Russian tortoise not eating... apparently for months

[minorgrey]

Hello everyone! I will be coming into possession of an adorable russian tortoise next week. The family that currently owns it has come into some hardships and are unable to continue caring for it. The condition of its current habitat is less than optimal, and I've recently been told that the tortoise hasn't eaten for months (yes, months... several).

For about 3 months they just had a regular light bulb plugged in for the heat source/uv light. Last week they went out and bought a 75w infrared heat lamp (zoo-med). I don't have any info about the kind of light they were using before using a regular 60w light bulb, other than it was "whatever bulb the pet store told us to use". Long story short, this tortoise has not had a sufficient supply of heat, or UV light.

Just about everything in the habitat, including substrate, food, humidity, and calcium intake, has been wrong. I've owned reptiles in the past, but never one that has gone without eating for months. My first major question is: Is suddenly changing the entire habitat going to shock it? In one week I'll be bringing it to my home, which is in another state. Should I just focus on the UV source and leave the other stuff alone until it starts eating?

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Other info:
They've been trying to feed it iceburg lettuce, green peas, and broccoli. As far as they know it hasn't eaten any of that. I had them put a salad of mustard greens, aloe, and chrysanthemum flowers. Still hasn't touched it.

Substrate is dirt. I plan on using coco coir/cypress mulch.

It has no source of calcium right now. I'll be using a cuttlebone.

There is no way of knowing what the humidity is right now.

The enclosure is a handmade plywood box. No glass.
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Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Cowboy_Ken]

I've been staring at your post for 10 mins. trying to figure out how to respond. When you go over, take a humidity gauge with you so you can casually check the humidity.
I would gradually make changes. Starting with heat and proper lighting. Often proper lighting will be all that's needed to get it eating. So many functions are tied to UVA, UVB, and heat. Start soakings as well, 2-3 a day if you can. You can mix baby food in the soaking water, although I've never done this myself, some find this helps.
As for the not eating, you need to determine if this could be from an eye issue or just not interested in offered food. I have found dandelion flowers are good to offer in that they help entice them to eat. Check also for nasal discharge. This can been a sign of URI and that,too, will put them off feed. Blockage, too, will make them not want to eat. The blockage could be from eating something that isn't food or from lack of hydration.
With all that, good job helping this guy out. It's terrible to see how available Russian tortoises are and how typical the bad husbandry information passed on by pet store employees is, but I take solstice seeing folks like yourself willing to help them out. Thanks. : )

 

[shellysmom]

Wow. That's sad. I'm so glad you are stepping in to help. Cowboy Ken pretty much covered everything. If you have a reptile vet in your area, I would definitely take it in for a checkup. There could be any number of things wrong with this little one, and it would be nice to rule out impaction, or infection, or MBD, or anything else that could prove to be deadly. Also, the first thing I would do when you get it, is give it a nice long, warmish babyfood soak, or even a liquid vitamin soak. Instead of cuttlebone, I would start with powdered vitamin/mineral supplement. A couple of people on the forum have lost tortoises to impaction suspected to be from cuttlebone, so you might want to make sure his digestive tracts is functioning well again before you use it, just in case. Good luck. Keep us posted. PM me if you need any help with a vet.

 

[ascott]

Great save! I personally would set up whatever enclosure you have in mind because improving the conditions from the start is better than lingering in the bad...after all..the tort is going to naturally be stressed from the move alone...so I would have the better set as his landing from the move....I bet if you get some uv rays and property warmth going then offer the soaks as suggested along with offering some good food you will be offering up an opportunity for the tort to survive...as you likely know, this little tort may have health issues in the making so be emotionally prepared that this may truly be a rescue and keep hopes in place you may have caught him in time and in which case the improved enclosure and care will present you a tort that will be grateful (although he may not know it....lol) I look forward to a pic of the lucky one...

 

[lynnedit]

Pretty much what they said. He will be lucky to have you!

I adopted a male RT over a year ago. He had been kept for at least 3 years on dry reptile bark, no soaks (although there was water in there), and light source was an aquarium light. I was instructed to continue his diet of Romaine lettuce and canned green beans
Needless to say, I politely got out of there as fast as possible.

He was still fairly active, but his eyes were puffy, etc.
I immediately soaked him, not to be too graphic, but his first poop looked like red (reptile bark) play-doe.

I did continue to soak him daily to twice per day for at least a week, then daily, then 2-3x per week. He was able to go outside for a couple of months. I make sure I had a new MVB for him over the winter.
I mixed baby food (carrots, sweet potato, squash) and a squirt of bird vitamins into his soaks over 2-3 months.

I would suggest a fecal check at the vet's. A change in environment will be good for him (perhaps use his same enclosure for familiarity, if you can, but change out lighting, substrate). But he may experience a bloom in gut parasites. So treat him if the fecal test is +, even tho the meds can put them off food. If you can't get the med into him (not eating), the reptile vet can help with a tube feeding.

He was very picky at first, but gradually ate more variety. Be sure to get the TNT with probiotics from Carolina Pet Supply, free shipping. That can be dusted lightly over food. Frankly, he may not eat until he has been soaked and exposed to the proper lighting, even for a few weeks. Don't despair, they are amazing.

Hope that is not TMI, lol.
My tort has not looked back!

 

[Laura]

A good wrm soak to begin with, maybe with added babyfood.. Dont let him hibernate this year. Nice and warm, proper lighting 14 hours a day and try different foods.. maybe get a fecal done at the Vet too.
good luck.

 

[minorgrey]

Thank you all for the replies! I gave them a call and asked if they could try soaking him 3 times a day, if they have the time. At the very least they will be able to do it twice a day, so that's a good start. I also checked the weather in their area and asked them to put him outside for a couple hours today and tomorrow, which they said they'd be happy to do.

It didn't even dawn on me that he might need to be soaked so thanks for suggesting that. I'll keep you updated on his progress. Hopefully we can get him nibbling a little before heading out next week.