foods... mine seem to like radicchio best of all their wintertime greens, and I also feed mine a bit of butternut squash (which they LOVE) a couple of times a week.

Jamie

 

[Yvonne G]

As you are learning from the weight loss, you need to either allow this tortoise to brumate, or set him up in conditions that keep him awake and encourage him to eat. If it were me, I would raise the temperature and pester him throughout the day, not allowing him to sleep.

 

[Cathie G]

Hello all, I haven't posted here in a while, my life has been quite crazy recently.

I have a RT that is 18 years old, starting in about November, he has been sleeping, and been being very lazy. I have been making sure to soak him multiple times a week, as well as make sure that he is getting warm enough. I was taking him out the other day, to soak him, and do a check in, when I realized that he was quite a bit lighter than I would expect. This all going to say, that he hasn't been eating much... at all, maybe a few nibbles here and there, but, this has been going on for the last few months. I am now stating to get a little worried, is there anything that I can do to help get him eating again? Is this just him brumating, and will it get better come spring time? I am going to run to the store, hopefully today to pick him up some of the things that I know that he likes, so hopefully he will eat at lease a little bit. If not, and if it becomes more of an issue, I am going to take him into his veterinarian. I have also heard of a baby food carrot soak, to get a few nutrients and calories into a tort, is this a good option as of now? I would really appreciate some feed back, I'm not quite sure what to do as of now, any thoughts or suggestions would be very helpful, thank you.

What I do is use that favorite food and rub a sprinkling of D3 on it. Hopefully the food is one with a lot of water in it. My little Russian always slows down around November thru whenever he becomes active again. He becomes active earlier than it used to be. I don't let him be inactive for over a day or so though. I place him beside his food tile. Could sh/he be a bit constipated?