My tortoise refuses to eat his hay

[LittleSkittle]

Hello readers,

I have a 6 month old sulcata tortoise named Little Skittles or skittles for short. I got him at 1 month old and have had to take him to the vet twice in the past few months. The first was of bad husbandry on my part. I've been scolded by my vet and have fixed my ways. The last time I've taken him/her to the vet was yesterday for the same thing, a respiratory infection. This was brought on by a fire in the building and me rushing him/her to the next building over. He was outside, but in my coat, for a few minutes. I live in Iowa and it gets cold in the winter.

That was a background on the reason why he/she is sick. Now here is my question. Due to me giving him/her a pelleted tortoise food, he/she now refuses to eat his/her hay. I want to quit the pelleted stuff cold turkey and give him/her only hay, but because he/she is sick and over the next 18 days has to be fed medicine, I don't want to shock his/her system too much. Do you guys have a recommendation on how to deal with both problems? Should I continue with his/her average feed regimen until the medicine has worked through the system, or should I change everything now? Do you guys have another solution to encourage hay consumption?

Even though my tortoise is only 6 months, the scutes aren't growing in a smooth fashion, I assume this is because of too much protein. I want to stop any pyramiding now before it ever becomes a problem. I want a beautiful, big, well formed tortoise in 5-8 years to show off to people.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

welcome to the forum! generally hatchling sulcatas don't eat hay they will prefer fresh grasses. the main cause of pyramiding is lack of humidity is a tortoises environment, sulcata hatchlings should have 80% humidity. there is a large number of vets who give out extremely outdated information about tortoise care. can you post some pics of the tortoises enclosure and the tortoise.

 

[LittleSkittle]

Sorry for the bad quality. Had to use my phone. The first 2 pictures are of the tortoise table, and the last 3 are of Little Skittle.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

yea the enclosure is way to dry for a baby sulcata. take out the substrate and replace it with coco coir. the substrate needs to be moist.
the water bowl should be more open and be shallow. read this ENTIRE care sheet. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

the first picture is a sulcata raised in a nice humid environment and the second picture is a sulcata kept dry.

 

[LittleSkittle]

I had the coco coir originally but it caused the 1st respiratory infection. I used the advice of the tortoise forum and got negative results. So I contacted someone in the area with experience in tortoise care and they told me coco coir use is a load of crock and to switch to rabbit food as substrate.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

I had the coco coir originally but it caused the 1st respiratory infection. I used the advice of the tortoise forum and got negative results. So I contacted someone in the area with experience in tortoise care and they told me coco coir use is a load of crock and to switch to rabbit food as substrate.

was the coco coir moist? was the basting spot 90°+?

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

rabbit pellets should never be used for any species of tortoise its way to dry.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

I'm sorry that happened, but I really don't think coco coir is why your baby got sick. Being too cold is usually why they get sick. If you didn't like the coir, then you can use orchid bark. But the main thing is, you need a substrate that you can moisten. And when you have a moist substrate, you can't allow your tortoise to be cool. He needs to be warm at all times.

Your 'experienced' person in the area is telling you old, outdated tortoise-keeping practices. Tortoises raised dry on pellets, grow up to be deformed or pyramided. If you want a smooth healthy-looking baby, you need to give him a moist and humid environment. But WARM, not cool.

 

[LittleSkittle]

The coco coir was moist. But not soaking and the basking area is at 94 degrees.

 

[russian/sulcata/tortoise]

cypress mulch, orchard bark, and coco coir are good substrates that hold humidity really well

 

[Earth Mama]

So what is your experienced tortoise friend say about your current issue?

 

[LittleSkittle]

I was on my way to ask my friend after work. And as to the other stuff mentioned such as cypress mulch and orchard bark, are they easily obtained. Can they be found at places like Lowes or Walmart or something? I really not want to hurt my tortoise by causing pyramiding. I'm just afraid to use coco coir again.

 

[tortdad]

If your baby got sick and you were using moist coir then your temps were too low. No other reason. There is also almost no way possible to keep a constant 80% humidity with that rabbit cage. Sorry but your vet and friend are giving you bad advice

 

[LittleSkittle]

This is no way intended to be rude, but can I please see some academic papers on the 80% humidity? As well as for the various substrates. It'll ease my worries if I can read about it from someone with doctorate and with certified, published material.

 

[leopard777]

its based on how a female sulcata lay her eggs and hatch during rainy season in the wild , and the burrow has high humidity , take some time to read past thread i am sure you can find the info , btw did a vet tell you coco coir cause RI ?

 

[LittleSkittle]

Thank you. I'll look into that. But until I've seen bona fide research I wont change anything.

 

[Dizisdalife]

This is no way intended to be rude, but can I please see some academic papers on the 80% humidity? As well as for the various substrates. It'll ease my worries if I can read about it from someone with doctorate and with certified, published material.

Well, you are probably not going to get that here. You could take a look at the Wisner & Iben study done in about 2002. It shows a distinct correlation between a humid environment and a smooth carapace in sulcata. It clearly recommends 100% RH. But like many publications in the world of academics it has it's doubters as to the thoroughness of the research, and hence the validity of the findings.

What you will find here is a lot of experienced keepers that have raised hundreds of babies using almost every method imaginable. Lots of disappointments, but lots of education as well. The suggestions you are going to get, either directly or indirectly, are intended to help you to not make all those mistakes that we have made. You are going to get helpful information and first hand advice that you can use to raise a healthy sulcata.

 

[LittleSkittle]

I was actually just reading through Wisner and Iben. And I think switching my substrate will be smart if I need to up the humidity. I'm still very wary on coco coirs. Has there been any talk on compaction due to ingestion of substrate that isn't rabbit food?

 

[Yvonne G]

That's why I like orchid bark. It doesn't cause impaction when ingested.