Hatchling rf not eating

[itsameyoshi]

I've improved my little guys tank drastically in the short time I've had him. Today marks the 5th day he hasn't eaten. Is that normal sometimes? I have been putting carrot baby food in his morning bath and letting him stay in it for like 2 hours in his tank, so where it's his favorite temp...I know he's drinking, just wondering how long they can go without eating.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

What food have you tried to give him? Five days without feeding is not dangerous, as long as he is gaining weight. A tortoise that age should be constantly gaining weight from month to month, it is recommended you weigh them at least once a month.Has he been pooping and peeing normally? Is there other changes to his behaviour?

 

[itsameyoshi]

What food have you tried to give him? Five days without feeding is not dangerous, as long as he is gaining weight. A tortoise that age should be constantly gaining weight from month to month, it is recommended you weigh them at least once a month.Has he been pooping and peeing normally? Is there other changes to his behaviour?

Ok 👍 I've tried romaine, kale, all berries, & mulberrific delite. I've had a couple of days where he ate really well imo, but 1 of those days I forced it by holding him in my lap with food until he ate. Once he took 1 bite he kept with it. I started putting baby food in his morning bath and letting him soak/drink for awhile about 2 days ago. I noticed about 1.5 weeks ago his eyes would be sealed shut until I put him in a bath. I've since fixed that with proper temps/humidity and extra soaks. He seems pretty normal with activity. They're such sleepers at this stage it's difficult to really know. When I wake him, he's very alert.

 

[itsameyoshi]

Ok 👍 I've tried romaine, kale, all berries, & mulberrific delite. I've had a couple of days where he ate really well imo, but 1 of those days I forced it by holding him in my lap with food until he ate. Once he took 1 bite he kept with it. I started putting baby food in his morning bath and letting him soak/drink for awhile about 2 days ago. I noticed about 1.5 weeks ago his eyes would be sealed shut until I put him in a bath. I've since fixed that with proper temps/humidity and extra soaks. He seems pretty normal with activity. They're such sleepers at this stage it's difficult to really know. When I wake him, he's very alert.

The only thing remaining to fix is his UV. I've been using the coil bulb. I stopped completely 3 days ago when another user recommended that until I receive the uv tube light that's coming tomorrow. I have been letting him sun bathe outside in a secure cage so he's been getting direct sun since then. I thought maybe his metabolism is messed up and it'll just take awhile to fix.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Try strawberry, watermelon or mango.
Those are my Redfoot "jumpstart" foods that I use to get my sick Redfoot get interested in food again.
A baby Redfoot....Any Redfoot should be eating like a little pig.
Is your temperature correct? 80 to 86?
I know we've spoken previously about the uvb.

 

[itsameyoshi]

Try strawberry, watermelon or mango.
Those are my Redfoot "jumpstart" foods that I use to get my sick Redfoot get interested in food again.
A baby Redfoot....Any Redfoot should be eating like a little pig.
Is your temperature correct? 80 to 86?
I know we've spoken previously about the uvb.

Oh, hi zeropilot! You're right. I noticed your user name on other responses but didn't even look this time.

I have tried strawberry and mango. I even tried the leaves of the strawberry. I ordered Mazuri small tortoise diet LS for him since someone on here recommended it. It comes Monday.

My temps are 78 on my cool side and 92 on the other. I do need to re-fix them to the tank at turtle-level though. They are still a little over halfway up the tank so the temps on the ground where Yoshi is are probably a bit lower.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Lack of appetite is not normal for redfoots. And is bad for hatchlings. As of now, continue with carrot soaks - even miniscule amount of nutrients is good.

I agree with ZEROPILOT on offering some "irresistable" foods. Strawberries and blueberries don't work with my redfooted, though. But bananas and mushrooms (offer a thin slice only) - are always eaten without hesitation. Ripe, soft fruit are usually more attractive.

Mazuri LS probably won't work (rare tortoise love it from the first sight). But worth trying anyway. Mazuri 5M21 (Original) is not as good in content, but tortoises like it more.

 

[TammyJ]

The baby Redfoots need protein. When mine were babies, they ate pinkie mice, boiled egg, sardines in spring water, earthworms, and moistened dry or wet dog food. This was fed as about 20 percent of their day's food every other day or so. Mix the food thoroughly and offer clover and dandelion leaves, pumpkin flowers and leaves, and gratered or large pads of young opuntia cactus. No head-size chunks of any hard vegetables like carrot or pumpkin, they can choke to death on that. Grater any hard food or put large body-size pieces for them to bite off. If you have the right temperatures, lighting and humidity, and the right size enclosure, and do daily one hour WARM soaks, and if there's no disease present, and if you don't handle him too much and stress him out, he should soon start eating and thriving in your care!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I agree that the Mazuri LS may not get eaten by Redfoot.
It seems to be more palatable to grass eaters than tropical tortoises.

 

[itsameyoshi]

The baby Redfoots need protein. When mine were babies, they ate pinkie mice, boiled egg, sardines in spring water, earthworms, and moistened dry or wet dog food. This was fed as about 20 percent of their day's food every other day or so. Mix the food thoroughly and offer clover and dandelion leaves, pumpkin flowers and leaves, and gratered or large pads of young opuntia cactus. No head-size chunks of any hard vegetables like carrot or pumpkin, they can choke to death on that. Grater any hard food or put large body-size pieces for them to bite off. If you have the right temperatures, lighting and humidity, and the right size enclosure, and do daily one hour WARM soaks, and if there's no disease present, and if you don't handle him too much and stress him out, he should soon start eating and thriving in your care!

I did a screenshot of your food list. I'm going to try them. Thanks for thr reply.

 

[itsameyoshi]

I did a screenshot of your food list. I'm going to try them. Thanks for thr reply.

How did you obtain opuntia cactus?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

If it doesn't grow wild around you, you can look for opuntia ("prickly pear") in ethnic stores (called "nopales" in Mexican stores). Also pads can be shipped by mail and you can grow it yourself out of one of the pads. It's not super important food for redfoots, but rather a nice addition. Also, you can check Kapidolo Farms site and order something like cactus flour or dried plant mixes there.