Sulcata suddenly very inactive

[ARBC]

Hello,
I have a 4 year old Sulcata who has always been very healthy. Suddenly a week or so ago he became mostly interested in sleeping all day and not very interested in food. This is a big change as he has always been very active. He is free to roam around the house and has a 6x6 foot room with sand a heat lamp where he spends most of time, so he has a good set up. Mostly I am wondering if any experienced Sulcata owners have seen their tortoise slow down in the winter? I plan to take him to a vet, but they don't see tortoises often so I would love any thoughts from anyone who has kept sulcatas to know if theirs slow down in winter. Thanks for any thoughts on this!

 

[dmmj]

at the vet's office I would ask for an x-ray. A house roaming tortoise a on sand made very likely have swallowed something and is now impacted, that's my guess anyways.

 

[Aunt Caffy]

Also give him lots of warm soaks in a big enough container that he can move around in. If its impaction, that should help get things moving.

 

[Yvonne G]

I think your tortoise's problem is that you are allowing him to walk around the house. Your house is colder now that the weather has turned. He needs to stay in a dedicated place where it is warm all the time. It isn't cold in Africa. A cold tortoise is one that can't move or eat.

 

[Tom]

Hello,
I have a 4 year old Sulcata who has always been very healthy. Suddenly a week or so ago he became mostly interested in sleeping all day and not very interested in food. This is a big change as he has always been very active. He is free to roam around the house and has a 6x6 foot room with sand a heat lamp where he spends most of time, so he has a good set up. Mostly I am wondering if any experienced Sulcata owners have seen their tortoise slow down in the winter? I plan to take him to a vet, but they don't see tortoises often so I would love any thoughts from anyone who has kept sulcatas to know if theirs slow down in winter. Thanks for any thoughts on this!

Where are you?

Even if the floor of your house is 80 degrees all the time, it doesn't eliminate all the other safety concerns. Tortoises should not be loose in the house. They need dedicated large enclosure with the correct temps and lighting, when its too cold outside for them.

Also, they should never be on sand. It is a huge impaction risk and a possible skin and eye irritant.

Sounds like you might need to rethink your stately a bit, and get an x-ray to rule out impaction or foreign body ingestion.