My tortoise won't eat or drink ???

Question

We found him 3 weeks ago in a dogs mouth. He didn't have any injuries and he runs around freely doing his thing. He is about 4 inches across so I guess quite young. He has not eaten a thing nor drank even though it's readily available. We live in Turkey so the weather is still around 26-28 degrees during the day. He has a box filled with shredded paper to sleep in at night for warmth. We have tried cabbage, red and green pepper, grape leaves, lettuce (we know this has no goodness ect) cucumber, tomatoes,grapes, green beans ect but still he won't have a bite. We also give him a shallow plate of water every day but he still won't touch it. I have also tried standing him in a larger dish with about half an inch of water but all he wants to do is get out. He has passed stools and they look quite normal (no blood, slime ect).
We don't think he is ready for hibernation because he is so active during the day.
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHATS WRONG WITH THE WEE GUY ???

Answer 1

Is it a wild tortoise? If so, let it go. It doesn't sound as though you know what you are doing and can actually damage him by feeding him with lettuce and beans. If he is preparing to hibernate he will stop eating a month before he actually hibernates as it is dangerous for him to hibernate with any food remnants in his stomach. He knows what he is doing so let him go back to the wild.
If any idiot here tells you to feed him on meat or anything else high protein , disregard this advice because you will cause enormous problems. Too many know nothings post here offering dangerous advice. Tortoises mus NOT have beans, peas, meat or anything else high protein. It accellerates shel growth causing weaknesses and also damages their liver.
I have a 50 year old Spur thighed tortoise.
I've posted a couple oif links below to a couple of good yahoo groups. There are several tortoise vets and tortoise breeders in the groups and all are very knowledgeable and will be able to fully and accurately answer your questions better than anyone on here.

Answer 2

1. Stressed out. The trauma of the dog attack has it rattled. If the basic cares are good (temps, etc.) then it should slowly recover over the next couple weeks.

2. Injured. It might have internal injuries, possibly even to the jaws or neck.

3. Maladaptation Syndrome. This is a catch-all term to describe an animal's stress caused by living in a different habitat. If the tortoise was a wild animal and is now in a small cage, it is very stressful. If it was living in one kind of cage and it chages cages and owners, it is very stressful.

4. Basic care issues. you don't say the species. I can make a guess, but there are a couple species it could be- with different care issues. Try to identify the species and then review the cares- temps, humidity, diet, etc.

You might get some help at http://www.tortoise.org or http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Good luck!

Answer 3

Before accepting advice from anyone you have to ask yourself an important question; what kind of tortoise do I have? Some people in this post are assuming you have some kind of water turtle, hence giving you advice as to how to care for that type of animal. However water turtles and tortoises are quite different.　Considering your location, Turkey, there is a good chance that you have a wild tortoise of the variety Testudo (graeca) ibera. Indeed these tortoises do hibernate, but perhaps it may not be that species either. Maybe this is someones lost pet tortoise and is of a complete different variety, such as a Sulcatta or Leopard tortoise which do not hibernate and need a relatively warm habitiat to survive. If you want some general advice on tortoise care, one thing common amongst all tortoises is that they are herbavores. Protein is very limited in their diet, no meat, no beans, no monkey chow. Most of your lettuces, and greens such as cabbage do not have the vitamins and minerals necessary to sustain proper growth and health of the tortoise. Usually leafy greens such as mustard greens are good for your tortoise. Tortoises especially need a sufficient amount of calcium to maintain proper growth of their shell and bones. Additionally a light source that produces UV light is needed. I would suggest that once you figure out what kind of tortoise you have,go to kingsnake.com and look through the various caresheets that are available for your particular variety of tortoise.

Answer 4

When you bring your first slider home, don't be surprised if he doesn't eat for a couple/few daysFirst things first, establish a routine. Every morning and evening, or whenever it's routinely convenient for you, put a few Reptomin food pellets in the water and walk away. Leave your new fella alone and let him eat in private. Come back in five minutes - if the food is gone, leave more. If it's still there, take it out of the tank so it doesn't foul the water. Don't deluge the water with food, because your turtles don't want soggy food any more than you want soggy corn flakes. (They won't want to eat out of the water, though, because they don't feel safe.) Repeat this routine every day. It may take him a few days to get used to it and start eating, and that's completely okay. Don't stand there asking him questions, don't beg him to eat, don't read him the menu, just leave the food and come back..Pellets may not be the right food for your turtle: turtles are like people, and they have different appetites. My turtles absolutely loved the pellets and refused to touch any veggies or fruit, but I've heard from most other turtle owners that mine were in the minority. My turtles were also addicted to brine shrimp. (When I say brine shrimp, these are the dried Reptomin variety that come in a yellow can just like the pellets, not the huge expensive shrimp you and I eat.) You can use meat like turkey, ham, or even live goldfish as special treats if you like. Once mine were about a year old, I gave them a few live goldfish once a week, and that was definitely their favorite meal. Copied From This Website Below

Answer 5

try a heat lamp and a heat rock when you feed him. I live in Germany and my girlfriend has two Greek tortoise. They will not go to hibernate for about another month. they do like it warm when they eat and at the same time they do not drink allot of water. try bathing he or her once to twice a week. set him about a 1/4in. to 1/2in. water for about 20 min. and that will take care of the water problem. If you want to learn more there is plenty of web sites on tortoises. And if it is a wild tortoise be careful the laws here in Europe are strict.

Answer 6

Well I dont know what to tell you, I guess it would best if you knew what type of Tortoise it is. I have two South American Red Footed Tortoises, that are very young. They eat everyday and are pretty much sitting in their food plate waiting for food at 6pm. Thought I know they only year once or twice a week as they get oldered. I would suggest trying to identify his breed first.

Answer 7

I got my mum a tortoise for xmas last year and he never drinks water. We give him a luke warm bath every week in a washing up tub, this not only aids their toilet process but we find he drinks it. I have a horse and in the winter after hours of working him it is not good for him to have cold water, it will upset his stomach so we give him luke warm water, perhaps they, like tortoises find it easier to drink? My tortoise loves cauliflower and courgette.

Answer 8

he is probably in shock and doesnt know what to do. if you have ever tried to take a wild animal and put it in a box w/ food it probably wouldnt eat. i think the best thing to do is to let it go where you found it ( not in the dogs mouth but in that area) if you really want to keep it try to give it some worms but if it doesnt eat it then i think you should let it go.

Answer 9

If it's a tortoise you probably don't need to worry, he'll eat when hungary or go into hibernation. If he's a turtle species you may not be offering the right foods. It may be illegal to keep a wild species where you are so be prepared if you take him to a vet or reptile shop to ask.

Answer 10

He's probably still leaning over to eat/drink, you probably wont notice because he's a tortoise, he takes things slow.

seriusly... get him to a vet. He probably has a bug problem or something.