Won't eat... Help!

[skrick]

I have a 5 yr old Russian female who I've had since August. In the last week and a half her behavior has changed. She won't come out of her hide box (upside-down bowl) and has gradually stopped eating. She used to respond to my voice and immediately come out to see me... The temp is the same and her light is on a timer. Food is either a spring mix or baby lettuces. Plenty of water is available and a cuttle bone which she ignores. The only thing I have changed is the UVB light bulb which I replaced within the last week because the first one was over 6 months old. I see poop and it is the same consistency as always. She exhibits no signs of any health issues.

 

[WillTort2]

Try switching back to the old bulb. Some of the new bulbs need a break in period to reduce intensity to a level the tortoise finds comfortable.

Also try feeding dandelions.

If your weather is warm enough some outdoor time would be good.

Good luck.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

If your weather is warm enough some outdoor time would be good.

Good luck.

My Russian pair ate fine indoors over winter, but now that the weather has been getting nicer, they seem to be a bit reluctant to feed indoors. I chalk it up to "spring fever," because they seem to perk right up once they've had some time outside.

Tortoises also need lots of variety in their diet, so if they're not eating, they might be bored with one kind of plant or pellet. They might even be bored with a whole category of food, like "asters" or "brassicas" or "Mazuri." An again, this can have something to do with spring fever, too. My guys were fine with grocery greens during the winter, but now they seem to want more weeds.

Also, on a technical note, make sure your hot spot temps are right. Russians need to bask at 95-100*F. If it's not hot enough, they can't digest their food properly, and their appetite decreases. In other words, it might be time to change your bulb or CHE, or else make sure the housing is working properly.

 

[Jenncure]

My Russian did this when I installed a new MVB bulb in his enclosure. He basically hid from it for a couple weeks. Once the light had its "burn in" time and stopped spiking UV, Henry gradually got used to it, but it took time.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

My Russian did this when I installed a new MVB bulb in his enclosure. He basically hid from it for a couple weeks. Once the light had its "burn in" time and stopped spiking UV, Henry gradually got used to it, but it took time.

Interesting. My guys hid when I had the wrong kind of bulb in, probably because it hurt their eyes or the color it gave off was strange. But as long as I've been using a ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 - new or old - they've been fine.

 

[skrick]

My Russian did this when I installed a new MVB bulb in his enclosure. He basically hid from it for a couple weeks. Once the light had its "burn in" time and stopped spiking UV, Henry gradually got used to it, but it took time.

Interesting. My guys hid when I had the wrong kind of bulb in, probably because it hurt their eyes or the color it gave off was strange. But as long as I've been using a ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 - new or old - they've been fine.

I just replaced an Exo Terra 10.0 with a Zoo Med 10.0. Could it really be the bulb??

 

[skrick]

If your weather is warm enough some outdoor time would be good.

Good luck.

My Russian pair ate fine indoors over winter, but now that the weather has been getting nicer, they seem to be a bit reluctant to feed indoors. I chalk it up to "spring fever," because they seem to perk right up once they've had some time outside.

Tortoises also need lots of variety in their diet, so if they're not eating, they might be bored with one kind of plant or pellet. They might even be bored with a whole category of food, like "asters" or "brassicas" or "Mazuri." An again, this can have something to do with spring fever, too. My guys were fine with grocery greens during the winter, but now they seem to want more weeds.

Also, on a technical note, make sure your hot spot temps are right. Russians need to bask at 95-100*F. If it's not hot enough, they can't digest their food properly, and their appetite decreases. In other words, it might be time to change your bulb or CHE, or else make sure the housing is working properly.

I have a 150 watt ceramic infrared Heat Emitter over her hot spot. But the other end of the tank shows 70 degrees. Do I need to move the thermometer closer to her hot spot or get a different type of thermometer to measure the temp? Plus, if I gather dandelion greens, do I wash them any special way?? No blooms yet, still too cool here in north Idaho.

 

[WillTort2]

Just soak the greens in cool water for an hour should be good. If it just rained I'll just rinse and quick soak for 5 minutes. Make sure the area is untreated ,no chemicals used.

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

I just replaced an Exo Terra 10.0 with a Zoo Med 10.0. Could it really be the bulb??

Bingo. The ExoTerra ReptiGlo 10.0 is precisely the bulb the drove my Russians to hiding for a week. When I went back to the ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 ... poof! ... problem solved. They came back out and started acting normally again. I don't know if it hurts their eyes, or if it's just the bluish light that freaks them out, but the ReptiGlo is definitely not as natural for them as the ReptiSun.

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I have a 150 watt ceramic infrared Heat Emitter over her hot spot. But the other end of the tank shows 70 degrees. Do I need to move the thermometer closer to her hot spot or get a different type of thermometer to measure the temp? Plus, if I gather dandelion greens, do I wash them any special way?? No blooms yet, still too cool here in north Idaho.

I use 150-W CHEs, too, and they're great. They easily keep the tortoises' hot spots at 95-100*F with the usual ambient temperatures indoors.

An ambient temperature of 70*F is fine. If you want to know the temperature in the hot spot, you need to either move your thermometer right under the CHE to measure it, or else just get two thermometers: one for ambient, the other for basking. You can also buy a spot thermometer at the pet store or hardware store. They use infrared to quickly measure the temperature of surfaces right in front of them. You can use that on any part of the enclosure whenever you like.

As for gathering plants, my tortoises will chow right down on them if they are warm (70s-80s). If I collect them in the morning earlier in the season, then they're still going to be cool (50s-60s). The tortoises know this, and won't eat them until they've warmed up. Of course, by then, they can lose some of their freshness. So, I just treat them like groceries from the refrigerator. I just run them under warm tap water until they've warmed up themselves. Then I feed them to the tortoises, and voila, it's breakfast time! It's nice to run plants under the sink anyway, because then they'll have water sticking to them like dew, and when the tortoises eat this, they'll get more moisture into their bodies.

I just did the above a few minutes ago with young prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola) before logging onto TFO, and Mork and Mindy loved it.