Lethargic, not eating

[StarTortoiseForLIFE]

My 3 year old Indian Star Tortoise has been very lethargic lately. Not eating anything, sleeping all day, one eye closed. Vitamin A deficiency? He has a UVB light and gets enough heat. Humidity should not be a problem. idk Plz help quick

 

[Tom]

Vitamin A deficiency would be very unlikely in a tortoise. Most of what they eat is high in vitamin A. Aquatic turtles and box turtles might be a different story.

You problem is most likely related to temperatures. If you'll share some pictures of the enclosure and tell us your four temperatures and what heating and lighting you are using, we might be able to help you figure it out before it is too late.

Here is the correct care info:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[StarTortoiseForLIFE]

Vitamin A deficiency would be very unlikely in a tortoise. Most of what they eat is high in vitamin A. Aquatic turtles and box turtles might be a different story.

You problem is most likely related to temperatures. If you'll share some pictures of the enclosure and tell us your four temperatures and what heating and lighting you are using, we might be able to help you figure it out before it is too late.

Here is the correct care info:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Nice care sheet. Then the problem must either be with humidity or dehydration. Currently, I am soaking him in room temperature water, and his closed eye has mostly opened up. However, it is little cold nowadays, though Winter is ending. It might be with temperatures but I haven't had this problem before. Hopefully, he will start eating. He seems awake now. The heat lamp is heating currently.

 

[Tom]

Nice care sheet. Then the problem must either be with humidity or dehydration. Currently, I am soaking him in room temperature water, and his closed eye has mostly opened up. However, it is little cold nowadays, though Winter is ending. It might be with temperatures but I haven't had this problem before. Hopefully, he will start eating. He seems awake now. The heat lamp is heating currently.

Stars like it hot. No lower than 26C overnight, ambient should reach 32-34C during the day, and the basking area directly under the flood bulb should be around 36-37C.

There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

 

[MenagerieGrl]

And I would think room temp water would be too cool for your friend....