What's wrong with my tortoise?

Status
Not open for further replies.

tootiturtle

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
28
Hello everyone. As you knew before, I got 2 torts, Tooti ( about 4 years male ) and Sunny ( about 1 year female ). Both are Egyptians.

I am having a hard time feeding Tooti. He doesn't wanna eat anything besides Cucumber, no matter what is it. Tried almost everything available in the market. He d rather stay for days without food than eat anything besides cucumber. I offer various greens sorry I don't know their exact names in English. Also, Tooti doesn't eat cucumbers unless I had feed him directly to his mouth or he may eat a little alone but not as much as when I feed him by myself. I have Tooti now for 3 months or a little bit more. He's been like that since he started eating ( Start of the summer ). Before he wouldn't eat anything at all during the winter, just sleep. People told me he was fasting, but I thought Egyptians don't hibernate!

On the other hand, Sunny eats a LOT everyday almost anything but prefers lettuce. He really eats a lot and I mean it. Sunny is a good girl and eats alone and knows what to do although I had her for 2 weeks only!

Any ideas what can I do for him?

And does anyone know why is he doing this?

Thanks TFO members. Waiting for your reply.

Mustafa.
 

tglazie

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Jul 21, 2010
Messages
631
Location (City and/or State)
San Antonio, TX
Well, I don't have any experience with Egyptian tortoises, but from what I've read, they are apparently difficult to keep. Are these animals captive bred? Did you get them from a breeder, a pet shop, a dealer at an expo? Because if they aren't captive bred, then the stress of importation can often have such an effect as you're describing. One Bell's Hingeback tortoise I nursed from a near death by emaciation wouldn't eat anything for nearly three weeks, though he did drink every day. After taking him to the vet to get him wormed, de-ticked and checked for other ailments, he simply wouldn't eat until I coaxed him into eating Romaine lettuce by hand. Whether they are wild caught or not, you should go to see a reptile vet if at all possible.

Barring health and stress problems, a tortoise's environment is usually a big reason they go off their feed. Where do you live? I've read that Egyptians require dry conditions with the ability to burrow into the substrate. If your local area is excessively humid or cold, this could cause your tortoise not to eat. Cucumber, I find, is rarely turned down by tortoises, given the smell and taste. Have you tried dandelions? I find it's a spoiled tortoise that refuses them.

Bottom line is that you must get the animal to a competent vet if at all possible.

T.G.
 

tootiturtle

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
28
Sadly in Egypt, vets for tortoises are as rare as the tortoises themselves in Egypt. I won't be able to find one, and if I would, it would be in another city from where I live. And I doubt I ll be able to travel there. I got them both from a pet shop. The weather is hot and dry here in Egypt, so I dont have to worry about any cold or humidity. Just he seems to eat only cucumber is confusing me. There isnt any dandelions near by in any garden or at the green stores :( :S
 

egyptiandan

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2007
Messages
5,788
Location (City and/or State)
USA
I'll look in some of my articles on wild diets of Egyptian tortoises and post a list of wild plants you may be able to find in a local park or right outside the city. I'll post it later on today.
It might help too, to take pictures of what you can get at the markets and post them on the forum. We may be able to find something that is good for your Egyptians to eat. :)

Danny
 

tortoisenerd

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2008
Messages
3,957
Location (City and/or State)
Washington
Do be careful if you feed weeds form a park that the park hasn't sprayed chemicals--99% of city parks and whatever will spray chemicals to keep the grass looking pretty. I also buy only organic at the grocery store as torts can be sensitive to chemicals. What is the longest period of time you've only offered the foods he doesn't want to eat? Going as much as a week with only offering those foods should get him to give in and eat them. Torts shouldn't want to starve themselves. If the tort is being inactive, check if the enclosure temperatures have changed to become too hot or too cold. You need an accurate thermometer like a temp gun. If a tort is only eating when you hand feed, you need to stop doing that. What else exactly have you fed besides the lettuce and cucumber? I don't mind looking up the translations if it will help us help you. They may be unfit for tortoises and the tortoises know that (they don't recognize it as food). Another option is to mix some good food and some bad food, and over time increase the amount of good food while decreasing the amount of bad food. If you chop it up fine they don't have the choice but to eat them both together. Have they been to a vet?
 

tootiturtle

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
28
Thanks tortoise nerd for the reply.

He didn't eat for 2 days now, because I m trying to force him to eat anything but cucumber. Yet, he won't do it. It's persistent.

Yeah, it's kinda hot here. I am having a hard time adjusting the temperature. It's really hot and sunny. However, the young one Sunny is more active than the bigger one Tooti.

I feel embarrassed by writing the names in Arabic, but I am sorry, I don't know their names in English well. Translators don't seem to work well with that too, but here ya go:

ملوخية
سلق
جرجير
بقدونس
كزبرة

That's what I have tried so far. I have chopped them and mixed them, yet he didn't wanna try them at all :(

They both urinate fine and don't have any noticeable problems.

They haven't been to a vet, but they are healthy! As I said, it's really hard finding a vet. And I am just a teenager, I can't travel to other cities just to go check up on a tortoise! Sorry for that, but I really have limited options to do, but I REALLY DO MY BEST TO PROVIDE THEM THE BEST I CAN.

PLEASE try to feel me guys, I love them and I do everything for them, it's just I have limited options. I may not be providing them the best life, but I am somehow TRYING to.

Please put that into consideration. Thanks a lot and waiting for your replys once again.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,391
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Well, I copied/pasted your arabic words to a translator and all it came up with was, "the green soup cooking."

Not much help, huh?

OK...I tried a different translator and it came back with:

Corchorus
Boil
Arugula
Parsley
Coriander

I don't know what the first two are, but the last three are ok to feed as part of a varied diet. The parsley is pretty high in oxalates and shouldn't be fed more than once a month.
 

tootiturtle

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
28
Goodluck telling who is male and who is female or maybe both are :D

WTH It doesn't add the attachments???!

EDIT1: I ll keep trying....

EDIT2: I hosted it on ImageShack.

1st Link is Tooti: http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/7835/tooti.jpg

2nd Link is Sunny: http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/176/sunny.jpg[hr]
emysemys said:
Well, I copied/pasted your arabic words to a translator and all it came up with was, "the green soup cooking."

Not much help, huh?

OK...I tried a different translator and it came back with:

Corchorus
Boil
Arugula
Parsley
Coriander

I don't know what the first two are, but the last three are ok to feed as part of a varied diet. The parsley is pretty high in oxalates and shouldn't be fed more than once a month.



The thing is again, he doesn't wanna eat them. Chopped or no matter how I introduce them. And here today, after 2 days of not eating, he eats nothing but cucumber. By himself or handfeeding :(

Waiting for your opinions on their sexes. Hopefully Sunny is a female <3

EDIT3: The first arabic word سلق is this: http://q8msk.com/imgcache/20144.imgcache.jpg
The second arabic ملوخية word is this: http://www.hawahome.info/uploaded/37064/1158953271.jpg
I also try this: http://www.arabspc.net/upload/pic/uploads/abb2140792.jpg

But he doesn't respond, only Sunny does as stated before.
 

egyptiandan

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2007
Messages
5,788
Location (City and/or State)
USA
They both look like males to me. :)

Danny

Plantago albicans, Woolly plantain. You should be able to find this where you are and they would be just fine to feed your Egyptians.

Danny
 

Yourlocalpoet

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2010
Messages
526
Location (City and/or State)
Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Sorry to hear about your problem mate :( is 2 days the longest you've waited before offering cucumber again? I only ask as tortoises can go quite a while without food and if you administer a little bit of tough love, i.e offering other foods but no cucumber they will eventually eat what's there as the alternative is starving. However with you unable to go to vet to check he has no other problems I'm not sure whether this will be a good idea. If Tooti is 4 years old he must have eaten something other than cucumber before you got him, do you know what his previous care was like?
 

BuffsTorts

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
80
One of my male Russian Torts that is under the care of a friend came to me from a terrible home with an even worse meal plan.
Peppers and fruits and such, with almost NO greens.
Took me about a month to get him to eat the good stuff.
I diced up the fruits really small, and plopped them on top of a pile of good greens.
He would come out and eat the fruits but also now and then get a few bits of greens with it.
Over a month I slowly worked the crap out of the diet and he was left with a pile of greens.
He did not eat as much as my others for 2-3 months after that but is now on a 100% healthy diet, eating as much as any of the others. I felt bad a few days but I knew in the long run, it was best for him to eat a proper diet.


I feel some times they get addicted to the bad foods, and try to make you give it to them.
Do not cave, transition him onto a proper diet slowly, you might have more luck.
A few days in a Tort world is not a very long time as far as food is concerned.
 

tootiturtle

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
28
@Yourlocalpoet: Yes 2 days, I couldn't go anymore :( Sadly, my brother is the one who bought it from the pet shop so he didn't ask for that. When I offer him something else, he just walks away from it, moves a few then go to sleep.

@BuffsTorts: Thanks for this advice. I guess it's not that easy after all. But for me it has been 3 months now!!, so I guess its going to be much much harder. One of the pet shops told me that Tooti has a lame personality and is very persistent :D So its going to be really really hard :D

Anyone thinks like Danny that both are males?!
 

zeec

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2008
Messages
32
Tooti is definitely a male. Sunny is a female although the picture is not very clear. Post another picture for confirmation.
 

egyptiandan

New Member
10 Year Member!
5 Year Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2007
Messages
5,788
Location (City and/or State)
USA
Sorry about that :p Sunny is a female :D

Danny
 

tootiturtle

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
May 14, 2010
Messages
28
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

THNX GUYS! NOW TOOTI GOT HIS BRIDE :D :D <3

But how do you guys know that? :) I would like to know =)

And at what age do they start mating?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top