Tortoise not eating for a long time
Posted: 21 Oct 2023, 16:09
Hi, I'm very concerned about our tortoise Timmy and what to do for the best - any advice offered would be so appreciated. We got him 2 years ago as a rescue and believe him to be about 4 years old now. We haven't hibernated him yet but we were considering it for this winter. However, this year he has not eaten well at all. His appetite dropped off about December time last year, which we considered normal for the time of year. However, it failed to pick up again in the spring. I took him to the vets in late April to get him checked out, and the vet said he seemed to be in good health and gave him a vit B12 injection as an appetite stimulant. Very slowly in the weeks that followed his appetite picked up and for a few months his appetite was OK (not emptying his bowl like he had the previous summer but eating most days). However, from late July onwards it dropped off again and during July/Aug some days he didn't eat at all. Through Sept this became most days. We have been monitoring his weight and he has gone from 296g in July to 290g now, so not a massive loss, but I don't know how as he really has eaten so very little in the last few months. We took him to the vets two weeks ago to get advice and get him checked out. Vet said he seemed OK (checked mouth, all clear; well hydrated). We need to take a poo sample for parasite load testing, but the problem is he is not pooing due to lack of anything going in. We are bathing him 3-4 times a week in Reptoboost since taking him to the vets and have attempted to syringe feed him with something the vet gave us, but we have found it impossible to prise his mouth open to get it in and it seems very distressing for him. The vet said we could try giving him a short hibernation (3-4 weeks) but I'm worried about hibernating him given he has not been eating for so long, and has never hibernated before. Plus would hibernating him now and waking him up in the middle of winter really be a good idea? He lives on a tortoise table (in the summer he spends time in the day in a run on the lawn). We let him roam indoors during the winter for an hour or so a day around the kitchen, supervised (we only let him out when we are there to keep an eye on him). He basks for about an hour in the morning under his UV lamp then retreats for the rest of the day other than we he is out for a wonder (which we usually wake him up for). Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice.