help - tortoise losing weight.

[Jabuticaba]

his lights are on a timer and they stay on for 13hrs. should i increase it to 14?

Twelve to 14 is good. Here's another question: Do you keep the whole room as bright as possible? I find that the enclosure lights alone aren't enough to keep my tortoises active. They act more like spotlighting. Animals that hibernate/brumate are especially sensitive to the changes in the horizon. The enclosure lights might be bright and produce UVB, but if the overall environment isn't bright enough, long enough, they might start to slow down.


May
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[jeffjeff]

yep the room is bright. his enclosure is close to a window and gets plenty light. not directly. its in the corner next to the window if that makes sense. the window is south facing so gets sun light all day. he stayed out and basked for an hour or so today after his morning soak and eat a tiny bit. which is a small improvement and he must have been out at some point while i was out as he's asleep in a different place.

 

[ascott]

Also, species of tortoise that are natural brumaters can individual have a strong drive to do what they are designed to do...all of the lights, all of the heat and business as usual methods will not trick the tortoise...lol...so if you are going to overwinter the tort and if you happen to have a tort with a strong drive to rest for the season----then be patient and you may have to be the one that is pulling the tort out each day..placing in for soaks, placing in basking spot and trying to get the tort to eat....if you overwinter the tort and all set up is maintained with the exception that the tort is not eating---your result will be a tortoise that drops some weight....

 

[pepsiandjac]

thanks for the reply i've tried to find it but seems we don't have it in the uk. are any of the other makes worth a try? komodo seems to be the most common and then t-rex, i've never fed any thing other than weeds and flowers.

http://www.custommyviv.com/mazuri-tortoise-diet-38-c.asp
Jeff i bought some off here last week ,or if you want i'll send you a bit to try him with

 

[jeffjeff]

http://www.custommyviv.com/mazuri-tortoise-diet-38-c.asp
Jeff i bought some off here last week ,or if you want i'll send you a bit to try him with

thats brill thanks i'll order it today.

 

[puffy137]

thanks. i'll increase it an hour see if it helps. he's still not eating much.a couple bites here and there. i'm going to continue the food soaks and keep offering him weeds ect just in case he decides to eat. that's if i can get rid of the darn slugs that are eating the winter food supply as fast as its growing. they seem hell bent on eating every thing in the green house grrr. time to order some diatomaceous earth me thinks

Why not try a beer trap for your slugs, never has the problem myself , but I seem to remember in UK they sunk a cup of beer into the earth & the slugs drank it, fell in & drowned . Easier on the environment too, cheers !

 

[jeffjeff]

Why not try a beer trap for your slugs, never has the problem myself , but I seem to remember in UK they sunk a cup of beer into the earth & the slugs drank it, fell in & drowned . Easier on the environment too, cheers !

i've ready that too but never tried it tho.

 

[puffy137]

i've ready that too but never tried it tho.

well it wouldn't hurt to try. I think its best to try the old remedies first. I remember my Granny pouring boiling water over ants . I should follow my own advice,today I sprayed insecticide on ants near my tortoises.......

 

[jeffjeff]

well it wouldn't hurt to try.

i wonder what drunk slug would be like? cant see them falling over much? lol

 

[puffy137]

i wonder what drunk slug would be like? cant see them falling over much? lol

Its many years since I lived in UK, so I can't imagine what they would do. If you ever do try it , let us know the results.

 

[jshaw9_]

Just bought some nutrazu for my leopard, he went straight for it

 

[WillTort2]

Try feeding dandelion flowers, stems and leaves.

 

[Louise C]

I don't want to panic you or anything Jeffjeff but I had a baby Russian I got in March from an online breeder/supplier in the UK. He would be the exact same age as your baby tort now if he had lived. He had reduced eating and subdued movements for a week before I took him to the vets and he had some antibiotic shots but didn't pick up as expected over the next two weeks despite changes in husbandry as recommended on this site.

He ended up getting a feeding tube surgically inserted but it still didn't save him...he died a week after the op from an infection called mycoplasma which is highly infectious in tortoises. It should be rare in captive bred as they need to be kept together to get it. I reported this back to the breeder/supplier post mortem to warn him that the hatchlings from the same batch will all have the same infection which can lie dormant from months to years. The company is the UK's biggest supplier of tortoises.

If your tort doesn't pick up and still looses weight then I'd probably get him to the vet and maybe mention mycoplasma as a possibility? There is a special antibiotic they have to use for it. If you suspect he came from the same supplier I am hinting at then I would get them to the vet asap.