Kiracynthia
New Member
My tortoise won’t eat on his own he is only eating when I hand feed him and even then he will only eat maybe 5 dandelion leaves and that’s it. Anyone know what’s going on? He also has been sleeping a ton!!! More than usual.
Tort only eating when hand fed
- Thread starter Kiracynthia
- Start date
I would suggest you check his heat and the temp inside his habitat. My Russian tort perked up his appetite when I increased his heat. For the most part, they should be 70 - 90 degrees. The warmer Digger is, the more he eats. When outside in our hot summers, he is ravenous. I am sure others will have more advice.
Kiracynthia
New Member
His temp is usually between 78-83. This is all new behavior for him. About a month ago he was eating mounds of greens everyday and now he barely eats anything. I wonder if maybe it was just a growth spurt but it worries me.
Minority2
Well-Known Member
1. Please show us pictures of your entire enclosure.
2. What specific type of light bulbs and or heating sources you use. We need to verify if the ones you're using are safe or not. We pictures of the light bulb and light fixture separately to accurately be sure if you are unable to produce a web link or picture of the box it came with.
3. What substrate are you using?
4. What type of tortoise is this?
5. What are your temperature and humidity levels? What are you using specifically to measure these readings?
6. What type of setup are you using in Alaska?
7. What types of foods are you feeding your tortoise?
8. Where did you purchase your tortoise from?
2. What specific type of light bulbs and or heating sources you use. We need to verify if the ones you're using are safe or not. We pictures of the light bulb and light fixture separately to accurately be sure if you are unable to produce a web link or picture of the box it came with.
3. What substrate are you using?
4. What type of tortoise is this?
5. What are your temperature and humidity levels? What are you using specifically to measure these readings?
6. What type of setup are you using in Alaska?
7. What types of foods are you feeding your tortoise?
8. Where did you purchase your tortoise from?
Kiracynthia
New Member
1. 4x6 foot enclosure
2. Zoo Med 5.0 UVB bulb and Zoo Med 100 watt heat bulb
3. Coco coir. Cypress wood in one corner
4. Russian Tort
5. 78-83 F varies depending on temp outside. Alaska has no A/C but the temperature will stabilize in the winter when we can control The heat.
6.humidity 40-50%
7. Indoor enclosure and he goes outside when it is hot enough and I can supervise him.
8. I feed him homegrown greens mostly like collards dandelion greens mustard greens etc. and I mix in baby spring mix bought from the grocery for diversity. And when our stores have it I give himthings like escarole.
9. my sister bought him for me on tortoise supply online.
2. Zoo Med 5.0 UVB bulb and Zoo Med 100 watt heat bulb
3. Coco coir. Cypress wood in one corner
4. Russian Tort
5. 78-83 F varies depending on temp outside. Alaska has no A/C but the temperature will stabilize in the winter when we can control The heat.
6.humidity 40-50%
7. Indoor enclosure and he goes outside when it is hot enough and I can supervise him.
8. I feed him homegrown greens mostly like collards dandelion greens mustard greens etc. and I mix in baby spring mix bought from the grocery for diversity. And when our stores have it I give himthings like escarole.
9. my sister bought him for me on tortoise supply online.
Minority2
Well-Known Member
2. I need pictures or web links to the product because those products come in different shapes and sizes. The zoo med 100 watt heat bulb in particular is harmful to tortoises. Replace that with a incandescent flood-styled bulb from your local hardware store or online retailer.
5. Russian tortoises require a basking temperature of 95-105F. hot side temperatures around 85-90F near the basking bulb and about 70-80F on the coolest side without the basking bulb during the daytime. nighttime temperatures must not reach below 60F too frequently or otherwise they will catch an infection.
Use this guide and follow what it says for Russian Tortoises:
The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...
tortoiseforum.org
6. Raise your humidity level to at least 60%. 80 to even 100% would be much better. High humidity level is good thing for all tortoises.
8. A lot of these greens you have feed like collards and mustard can all cause gout like pain to tortoises if they eat too much of the stuff. They all fall under a single group meaning even if you feed collard this week and mustard next week the doses accumulate rather than dissipate. You need to find to feed your tortoise flowers, broad leaf plants/weeds and succulents. You can purchase dried mixed versions of them on tortoise online retailing sites. Spring mix isn't all that great either. The link I gave you should have more food choices listed. Also consider purchasing Mazuri tortoise diet (5M21) to add to your choices.
9. Tell your sister to go to tortoise supply online and purchase different foods for your tortoise because the supermarket is generally not going to provide enough of the right foods for them. I recommend the cactus pads, dandelion leaves, and Mazuri tortoise diet (5M21 original big pellet version) to add more nutrition and safe choices to feed your tortoise. For example, feeding too much lettuce and other non-fiber dense watery greens are not going to keep your tortoise in a healthy state.
Kiracynthia
New Member
2. I need pictures or web links to the product because those products come in different shapes and sizes. The zoo med 100 watt heat bulb in particular is harmful to tortoises. Replace that with a incandescent flood-styled bulb from your local hardware store or online retailer.
5. Russian tortoises require a basking temperature of 95-105F. hot side temperatures around 85-90F near the basking bulb and about 70-80F on the coolest side without the basking bulb during the daytime. nighttime temperatures must not reach below 60F too frequently or otherwise they will catch an infection.
Use this guide and follow what it says for Russian Tortoises:
The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise
I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...
6. Raise your humidity level to at least 60%. 80 to even 100% would be much better. High humidity level is good thing for all tortoises.
8. A lot of these greens you have feed like collards and mustard can all cause gout like pain to tortoises if they eat too much of the stuff. They all fall under a single group meaning even if you feed collard this week and mustard next week the doses accumulate rather than dissipate. You need to find to feed your tortoise flowers, broad leaf plants/weeds and succulents. You can purchase dried mixed versions of them on tortoise online retailing sites. Spring mix isn't all that great either. The link I gave you should have more food choices listed. Also consider purchasing Mazuri tortoise diet (5M21) to add to your choices.
9. Tell your sister to go to tortoise supply online and purchase different foods for your tortoise because the supermarket is generally not going to provide enough of the right foods for them. I recommend the cactus pads, dandelion leaves, and Mazuri tortoise diet (5M21 original big pellet version) to add more nutrition and safe choices to feed your tortoise. For example, feeding too much lettuce and other non-fiber dense watery greens are not going to keep your tortoise in a healthy state.
thank you so much I will find the links because I bought the lights back in March. I have fed him spineless cactus pads before and he wasn’t really a huge fan. I have mazuri tortoise pellets and I’ve tried everything to make him eat them and he refuses to.
Do you think I need to take him to the vet?
What is the safest greens I can feed him while I wait on shipments of other foods? It takes atleast 2 weeks for anything to come up here.
Minority2
Well-Known Member
Did you let the mazuri pellets soak in a little water before feeding? Not too many tortoises, or even mini garbage disposals like Russian tortoises for that matter would pass on Mazuri. Now I'm wondering if your temperatures are even high enough to promote digestion.
Nopales/opunita/or spineless cactus pads are actually very safe to feed regularly to tortoises because of how it forces to flush portions of their system instead of holding in all in as long as you're soaking your tortoise daily and that you leave water in a heavy, shallow tray inside their enclosure. Chicory and escarole is relatively safe. The link I provided in my last post has a lot of information about what you can feed. Please read that guide.
There's no enough information to know what's wrong if anything with the tortoise so any vet visit would ultimately be your choice. Not all veterinarians specialize in treating tortoises so you never know if the diagnosis and treatment is either going to be correct or wrong. Stories of tortoises being saved by vets as well as being misdiagnosed by vets can be found in this forum. You and your family have to make that choice yourself.
What you can do right now is provide pictures, plenty of them of your setup. That is going to help us members give you a better idea of what to change and what possible, if any symptoms, they can visibly see.
Hand feeding is a minefield.
Tortoises aren’t very clever. If you get started with hand feeding and do it too frequently they come to think you are the food and don’t recognise the same food stuffs served on the floor.
The way to stop it is to stop hand feeding entirely. A hungry tortoise will use its instincts and go find food. Right now it doesn’t have to because food keeps coming to it.
Going a few days without food will not harm your tortoise so here’s what you need to do.
1. Soak your tortoise for a good 20 minutes first thing in the morning to keep it hydrated.
2. While it soaks, tidy the enclosure and place food on a piece of flat rock or slate.
3. Replace your tort and walk away. Leave it entirely alone. Don’t watch as your tort will expect you to supply food. If you aren’t there then neither is that source of food and the tortoise will have to go looking.
Leave food in place until next morning if uneaten then repeat the cycle.
Your tort will get hungry eventually and will look for food, but you have to be strong and force it to think for itself.
Tortoises aren’t very clever. If you get started with hand feeding and do it too frequently they come to think you are the food and don’t recognise the same food stuffs served on the floor.
The way to stop it is to stop hand feeding entirely. A hungry tortoise will use its instincts and go find food. Right now it doesn’t have to because food keeps coming to it.
Going a few days without food will not harm your tortoise so here’s what you need to do.
1. Soak your tortoise for a good 20 minutes first thing in the morning to keep it hydrated.
2. While it soaks, tidy the enclosure and place food on a piece of flat rock or slate.
3. Replace your tort and walk away. Leave it entirely alone. Don’t watch as your tort will expect you to supply food. If you aren’t there then neither is that source of food and the tortoise will have to go looking.
Leave food in place until next morning if uneaten then repeat the cycle.
Your tort will get hungry eventually and will look for food, but you have to be strong and force it to think for itself.
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2016
- Messages
- 164
My russian tort goes through cycles of feeding also. He would eat a lot for a few months after hibernation, and slows down when it is at the end of summer.
Mine would only eat if hand fed too. After awhile I stopped, but sat where he could see me. I guess maybe just seeing me made him feel more secure? He started eating on his own after that even after I left. (But I peeked from time to time)
I had a similar experience. Although mine was different one thing the vet said was really true. Torts take a bit of time to change habits etc. I’m sure you will work it out. Good tidings!
Is the UV bulb a long tube or a screw in type cfl bulb? The cfl types can sometimes burn their eyes. If its a tube type, the 5.0 produces little to no UV. Up in your climate where the tortoise has to be indoors most of every year, you really need the HO type UV tubes and a meter to set the height correctly.
Kiracynthia
New Member
Very sorry for the late response. I have a semi update. I have tried everything with mazuri. Yes I have soaked it. I’ve even tried spreading it on greens and hand feeding it that way and still nothing. Yesterday I added a second heat bulb. “Flunkers incandescent reptile lighting basking bulb 75 watt”. So now he has two of those and a 5.0 uvb bulb. His energy seems to be perked up and he is eating a little bit more. I really think I goofed on heating and I feel so terrible. But he seems to be doing better now. I did order a incandescent flood style bulb like you recommended. And that will arrive on Saturday. I also ordered an herbal mix from tortoise supply. And just placed a grocery order for a better variety of greens. I also planted a ton of testudo mix from tortoise supply and am waiting for that to grow. Again thank you so much for all your recommendations.
Kiracynthia
New Member
I have been using a zoo med 5.0 uvb bulb since March but I do have this one. Do you think this will be better?
Attachments
Kiracynthia
New Member
He used to eat all on his own and when he started to slowly eat less and less I started to hand feed. I always leave his food until the next morning. I will definitely try this method. Thank you so so much!
I do have one question just for my curiosity. After the food is sitting in his enclosure for about and hour or two it wilts. Does that lower the nutritional value of the greens? If it wilts and is still untouched should I replace it with fresh greens or does that just strengthen the idea that I= food supply?
Minority2
Well-Known Member
Do not buy that. That's a T8 fixture. The T5 fixtures replaced them because they're far more effective and the uv(B) it produces is at a much higher yield.
I suggest either:
1. Sticking with finding a durable generic T5 fixture and buying the reptile uv(B) bulbs separately.
2. Purchase the Arcadia pro T5 kit and additional uv(B) bulbs from this website. http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-pro-t5-fixture-14-bulb-35-sale/ (random Arcadia light fixture linked) I don't know if they'll ship to Alaska, the shipping logistics of your town, or how long it would take to get there so you'll have find those things out for yourself.
And to verify, you are going to replace that flunker's incandescent basking spot bulb when your non-pet branded? incandescent flood bulb arrives correct?
Kiracynthia
New Member
I’m getting a lot of mixed options and I’m not too clear on exactly what lighting I need. I will replace the flunkers with the incandescent flood bulb as you suggested. As far as uvb, you suggest a long tube over a bulb? But not the one I took a photo of?
Minority2
Well-Known Member
The product you linked, the T8 is a tubular styled bulb, the very same style I suggested. It's just smaller in length in comparison to something like a 2 ft tube bulb. The only difference is the one you linked is a T8, an outdated model vs. a T5, a more efficient. powerful, and updated fixture. As I've stated the T5 bulbs give out more uv(B). Reptisun and Arcadia are the most reliable reptile rated bulbs.
What are you saying is mixed options? Incandescent flood bulbs is the usual recommendation. That's not the same as the flunkers you're currently using which is a spot bulb; a bulb type that has narrower area of heat which will dry out tortoise shells faster. Flood bulbs projected a wider, less concentrated heat and is not as concentrated or as drying which is a good and safer thing to have.
Kiracynthia
New Member
Okay. I will order new uvb and fixture to go along with it. Do you mind linking a flood style incandescent bulb so I can make sure I got the correct one? I’m sorry to be a bother I just want to make sure everything I’m purchasing is correct so I’m not wasting any money.
