Hi Everyone
Molly my new Adult Hermans (30yrs) will not eat. I have mentioned about her previous poor of Avacado pear & pellets, which I have banned, and trying to introduce the good stuff to her, but she is not having any of it.  I have tried hand feeding, she took one bite of cucumber yesterday and a couple of tiny plantain leaves and that was it, this is the 6th day now and I am worried because it obviously means she is stressed, and I don't know what else to do.. I weighed and measured her and according to "Jackson Ratio"  she is roughly about 270gms underweight although having a hysterectomy could make a difference to the estimated weight guide!! I find I am getting stressed because I know that she should be eating well and building herself up for hibernation, Oh dear, this new me of confidence with my torts has just flown out the window.. Has anyone got any thing they can recommend to me please..
Thanks

Jane

Hi Everyone

Guess what? Molly has decided to eat something,

she must have known I had was asking for advice... She started to bite into some cucumber and eat time she opened her mouth I fed it with honeysuckle, plantain and a nice big dandelion head, so hopefully this is the start of her feeding well, but I shall have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. I would still be interested to hear if anyone else has had this problem and how they overcame it?

Thanks Jane

Congratulations!!

We have a few torts come here that have been on poor diets. Most adapted pretty quickly. The worst was our large Rosie, who was largely fed a diet of green beans, amongst other things. It was around 2 weeks before she finally ate and considerably longer before she stopped picking at her food and ate normally.

Providing the tortoise appears healthy it's a case of persistence & will-power to see who cracks first:-)

HTH

Darren

That was quick then Jane

When I got my last Russian rehomer it took her 6 weeks to start eating.  I was beside myself with woryy, but she seemed happy and content enogh, and just as I rang to make an appointment to see the vet she started eating. 

Helen

Hi Darren & Helen

That's good to know that Molly isn't in any immediate problems at the moment- Thank you
Well today is another story, she picked again at the cucumber and I popped in a dandelion head and a tiny leaf of plantain, and that was it. I know this is bad but I have brought a bag of mixed lettuce leaf and have mixed some good stuff in too to see if I can trick her. Nope she is cleverer than that, I got the flick of the head treatment !! Molly has been dragging on the floor today and I thought it was because she was weak with no food, but looking further it appears she has hurt her left front leg although I can't see anything wrong. I have checked for abscesses and foreign bodies but nothing. I am keeping her quiet and maybe a vet visit if it doesn't improve by Monday.
Thanks

Jane

If she has hurt her foot she may be in a little pain with it and this could be a cause of her not eating Jane.  What do you suspect has happened to it?

Helen

Hi Helen

I really don't know, she has been so active, trying to climb up everything, I have been going around the garden this week moving things or blocking areas off that I know could cause her harm. She was fine last night when put to bed. She does  have rather a sad history behind her, bad diet, wrong sort of enviroment, paving slabs no lights etc I am just so sad for her. She does not like being picked up as no-one ever did, the lady who had her could not get down to her.
 After thoroughly checking her leg I could see that she only has 2 claws on the left front leg as the other 2 are completely worn down, of the remaining 2 claws one is like a little cat claw, not overally long just curled and pointed. This is only on the left  limb the right one looks Ok, which tends to suggest that there has been a problem. The limb does seem to be abit puffy, do you think that she could have pulled a muscle? When I touch her leg she doesn't retract it and has some strength in it. When she walks she puts it into place as normal and then it flops down and she drags it back up again. Everything else about her is fine, eyes clear, no runny nose, breathing Ok, looks alert. Any suggestions much appreciated.
Thanks

Jane

Hi Jane,

I'd be inclined to take her to the vets for a check-over, possibly an x-ray. If her diet has been poor and she has had insufficient calcium her bones will be weak and it may be an on-going problem that flares up every-so often.

Have you a good reptile vet in your area?

Darren

Hi Jane

Darren is right she needs to see a specialist tortoise vet to rule out a bone disorder through precious bad husbandry.

Helen

Hi Darren

My local  vet who specialised in tortoises, moved to cornwall, so the nearest one to me is in Bedford which is about 40 minutes away, a shame really as they were just across the road, saves alot of stress to the tort. 
Anyway yes I agree, I think the vet is the only option, given Molly's past life. I am trying to get her to be seen tomorow evening, so will post my updates after I have seen them
Thanks

Jane

Fingers Crossed for her

D

Hi Darren

Thanks. I can't get to see the vet until Thursday evening that is the first available appointment!! I am keeping her quiet and warm, she doesn't seem to be too bothered at the moment but obviously if anything changes I will put her in as an emergency.. feel sad about it all really.

Jane

Hi Jane,

At least you'll know how to progress with her. She's in good hands now:-)

Darren

Thanks Darren the support really helps

This site is so good it  helps so many of us out there trying to get it right. Thanks for all your time and energy TPG
Jane

Hi - Update on Molly

I took Molly to the vet and she has had an X-Ray and some bloods taken. Molly had become dehydrated first signs, so the vet gave her some fluids and I am bathing her twice a day, that seems to be working. The vet felt her lame leg and said she hadn't broken anything and there were no lumps or bumps.  The X-ray came back clear, what a relief,  but I am still waiting for the results on bloods which I should get tomorrow, fingers crossed!! Molly will not eat and won't even entertain anything, I tried getting an advocado pear (her previous diet) and smearing it on her weeds, just to get her started but she just wasn;t interested, I am keeping her warm as it almost seems that she is winding herself down for hibernation which I can't let her do until I know 1- she is in good health and 2 - it would mean that she won't have eaten for 6 months, I don't want to over winter her but it's looking that way if I can't get her to eat, as her wind down should be mid October.. as you have probably gathered I am quite concerned and really don't know how I am going to get her eating...

Jane

Hi Jane,

I really dont think you should hibernate Molly this year, i always say if they are not fit and healthy by August then dont risk it and even more so as she hasnt eaten. I would suggest that you keep tempting her with different foods. Tortoises can be very stubborn.

Ali

Hi Ali

I am still waiting for Molly's blood test results, but I think I will take your advice, and start looking on the information to overwinter her. I think that would be the safest option for Molly, plus she has had quite abit of moving around over the last 2-3 months and is not sure of her surroundings yet.

Thanks for your help
Jane

Hi

Molly's blood results came back and the vet said there was nothing to be concerned about. She did say that Molly is starting to live on her reserves so they wanted to put a feeding tube in to her neck to get her feeding. My response to this is that I am not having this procedure (Oesophagostomy) done, it seems too extreme at this point,as I have heard about a number of  people whose tortoises are not eating because of the weather and they are going on a wind down, so I am keeping her warm at the moment, and trying to encourage her to eat. I did liquidise some weeds and Nutrabol to make a cocktail which I attempted to give Molly with a syringe, but I am not sure how much we got in to her as I wasn't very good at opening her mouth, and she started to get stressed so I stopped. The rehoming person is going to take Molly back for a week to try and get her to eat  and have her checked over by her own vet for a second opinion. 

Jane

Hi Jane

You seem to be doing everything you can, but tortoises don't like change and my advice to you would be to keep her yourself and not to move her yet again and to continue as you are trying to tempt her to eat.  Also try making a warm soup of liquidised greens and let her bathe in that you never know she may be tempted to take a drink of it.  Try putting red and yellow coloured foods (edible flowers) in different places that she might just come across and forget herself for a minute and take a bite.

Helen

Hi Helen

Molly at last decided to eat , she ate about 5 really big sedum leaves, some cucumber and a couple of dandelion leaves, so that was really good, she wanted to do it herself, I could have cried with the relief. I am keeping Molly with us, that was my main worry also, that she has been moved around quite abit over the last 2-3 months, but the way she was going I felt she needed someone experienced to look after her before she got sick. I was getting so upset at letting her go, luckily that isn't going to happen. I do feel like we have turned a corner and it has given me a bit more faith in myself with Molly. The weather looks like it is going to be good all week so that should help matters no end. Fingers crossed for tomorrow..
Jane

Oh, Jane -- that is brilliant news! I'm so pleased for your and Molly, and it definitely sounds like you've turned a corner and are headed in the right direction. I know it's early days, but it sounds like you're doing all the right things and I'm sure that Molly will thank her lucky stars she found you!

Nina

Thanks for your moral support guys

Jane

Hi

Just an update on Molly.. She has settled down well now. I have cut the baths down to one a day and she is completely rehydrated . Today Molly went and ate quite abit from her food bowl and has made herself quite familiar with her surroundings, and about 5ish off she toddles to bed. We built her what we call the wild area and she adores it,  I will post the photo on her gallery.  It is so wonderful to see her contented and not stressed, I think someone was looking over us because we certainly turned that corner last week-end.  Now our house has  two happy torts and a less stressed Mum & Dad... fingers crossed we have a break..

LOL - Glad she's going from strength to strength Jane

TC
Darren