tort has lost appetite

[tortbie]

Hello everyone,

I brought my first tortoise on 3rd October he is a 3 year old Hermann called Stanley. Recently Stanley seems to of lost his appetite and seems to be eating less than normal. Stanley gets a daily soak and is fed a diet of weeds, lambs lettuce, rocket and the odd, small piece of cucumber. However, Stanley is showing little intrest in his food he will stop to look at it and then usually has a small nibble ignore it! I leave him alone to "eat" in peace hoping he is just shy. Due to the great advice of other members I changed his substrate on 24th October from pellets to 100% organic top soil (Stanley loved it) which i spray with warm water twice a day to keep moist. I discovered that tortoises do not appreciate heat from underneath them so moved his heat mat from the floor and stuck it to the side of his hide. Could this be the reason why Stanley is off his food? The temperatures have not changed and he seems his usual happy self, no runny nose, his eyes seem good and he usually poops and pees during soaks. Im at my witts end! how long can a tort starve themselves before they get sick? any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Rach

 

[Saleama]

RE: worried mom!

He needs a basking light. Torts need heat to digest their food. Get him a good dome light and set up a nice basking area. I do not know what temps Hermanns need so others more experienced will come in and let you know, but at least this will bump you back to the top so others can see it. Also, reptiles can go a very long time without eating so you are still ok on that front. You might also want to go ahead and post pics or descriptions of your enclosure because the experts will be asking for all of the information you can give them. Temps, humidity levels...anything you can think of will help.

Hope you get what you need and soon!

 

[wellington]

RE: worried mom!

Along with the advice already given, he may be getting ready to brumate/hibernate. Double check your temps and maybe bump them up by 5 degrees. Also, leave the lights on longer, like 12-14 hours. Also make sure it's bright enough.

 

[tortbie]

worried mom!

Hello hes got a uvb basking light (which is on for 13 hours a day) with a flat rock and a heat mat under his hide . I put the heating on when i wake up and when i get home from work to take the chill out of the air and he has a warm soak every morning but hes still not eating like he used to
Rach x

 

[bertusmaximus]

worried mom!

I've noticed with the sudden change in weather a lot of torts have gone off food. Hope this helps

 

[npalmero]

worried mom!

My turtle was having similar issues. I bright him to an exotic vet (last week)since he hadn't eaten in about a month no matter what I did. Dr said a month is about 4 days in turtle world. Turning up the heat is probably the best bet. That is if your turtle doesn't hibernate. It is beginning to be hibernation time for some turtles, and when turtles hibernate they stop eating. If your turtle hibernates then this is a whole other situation.

 

[ascott]

I looked back at your prior threads...

Looks like you have only had Stanley since the middle of the month...so he is new and out of sorts likely because of the location change...also, you made an improvement to his substrate from the pellets to the earthen substrate....so there is another huge change...I also see that you have a heating pad but I do not see where you have day light heat (uv rays plus a heating bulb) as well as night heat (which is important since you are spraying enclosure and because he is new to you)....I would make sure to add some uv rays along with a heat emitting source (either ceramic heat emitter or light bulb for heat for daytime and a black night heat lamp )...

 

[Saleama]

Heat from the bottom is not natural to torts so it is good you moved it. They really need a basking heat source up top. Sorry if I didn't read you right and you have a light heat source for basking.