Cherry Head NOT eating HELP!!!

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tanker

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HELP!!!
I just bought a 6 month old red foot cherry head tortoise 7 days ago and it is NOT eating/drinking.
Its substrate is peat moss and coconut shavings. during the day the temp is between 75-82' with the heat source being a heat lamp. Also he is given light from a UVB light, both being on for 12 hours in the day time.
When those two light are turned off we have a heat pad from below and the average temp is between 65-70'. Both heat sources are only used on one half of the enclosure.
The only time he drinks is when I put him in the water, 2 times a day. I am giving him fresh Romain lettuce and offer tomatoes (sometimes). I have placed 2 water dishes in his enclosure and put food in 3-4 different spots so when he might move he might run into some food!
He will NOT eat. I have tried putting it up to his mouth placing it in front of him.
He doesn't move much at all and seems to be sleeping always...
I am very concerned and needing help for my little friend ):
 

N2TORTS

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Try hibiscus, sweet patato , or watermelon , mango. Also, I yet have seen any resist warm soaked mazuri.
Now for your tort...... Eyes clear ? ... wheezing? , bubbles ..from nose? Swollen gums ?
Torts can go long time without food ...but make sure to keep hydrated.
Your UVB ... is not needed... redfoots dont need alot of light with those types of wave lengths. Unless you keep him in a dark closet. Normal window " natural light " .. is fine .
Is there a " hide" within the enclosure for him to escape all light if he wanted to ?
The heat pad is not needed as well .. unless he is kept out doors or some cold type" room ect. A norm room temp is 68 and with your added heat lamp ... should be able to provide a spot in the 80's which is fine . And at night if temps drop and no light is wanted , use a ceramic heat emmiter. They work better distributing heat and are much safer.
As long as other things look fine .. eyes, mouth , nose .. ect and no rapid loss of wieght ( you will see it in the limbs and neck) your tort WILL eat when its ready to .
To a better health for your little guy ~
JD~:)
 

Angi

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I am NOT an expert and I have desert torts not Cherrys. So I don't know about their diet. But I would go to the Cherry head section of this forum and check out the care sheet. See what the recomended diet is and try something from that list. Get your advice from the care sheets on this forum NOT a pet store. I am sure you will hear from one of the experts soon. There are a lot of very knowledgable people on this forum that are great about giving advice.
Good luck :)

See you got two experts while I was typing :)
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Tanker:

Welcome to the forum!!
 

Candy

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Tanker Terry is right he probably is too cold. Mine won't eat until it reaches 85 degrees. I have two babies and mostly always are under the heat emitter. I also don't give just Romaine and I don't feed tomatoes very often. Try some spring mix and then on another day give some Strawberries or kiwi or figs of grapes. You can give grape leaves or hibiscus leaves or flowers. You said that it's only drinking when you put him in the water that's o.k. mine do that too. Do you have a hide that he can go into to away from the light? They prefer not to have the light shining right on them. What is your humidity lever in the enclosure at? They love humidity. Can you post any pictures of him and his enclosure?
 

terryo

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Welcome Tanker. A heat emitter is your best bet...I keep mine at 85 throughout the whone enclosure. Your temp. is too cold for him to eat. Also they don't like bright lights. Romane and tomatoes are not a good choice for food either.
Try Nerd's caresheet. It works and is simple to follow. http://www.turtletary.com/redfootcare.htm
 

tanker

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We have contacted the breeder and she just says that we over heated him for the first few days at 90' and that he is stressed. She said to soak him once a day and mist him a few times a day. So I have been doing this and talk to her today and she doesnt know why hes not eating...
Then I have been told to not handle him and just soak him and offer food.
Just now I soaked him for about 1 minute and he doesnt even wake up or drink. That said he did drink earlier today. He usually wakes when I put hi in the luke warm water. I just tried to feed him some sweet potatoe and banana and again he isnt having it! Im FREAKING OUT!!!
My QUESTIONS...
1) can I hold him while in this state/will it make him feel better?
2)What else should I offer him
3) should I soak him in water 2-3 times a day?
 

dmmj

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My RF (not a cherry head) is a couple of years old now, but I would suggest earth worms night crawlers or something like that, mine love slugs and snails.fresh from the garden
 

Redfoot NERD

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tanker........ chill out.. freaking out doesn't help.. get the temps in the mid-80's ASAP.. STOP soaking and handling him.. STOP soaking and handling him.. STOP soaking and handling him..

The more you soak him and handle him the worse it gets! Is this a hatchling? It sounds like it.

tanker..... being new to cherryhead keeping is a new WORLD to you. It's not to me.. I've started and raised them for a long time.... so read the caresheet that has been recommended and most here are using as the example.. we're all saying basically the same things. And BTW.. STOP soaking and handling him. Please!?

Your little friend is not going to eat until he is warm and comfortable and is not afraid that you are going to dunk him in water and hold him. Let him chill out for a day or two. He will not starve himself.. as long as you leave him alone.

NERD
 

Candy

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You don't need to freak out because that won't help you or him. I wouldn't be removing him from the heat to hold him I would think that leaving him there would be a better choice for now. He drank today so he's o.k. with his water intake. Tomorrow maybe offer him something like spring mix or a mushroom (mine love mushrooms), but I wouldn't take him out to do it. Even if you soak him tomorrow I would just put him in his water dish in his enclosure. I didn't soak mine everyday when I got them I just misted them once or twice a day and soaked them 2 to 3 times a week. Does he have somewhere where he can hide and feel safe? Remember to keep his basking spot at 85 degrees mine love that and they hardly ever will move away from it. Even Dale my 5 year old loves it at 85 degrees.
 

Madkins007

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tanker said:
[/size][/font]
HELP!!!
I just bought a 6 month old red foot cherry head tortoise 7 days ago and it is NOT eating/drinking.
Its substrate is peat moss and coconut shavings. during the day the temp is between 75-82' with the heat source being a heat lamp. Also he is given light from a UVB light, both being on for 12 hours in the day time.
When those two light are turned off we have a heat pad from below and the average temp is between 65-70'. Both heat sources are only used on one half of the enclosure.
The only time he drinks is when I put him in the water, 2 times a day. I am giving him fresh Romain lettuce and offer tomatoes (sometimes). I have placed 2 water dishes in his enclosure and put food in 3-4 different spots so when he might move he might run into some food!
He will NOT eat. I have tried putting it up to his mouth placing it in front of him.
He doesn't move much at all and seems to be sleeping always...
I am very concerned and needing help for my little friend ):

Hi Tanker!

1. Relax. A healthy Red-foot, even a young one can go several days with no food. The only need about 40 calories a day at this size, and are really good at storing it and using it slowly.

2. Temps. Should be a bit higher both day and night. You also don't need the UVB on all day- several hours in the middle of the day is fine.

3. Water. You do not often see the tort drink or soak, but if the water dish allows it and the temps are good, it almost always will when it needs to- but also, if the humidity is where it needs to be, it also won't need to drink as often. A good dish is big, set flush in the substrate, easy to get in and out of, not cold water, fresh and clean, and deep enough to rest so the water goes about 1/2 way up the shell. The dish should also be made of something you would be willing to drink out of. I like plastic or glazed plant saucers, but other things work nicely.

4. Diet. It needs work. Try the link in my signature- there is a Red-foot Care sheet that has been reviewed by several respected keepers you hopefully will find useful.

5. Handling. You are touching your tort a lot. How relaxed would you be if a giant creature picked you up for unknown reasons? Tortoises generally only get picked up by predators and it scares them. Let it alone to relax. It will learn where the food is.
 

tanker

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Redfoot NERD said:
tanker........ chill out.. freaking out doesn't help.. get the temps in the mid-80's ASAP.. STOP soaking and handling him.. STOP soaking and handling him.. STOP soaking and handling him..

The more you soak him and handle him the worse it gets! Is this a hatchling? It sounds like it.

tanker..... being new to cherryhead keeping is a new WORLD to you. It's not to me.. I've started and raised them for a long time.... so read the caresheet that has been recommended and most here are using as the example.. we're all saying basically the same things. And BTW.. STOP soaking and handling him. Please!?

Your little friend is not going to eat until he is warm and comfortable and is not afraid that you are going to dunk him in water and hold him. Let him chill out for a day or two. He will not starve himself.. as long as you leave him alone.

NERD

I think your right as far as being a hatchling and NOT a 6 month old...
My husband was told he was 6 months but I have been looking at A LOT of pics and he IS a hatchling. He is 1.5 - 2 inches in size. Im so upset and hope that he wont die. Do you think he will???
I will STOP soaking him but how will he drink? I will mist him 3 times a day and keep him warmer. Thanks for your help!


So I have come to realize that this "6 month" RF is actually 6 weeks... I am really upset and hope I can get him back to good health.
Any advise is more than welcome!!!
 

Madkins007

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tanker said:
We have contacted the breeder and she just says that we over heated him for the first few days at 90' and that he is stressed. She said to soak him once a day and mist him a few times a day. So I have been doing this and talk to her today and she doesnt know why hes not eating...
Then I have been told to not handle him and just soak him and offer food.
Just now I soaked him for about 1 minute and he doesnt even wake up or drink. That said he did drink earlier today. He usually wakes when I put hi in the luke warm water. I just tried to feed him some sweet potatoe and banana and again he isnt having it! Im FREAKING OUT!!!
My QUESTIONS...
1) can I hold him while in this state/will it make him feel better?
2)What else should I offer him
3) should I soak him in water 2-3 times a day?

A. The temps probably did not overly stress it if it really was just 90F, but dehydration is a big problem and it gets worse with heat.

B. Soaks. Soaks are nice, but it is best when the tortoise chooses to do it itself in a good dish as described earlier. If you DO soak it (and I rarely soak mine), do so for about 10-20 minutes in shallow, warm water. Not a lot of evidence that more soaks help faster.

C. Misting. This is a great way to introduce the humidity and help manage dehydration. Mist the shell until it drips and repeat several times a day. Don't wet everything down unless it is has good drainage or evaporates to humidity quickly.

D. Diet. You really need to read up on the diet. Try the link in my sig.

E. Holding him. See other response. To repeat- not too much, please.

F. Calm down and do some research. It is easy to get off to a bad start, but it is also easy to correct it and do better. Read Terry K (NERD's) stuff, read my stuff, read the stuff at http://www.tortoisetrust.org if you want more.

There is not ONE ALL-INCLUSIVE, PERFECT PLAN for Red-foots. There are several factors that can make one person's perfect plan not as successful for you as it is for others. But- the basics are pretty basic. - - Get the heat to the mid-80's,
- get the humidity up in at least part of the habitat,
- use substrate and housing that helps rather than making things harder,
- use gentle, balanced lighting and offer a lot of shade,
- offer at least a little UVB lighting,
- offer a varied, healthy diet rich in greens and leaves, with some fruit and a little meat,
- just for insurance, offer a little calcium carbonate (a pinch a week is probably enough for most situations. A TINY pinch of a multivitamin even less often can be used if you are unsure that the diet is balanced and healthy.
- give them places to hide, climb, explore, and enjoy,
- watch them a lot and handle/disturb them little.
 

tanker

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Redfoot NERD said:
First and foremost he is cold and there is too much light. To keep it simple read and follow this.. http://www.turtletary.com/redfootcare.htm

It has worked for many and has pics of the results from following it.

Keep us posted.

NERD
Hi Terry,
thanks for your info on your website. Im going to try giving you a call tomorrow. i finally feel like I know what Im doing...
 

LindaF

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Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of red foots. Listen to Terry K. He has saved my little torts life multiple times and stopped me from freaking out and obsessing so much. Remember he is a "wild" creature and a baby and babies like to hide. Less handling is better. Make sure his room/area is quite. LOL I learned I was stessing out my baby when I discovered that when no one was looking he would drag his greens into his hide and eat in peace.
 

tanker

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Thanks!!! yes I have read Terrys' website and he has already given me hope and great advise!
 
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