Tortoise Feeding

[danieledwards2006]

I rescued a tortoise a week ago who wasnt looked after properly he had never been given weeds and had only ever been fed on tortoise pellets he is an adult male hermann tortoise. I have tried to tempt him to eat weeds and veg but he wont eat any he doesnt seem to know what it is. I have also tried mixing pellets with weeds but he only wants the pellets. Any ideas to get him eating a proper tortoise diet?

 

[wayne.bob]

i would say keep at it, i had the same problem with one of mine. I just sqeezed strawberry juice on the greens to give it a nice fragrant smell. he went right over and eventually started munching. (Tricked him) it worked for me so i hope it will work for you. Good luck.

Wayne

 

[danieledwards2006]

Thanks for your advise i shall have a go.

 

[SULCATACRAZY]

nice trick wayne!

 

[wayne.bob]

Thanks. i was amazed at how well it worked for me. i had to do it a couple of days and after that he ate everything i gave him

 

[Coldliz]

I did the Strawberry juice thing too!

 

[wayne.bob]

I tell you, It works

 

[Jentortmom]

I did that to, actually this week, works like a charm

 

[danieledwards2006]

Tortoise is still not eating not interested in the food with strawberry juice on he was fed every two weeks could it be because hes not used to eating?. He occasionally goes into his shell and snorts but he seems to be breathing ok and doesnt have a runny nose it sounds strange but i cant seem to see his nostrils and he is six years whereas my one year old spur thighs i can clearly see theirs. He was never bathed and not heated properly. i got him a week ago and have been giving him daily bathes to re-hydrate him since doing so he has begun to shed on his neck really really thick skin im wondering whether it could be a build up of dead skin covering his nostrils any ideas please? should i take him to a vet?

 

[wayne.bob]

Im not an expert on the nostril thing but if it were me i would take him to the vet and get him checked out.

 

[Crazy1]

danieledwards2006, I had just gotten a 4 inch sulcatta she seemed healthy. No bubbles no runny eyes etc but I couldn't see her nostrils so I took her to the vet and she had a RI infection and the mucus had clogged her nastrils. I agree with Wayne.bob, I'd take it to a vet and have it checked out.

 

[Jentortmom]

I have a boxie that I rescued a year or so ago and he has a heart shaped nostril, this was caused from an RI, it blocked his nose and then finally blew out. I would take him in for a check up and make sure you take a fecal sample to have it tested.

 

[danieledwards2006]

what would the vet do? would he remove the mucus? does this mean he has had RI for a long time which could result in long term lung damage? oh no

 

[danieledwards2006]

took him to the vet and he said he has a vitamin A deficiancy and he is very under weight been given vit A supplement will be hard to get to put on weight as he hardly wants to eat.

 

[Tatooineboy]

So how will you start eating again? Did the vet give a suggestion?

 

[danieledwards2006]

He has eat a couple of times now with weeds but not a lot he said to weigh him every week to make sure he isnt losing weigh and that hopefully he should slowly become used to regular eating.

 

[Crazy1]

danieledwards2006, just out of curiosity is the vet a reptile vet? Did he do blood work to determine your tort had a Vit. A deficiency? Did he do a fecal test for worms or parasites? Did he do a culture to see if it was a bacterial or Respiratory Infection? What is the size and wt of your adult Hermann tort? I am not a vet or vet tech, I am not trying to scare you or diagnose your tort. These are just some questions I have learned to ask about vets treating my torts and about some tort illnesses. Please ask how long your vet has worked with torts. A wise man once told me “Just remember there is nothing wrong with you knowing more than your vet does about tortoise medicine. When you look for a vet make sure it's one that will listen to you and your suggestions. If they recommend a medicine you haven't heard of ask where they heard of it. Ask to see the article or website they found it on.
Always question everything.”
The reason I ask these questions are that I had an experience with a vet (that said she treated torts) but that did not know tort medicine and infact had only worked with one tort in school. She gave the wrong meds, luckily I was able to get them to a vet that had worked with torts for over 35 years. He did a culture and placed them on the right medication (how do I know this? 5 days after the culture I went in at his request and he went over the culture with me showing me what antibiotic treated the bacterial infections my torts had) and now they are doing fine.

Please read these links;
Hypovitaminosis A
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/reptiles/turtles/vitamina.html

Hypervitaminosis A:
http://www.turtlerescues.com/vitamin_a.htm

Here are some common diseases in torts;
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/commondisease.htm
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=17&cat=1797&articleid=941

 

[danieledwards2006]

No he didnt do blood tests or fecal tests he checked his mouth and said that it looked like he has vit A diffiency i dont think he deals with torts much the normal guy I see who knows a lot more wasnt there will rebook him then.

 

[danieledwards2006]

he weighs 400grams and his shell is 5inches in length and hes about 6yrs so i was told by his previous owner.

 

[Crazy1]

Daniel, My opinion-take it for what its worth, I'm just an owner of Greeks, not a vet or vet tech. An Adult hermans kept in bad living conditions. Not eating or eating very little. Can't see his nostrals, snorting, I would re schedule him and ask for a culture on him, take in a fecal sample and have it tested. These little guys can be struck by bacterial infections caused by stress and bad living conditions and go down hill fast. I wouldn't take that chance. I know some of these tests can be costly but in the long run can actually save you $$.
You might also try soaking him in Vitisol (it's a bird vit) a few drops in his soak water may help him.
Like I said just my opinion.