Russian tortoise stopped eating

Colint

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Hi,

I’m new to the forum and was hoping to get some advice on this issue.

We have a 4 year one Russian tortoise that has stopped having any interest in food for the last 3-4 weeks, she has lost about 30-40 grams in weight in this time (she was around 750g at the start of this problem).

We had a similar issue last year when she held out for nearly 4 months, we took her to a vet and was give a clean bill of health and after speaking to the shop we bought her from they advised we kept the heat lamp on 24/7.

She did start eating again soon after so we left the heat on (set to 31 deg) all year round. Unfortunately we are having the same problem now despite the heater being on all the time.

We feed her a variety of foods and also dandelion pellets that she usually cannot get enough of, now she refuses to eat anything at all.

I hope someone could advise me as we have tried so hard to get her to eat.

Many thanks,

Colin
 

Maggie3fan

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I certainly am no expert but it sounds to me like he wants to hibernate. If you want him to, read up on hibernation, I know they will empty their systems (Oh hell), I don't hibernate my animals, so they have uvb lighting on a timer for 12 hours a day, and an ambient temp of 85 to 90 and cooler at night.. I'm sure a Russian expert will comment soon
 

Colint

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I certainly am no expert but it sounds to me like he wants to hibernate. If you want him to, read up on hibernation, I know they will empty their systems (Oh hell), I don't hibernate my animals, so they have uvb lighting on a timer for 12 hours a day, and an ambient temp of 85 to 90 and cooler at night.. I'm sure a Russian expert will comment soon

Many thanks for replying!

We have never hibernated her and are reluctant to try as we are frightened of harming her with our inexperience.

We have a UVB light on during the day on a timer alongside a ceramic heater with a pulse thermostat controlling the temperature, she seems happy and active enough walking around during the day, we even let her have the run of the house to explore.

I feel you are right about the hibernation, is this something they will have to do or will they snap out of it after a while?

Again, thanks for your interest in this problem
 

Clueless Tortoise

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I agree. Brumation ( hibernation for reptiles ) happens every winter. For Russians its mid October / early November to March or even April. My Russian stops eating when its that time of the year, and it is happening right now. He can eat one day, and then go days without eating or water. Best is to provide at least 4-6 inches of substrate ( I use coco coir ), or enough to cover them up, and let them bury themselves. They'll come up when their hungry. Continue to turn on UVB and heat lamp during the day like normal, and give fresh food and water as well. They may not eat it but that's okay. I personally have my tortoise's heat and uvb over his food slate, so when he eats, he can warm up and bask for even 5 minutes, and then go back to bed. As the warmer months come, spring and summer, they will come out and be back to normal.
 

Colint

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I agree. Brumation ( hibernation for reptiles ) happens every winter. For Russians its mid October / early November to March or even April. My Russian stops eating when its that time of the year, and it is happening right now. He can eat one day, and then go days without eating or water. Best is to provide at least 4-6 inches of substrate ( I use coco coir ), or enough to cover them up, and let them bury themselves. They'll come up when their hungry. Continue to turn on UVB and heat lamp during the day like normal, and give fresh food and water as well. They may not eat it but that's okay. I personally have my tortoise's heat and uvb over his food slate, so when he eats, he can warm up and bask for even 5 minutes, and then go back to bed. As the warmer months come, spring and summer, they will come out and be back to normal.

Many thanks, I will give her something to bury herself in and see what happens. She is still quite active and often stomps around the enclosure rather than sleeping all day. How long can they go without eating? My concern is the weight loss and how much is too much to lose.

We are soaking her every day for 20 mins in warm water to keep her hydrated, should we stop this and let her do what she wants?

Many thanks for your advice.
 

Clueless Tortoise

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Many thanks, I will give her something to bury herself in and see what happens. She is still quite active and often stomps around the enclosure rather than sleeping all day. How long can they go without eating? My concern is the weight loss and how much is too much to lose.

We are soaking her every day for 20 mins in warm water to keep her hydrated, should we stop this and let her do what she wants?

Many thanks for your advice.

Hmmm. I think you should continue to soak her, but add an electrolyte soak. Its by zoomed and has many benefits. I've personally never used it but I've heard great things about it. Maybe we can get other member's opinions on this. A big possibility is that she may be too cold. What temperatures do you keep her in and what heat and uvb lights do you use? You said you use a ceramic heater but do you have a heat lamp? It's very common for torts to stop eating if their environment is too cold. If it is not that, and she is still active, then the third possibility is that she may have an infection of some sort ( Upper Respiratory Infection, Stomatitis, Internal parasites). Is she having any symptoms any of these? Clicking noises, snot bubbles, mouth looks inflamed? As far as internal parasites, you can't really tell on the outside.
 

Maggie3fan

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Many thanks for replying!

We have never hibernated her and are reluctant to try as we are frightened of harming her with our inexperience.

We have a UVB light on during the day on a timer alongside a ceramic heater with a pulse thermostat controlling the temperature, she seems happy and active enough walking around during the day, we even let her have the run of the house to explore.

I feel you are right about the hibernation, is this something they will have to do or will they snap out of it after a while?

Again, thanks for your interest in this problem
I have never hibernated anybody but I know for a fact that @Yvonne G is experienced at your problem. If you would take off all your clothes and lay on your kitchen floor, you can see how cold it is. Not a good idea at all to have your tort roaming the floor. I don't hibernate any of my tortoises, I just lengthen the daylight hours and heat.
 

Colint

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Hmmm. I think you should continue to soak her, but add an electrolyte soak. Its by zoomed and has many benefits. I've personally never used it but I've heard great things about it. Maybe we can get other member's opinions on this. A big possibility is that she may be too cold. What temperatures do you keep her in and what heat and uvb lights do you use? You said you use a ceramic heater but do you have a heat lamp? It's very common for torts to stop eating if their environment is too cold. If it is not that, and she is still active, then the third possibility is that she may have an infection of some sort ( Upper Respiratory Infection, Stomatitis, Internal parasites). Is she having any symptoms any of these? Clicking noises, snot bubbles, mouth looks inflamed? As far as internal parasites, you can't really tell on the outside.

Thanks, I will look into the electrolyte soak.

The temps we have been maintaining are 31C (88F) which is what the ceramic heater is doing, we also have a UVB fluorescent tube as a daylight source.

From what we have seen and heard, she has no respiratory infections, eye conditions or nasal discharge and she looks like a normal healthy tortoise.

Maybe we are trying too hard by moving her to the food daily to encourage her to feed and causing the additional activity, but I could be clutching at straws here. Our concern is the weight loss, we understand that this would be normal during brumation but is there a limit that we should be keeping an eye on.

Again, many thanks for your support.
 

Colint

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I have never hibernated anybody but I know for a fact that @Yvonne G is experienced at your problem. If you would take off all your clothes and lay on your kitchen floor, you can see how cold it is. Not a good idea at all to have your tort roaming the floor. I don't hibernate any of my tortoises, I just lengthen the daylight hours and heat.

I might pass on the kitchen floor idea for myself, but thanks!

We only let her roam about for 5-10 minutes daily as a change of scenery for her, as I don't want her temps to drop too much but I do see your point and we wouldn't leave her roaming out of the enclosure all day long.

Would you say that any time spent out of the enclosure is not a good idea, I would hate to think that we are doing more harm than good.
 

Crush da Baum

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I might pass on the kitchen floor idea for myself, but thanks!

We only let her roam about for 5-10 minutes daily as a change of scenery for her, as I don't want her temps to drop too much but I do see your point and we wouldn't leave her roaming out of the enclosure all day long.

Would you say that any time spent out of the enclosure is not a good idea, I would hate to think that we are doing more harm than good.
I would not. Roaming the house is also a recipe for injury, no matter how careful you may be. Russian torts are very hardy guys and definitely won’t freeze to death if you put them on the kitchen floor but they won’t enjoy it. Is it still warm enough where you live? He would enjoy some sunshine more than anything.
 

Yvonne G

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I might pass on the kitchen floor idea for myself, but thanks!

We only let her roam about for 5-10 minutes daily as a change of scenery for her, as I don't want her temps to drop too much but I do see your point and we wouldn't leave her roaming out of the enclosure all day long.

Would you say that any time spent out of the enclosure is not a good idea, I would hate to think that we are doing more harm than good.
You're teaching her there's more to the world outside the walls of her enclosure, and this makes them dissatisfied to stay in the enclosure.
 

Colint

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I would not. Roaming the house is also a recipe for injury, no matter how careful you may be. Russian torts are very hardy guys and definitely won’t freeze to death if you put them on the kitchen floor but they won’t enjoy it. Is it still warm enough where you live? He would enjoy some sunshine more than anything.

Unfortunately not, our temps have dropped to between 10-14C so outside visits are probably best avoided. Plus the general British weather isn't up to much at the best of times.
 

Colint

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You're teaching her there's more to the world outside the walls of her enclosure, and this makes them dissatisfied to stay in the enclosure.

We only wanted to give her the best life she could have, she generally is happy staying in the enclosure though, but I will take your advice.
 

Crush da Baum

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Unfortunately not, our temps have dropped to between 10-14C so outside visits are probably best avoided. Plus the general British weather isn't up to much at the best of times.
With an adequate sized enclosure, he will probably be perfectly content on his own. Personally, I would let him be in his enclosure and start to set up a permanent outdoor enclosure for next summer. This will give him lots of good sunshine and exercise. Best thing for a tort in my opinion.
 

Colint

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With an adequate sized enclosure, he will probably be perfectly content on his own. Personally, I would let him be in his enclosure and start to set up a permanent outdoor enclosure for next summer. This will give him lots of good sunshine and exercise. Best thing for a tort in my opinion.

I have a collapsible enclosure for outside when the weather permits, unfortunately this is a rare occasion here, but we do try to get her in the sun as much as we can. Our problem at the moment is the disinterest in food and weight loss.
 
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