Tortoise Feeding

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danieledwards2006

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Thank you for your advice i agree with what you are saying i have booked him in for monday morning i will take a sample with me thanks again for your advice and i shall keep you posted on his progress.
Dan
 

danieledwards2006

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Just been looking for bird vitasol in england, they dont sell 8in1 is this specially formulated or is any bird vitasol ok to use i have been given a vitamin supplement to give him but its one you sprinkle onto their food which im not sure will have much affect if he is hardly eating.
 

Jentortmom

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The bird vitamins are liquids, you might be able to find them online. When they don't feel well they are not going to want to eat. What tempatures do you have him at? Are you using a uvb bulb? Try chopping his food up into small pieces, I put mine in the food processor, Also what time of the day do you feed him at? I find feeding midday gets better results, they are awake, warmed, and ready to chow. Good Luck, hopefully the other vet will provide more answers.
 

danieledwards2006

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he is in a 4ft by 2ft tortoise table with a the basking temp about 30 degrees celsus with a 3ft 10.uvb tube which is about five inches from the ground the room temperature is about 20 degrees celsus. I make sure there is a constant supply of fresh weeds available all day to help tempt him. He was only ever fed on pellet food for tortoises but i have stopped him, since doing so he has hardly eat in a week and a half could he not be eating much because hes not used to eating weeds because he would eat pellets no problem.
 

danieledwards2006

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I took him to the vet today and he has put on a bit of weight which is good the vet unblocked his nostrils and it bled a bit so hes on antibiotics to stop any infection. He is going for a check up next week to see if his weight has increased, if he gets worse then they will run tests on him but they dont want to put him under any unnessary distress.
 

Crazy1

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danieledwards2006 said:
10.uvb tube which is about five inches from the ground

Dan I am glad you found a vet that is taking an interest in your little shelled baby. What type of antibiotics is he on?

Lighting:
If your UVB florscent light is to low it could be shining straight into your tortoises eyes. This can greatly affect your tortoises eye sight. You need to raise the light and have it directly over head. The best height is 12 inches above the substrate. You can get a reflector so all the light is focused down.

Here is a post regarding lighting or bad lighting. It was of interest to me please check it out. Concerning UVB 10 florecent bulbs. http://tortoiseforum.org/bad-uvb-light-p...-1817.html

also a post about lighting here; http://tortoiseforum.org/improved-setup-t-1818.html

Good luck and keep us posted.
 

danieledwards2006

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hes on baytrill 2.5 % oral. Cheers for the advice with the uvb on my greeks setup i have it overhead with a reflector but i didnt relise it could affect its eyesight im learning.
 

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danieledwards2006 said:
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?

How do you have his habitat set up? He has to be able to warm his body up above 80 degrees in order to digest his food. If its not warm enough, he won't eat.

Yvonne
 

Yvonne G

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danieledwards2006 said:
he is in a 4ft by 2ft tortoise table with a the basking temp about 30 degrees celsus with a 3ft 10.uvb tube which is about five inches from the ground the room temperature is about 20 degrees celsus. I make sure there is a constant supply of fresh weeds available all day to help tempt him. He was only ever fed on pellet food for tortoises but i have stopped him, since doing so he has hardly eat in a week and a half could he not be eating much because hes not used to eating weeds because he would eat pellets no problem.

He probably doesn't recognize the good stuff as food, since he is used to eating only pellets. You will have to buy some pellets. Cut the greens up really small and mix it in with a handful of pellets. He will become accustomed to the sight and smell of the chopped up greens, and little-by-little you can reduce the pellets and increase the greens. Some tortoises are really hard-nosed about changing their eating habits. It took me over a year to convert a Burmese tortoise off of PrettyPets tortoise food and onto a good well-rounded diet.

Yvonne
 

danieledwards2006

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Its a 4ft by 2ft open top tortoise table with one end of the table as the cool end with a box to shelter in. A basking area is at the opposite end with a clamp lamp with 100w reflector bulb then over the top I have a uvb light with a reflector over the top.
 

danieledwards2006

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Toby is now off his antibiotics looks a bit healthier but his nostrils has appeared to have blocked again so booked him in for an appointment again this week.
 

danieledwards2006

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Thanks for everyones help and useful tips. Toby is eating more regularly now and has gone from weighing 400g to 425g in just over two weeks which is good.
 
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