About a month ago my 7 year old 40 kg male Sulcata suddenly stopped pooping, stopped eating, stopped walking or moving. This is the complete opposite of his usual nature - he usually eats nonstop, poops, and walks all day! Long story short, we took him to the vet who did xrays and found his system was all blocked with his feces. After numerous shots and finally having to insert a feeding tube into his throat, we had to leave him at the vet and he has finally pooped out the majority of the blockage and started to drink water on his own last week. The problem is he still refuses to eat! The vet surmised that the feeding tube might have been making him uncomfortable so he took it out this past week, but my tortoise still just ignores his usual favorite veggies and fruits. We are bringing him home in a few days after his feeding tube wound heals, but we are worried that he still refuses to eat on his own. Has anyone ever experienced this with your tortoises? It’s really stressing me out and I just don’t understand why, doesn’t he feel hungry? It’s been about a month already since he has physically eaten anything on his own any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
My 7 year old Sulcata hasn’t eaten on his own for a month
- Thread starter Nujie
- Start date
You're very lucky to have found a vet who can work with your tortoise.
There are a few foods that we don't recommend feeding to tortoises, but the tortoises love them, and it's a good way to get him back to eating. Cut up a cucumber and offer it to the tortoise on a bed of iceberg lettuce. Watermelon is another one they love. Have you tried different flowers? Grape leaves?
And you also must address why he was constipated in the first place. Does he have water available at all times? Do you have a tub big enough to soak him in? He would benefit from being able to sit in warm water for about 20 or 30 minutes each day.
There are a few foods that we don't recommend feeding to tortoises, but the tortoises love them, and it's a good way to get him back to eating. Cut up a cucumber and offer it to the tortoise on a bed of iceberg lettuce. Watermelon is another one they love. Have you tried different flowers? Grape leaves?
And you also must address why he was constipated in the first place. Does he have water available at all times? Do you have a tub big enough to soak him in? He would benefit from being able to sit in warm water for about 20 or 30 minutes each day.
Thanks so much for your reply Yvonne G! Yes we are very fortunate to hv an exotic pet animal available nearby. The vet said basically that my tortoise has been over fed and hasn’t been able to excrete as fast as he takes in. He has a drinking water basin readily available and also has a small shallow soaking pond which he loves to sit while sunbathing. I haven’t tried cucumber or watermelon and will give both a try. We tried apples and strawberries (both not good for him too, but wanted to try luring him with some sweet treats) but he wasn’t interested at all. I really hope he starts to eat on his own soon. He’s already lost 5 kg in the past month!
Just an update - my sully is now back home and has been happily eating grass for over a week now ( his first bites of solid foods in over a month) and walks lots....but....since he got home over a week ago he hasn’t pooped at all. We soak him daily and he still walks a lot and eats grass and he has good energy but hasn’t taken a poop at all since he got home! Im wondering if his metabolism or his digestive system is just slow now after not having eaten solids for a month?
