My turtle wont eat!!! Please help!!

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tootiturtle

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Hi guys. I came to this forum searching for urgent help! My turtle didn’t eat once since I got it. I had it now for 3 weeks, I keep trying to feed it everyday. I even get the food to its peak, but it just looks at it and ignores it. Even if I leave her the food, it won’t eat it. What can I do?? Everyone told me to feed it lettuce ( my friend feeds his turtle which is exactly the same as mine and it eats the lettuce ) but it doesn't want to eat it. As for drinking, I saw it drinking sometimes when I put her in some water. Some behaviors I saw while watching, is she likes to go under many things trying to hide or keep pushing walls or scratching them and going to corners hitting its head!! Is that NORMAL?!?! I usually leave her roaming in all the apartment freely and usually set her in the balcony for sunlight. I live in Egypt and I have 0 knowledge on turtles!

Please, if anyone can provide me some help, I ll be so thankful. I wish I could see her eat, even for once!!! I ll provide a picture for her and the type of food I feed her because I am not sure of its species :S
Can anyone also give me an estimation how old is she?
Waiting for your help guys and thanks a lot!!!14052010468.jpg14052010464.jpg14052010467.jpg
 
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Itort

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I'm not sure if you have dandelions in Egypt but if so it is great food for torts. Lettuce is not (no nutritive value). Another thing you can try giving it is cactus pads (opuntia) cut up into bite size chunks. Collard greens from the grocery are good. Another thing it needs is a hide for security. Others on this forum may be able to make more suggestions as to foods from your area as I'm from the middle of the USA and am not familiar with N. Africa or the Mediterrian area.
 

tootiturtle

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I ll try to search the food you mentioned and gets its meaning and see if its available or no. I have a hide for it a cartoon box. But how can i know if it doesn't like the food itself or it wont eat for some other reason?! And why my friend's turtle which is exactly the same as mine eats and mine wont eat? We have the same conditions I assume! The forum seems pretty dead, I keep checking every half an hour and just 1 reply! =( I m so worried about her!! Thnx for your reply anyways!
 
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Maggie Cummings

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Your tortoise cannot roam your house. I know Egypt is a hot country but I am thinking you have air conditioning and that makes the floor and the tortoise cold. Your tort needs to be set up in a habitat with basking lights and a hide and substrate. Her metabolism needs to be 85 degrees or more in order for her organs to process her food. She is too cold. She is not a cat or dog to be roaming your floors. You need to set her up correctly and treat her like a tortoise or she will die. So please get the correct equipment and set her up right and warm her up and then she will eat. Do some research on her species to see what kind of food she should eat. Lettuce is not much good for tortoises. You've already been given advice on feeding so take our advice and take better care of your tortoise.
I can't recognize her species from your picture so I can't send you a care sheet. But someone else here will do that I am sure...
 

tootiturtle

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We haven't opened our AC yet, so the house is at room temperature or slightly warmer. As for the balcony, which is the place we keep her mostly in, is provided with a good lighting from the sun, the temperature is around 32+ Celsius which is 90 Fahrenheit so I assume the floor is not cold that way and we have a box in which she likes to enter and sleep inside. What measures else should I take, and is the behavior I stated above normal for her? And again why is my friend's turtle eating lettuce and mine is not? T_T I will work with the food advice above, but that question is confusing me!
I ll wait for more people who can identify my turtle! =) and thanks so much for your post!
 

Kristina

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I can tell you that it is a tortoise, NOT a turtle.

As to why your friend's is eating and yours is not, there is really no way to say. NEITHER yours or your friends tortoise SHOULD be eating lettuce, as stated above, it is not a good food for them to live on alone. They need a variety of greens and weeds.
 

tootiturtle

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Can you give me some information in order to set her up a good environment so she can eat? And Isn't there anyway to find it's species? The store doesn't seem to have any information and I can't get any proper information no matter how many times I searched :S
 

Kristina

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We have a member here that can ID just about any species of tortoise in the world... I am sure he will answer soon. Please be patient, we are all in different time zones and different countries. A few more hours won't hurt her any.

Once we all know what species she is, we can help you with a proper set up and diet.

Personally I think she is an Egyptian tortoise, Testudo kleinmanni. If you can show pictures of the bottom of her shell (plastron) and tail area, we can tell you if it is male or female for sure.
 

tootiturtle

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Yeah, I just searched and its an Egyptian tortoise, she's a female one by the way! Now, I m just worried about her food because not all what I read while searching is available in Egypt market :S
 

tootiturtle

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Thanks a lot for this care sheet, it helped me learn a lot about her! I ll be glad to accept any suggestions about food which I can feed her and which is present in the egyptian market. This sheet doesn't provide much information about the names of greens that I should feed her! =(
 

K9KidsLove

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Hi...what is her poop like? Soft or hard, color, really smelly? Do you have a veterinarian nearby that you can take a poop sample to so s/he can check for parasites, bacteria, coccidia, etc. Make sure the vet knows about tortoises because the dose for medications for tortoises is different than for cats & dogs.
Good luck. Please keep us posted as to how she is doing.
Patsy
 

tootiturtle

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Hi, patsy. Today, I checked her in the morning and she made a small black poop with a decent amount of water, then 1 min later a white poop which is semi liquid followed by water too. The water was quite too much. Is that normal? Is that good or bad? Does that mean she's eating secretly? Today, I got her a variety of greens that I searched google upon for this type of turtles but still it wont eat any of it, just ignore it! We don't have any veteran near by that's why I m trying to seek online help as much as I can until I finish my exams after a month. I m still worried :(

Also, it went out of the balcony and went to hide between 2 coaches in the saloon. I wonder why she keeps on doing that, everyday she tries to hide between stuff although there is a security box for it in the balcony! Please help me get to know things better, I m so confused of it's actions.
 

rad8ted92083

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tootiturtle said:
Hi, patsy. Today, I checked her in the morning and she made a small black poop with a decent amount of water, then 1 min later a white poop which is semi liquid followed by water too. The water was quite too much. Is that normal? Is that good or bad? Does that mean she's eating secretly? Today, I got her a variety of greens that I searched google upon for this type of turtles but still it wont eat any of it, just ignore it! We don't have any veteran near by that's why I m trying to seek online help as much as I can until I finish my exams after a month. I m still worried :(

Also, it went out of the balcony and went to hide between 2 coaches in the saloon. I wonder why she keeps on doing that, everyday she tries to hide between stuff although there is a security box for it in the balcony! Please help me get to know things better, I m so confused of it's actions.
Thats an Egyptian tortoise looks like a wild caught adult.If it feels unsafe like no barriers from whats going on hes scared and wont eat mine like to bask under a 160 watt uv light good luck
 
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