Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Got a Burmese brown thru the classifieds about 2 weeksa ago. It was an import but I didn't know it was a recent import. Well, you probably can guess by now that it will not eat. I've tried pretty much everything. Was hoping to get some advice. I was told by the seller that it had been wormed with panacure already, so I don't want to worm it again if it hasn't eaten anything. It seems to drink still but thats about it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rob

Hi there
All my Burmese brown r WC .I know wat u r going thru
Banana works well for mine ,they r the only food they will accept for a while .I add vitamin ,calcium on the banana so as to increase the nutrition value of the banana n after a week or two i will add other food into the banana (food like pellets,greens.....etc )n after they got use to the new food banana is decrease from the diet

I've tried banana, strawberries, greens etc.. not eating. Any other suggestions? Also, this thing smells worse than any other tortoise I've ever had. Is this normal for them?

Hi there

They dont smell compared with my indian star or the I.elongate. Could it be the worming n the dead worms passing out of its system that is causing the smell??? Can u get Yam try the leave with its stem stalk mine also like that as they eat a lot of that in the wild.something similar will be what they call "elephant ear " planted near pond similar leaf but no tubers growing in the root area.

Typically, flagyll is a better choice for burmese than panacure. The flagyll will jump start their appetite, and that with giving it regular soakings will get him hydrated. Burmese can be shy for a LONG time til they get used to people and their health gets better. Then they are usually bulletproof at that point, but it takes alot of patience and work to get them to that point.........

How careless i am to forget about the soaking part that is their favorite pass time.
One of mine took more then 6 mths to get out of shyness now he will come out to inspect whether i hav any food for him whenever i am in the yard.

Very cool pic.....I've found that once burmese are "dialed-in", they are awesome tortoises. Most people just don't know what meds to administer and don't have the patience to wait for them to come around. My big female black will come up to me for food all the time.......

Barry

I don't see anywhere you mentioning taking it to a vet.

If there is one fresh import that I highly recommend taking to a vet, it is the Brown. If it has been sitting around the importers holding facility for any length of time the odds of survival drop real quick over time.

If there is any pink that you can see through the scutes and/or the eyes are sunken you might have a real problem.

The odor for any tortoise is not a good sigh especially if it is noticable.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I purchased two Brown Mountain's late last year. I experienced the same thing that you are experiencing. I learned alot from going thru the process. Most, if not all, of these animals come in with TONS of red pinworms. They must be treated to rid them of these. Mine arrived in good weight but would not eat, move, or even extend their heads in their rubbermaid tubs. I put the best mercury vapor light over them that I had. Nothing seemed to work. I did soak them at least twice daily. And during the soak they would extend their head. I got desparate and begin to offer from my hand and eventually used a spoon ANYTHING they would even look at. The best success I had was with Mazuri Tortoise Chow. They began to eat this, first from my hand, then from a spoon. I could sneak their worming meds in between bites. They really didn't get "happy" until they were placed outside in a well planted pen. At that point they really turned a corner and began to eat on their own and began soaking in their tub by themselves. You must take a fecal sample to the vet and get the proper meds for their parasites. In order to do so I had to send a sample to the closest vet school path department. My vets had never seen the kind of worms they had. The largest of these two torts had a terrible odor also. I began scrubbing her daily in one of her soaks even to the point of using a gentle shampoo and she began to loose that awful smell. If you get them through this awful time (poor things) you will not regret one minute that it took you to do it. They are wonderful tortoises and you will be rewarded many times over.

these guys probably "in jail " too long, too much stress that they forgot how to move...a vet is your best friend for now and after that, try to give them room to MOVE around during quarrantine (4'x8' at least as oppose to confine them in little plastic tubs which is no different than where they being held before you got them , give them comfort ZONES: warm, moist, basking, hiding zones)... now that the summer's here which is a good thing to keep their bodytemp at optimum but they also needs lots of humidity or could die from dehydration, if you cannot invest in an auto sprinker set up for their pen, get a 2 galons sprayers ( the hand-pump type pesticides sprayer) , they seems happier out door in the sun when haft their body submerge in the water and the tingling shower above...some would chew plain cactus (the TRUNKY type) after this "spa" treatment...papaya is also their fav which contains some deworm agents...but, before these happydays are here...there's much to do

Well, first of all it wasn't in a small tub, it was in a 6foot by 3 foot indoor enclosure & he still wasn't moving around. Every time I took him in the yard he seemed to get more active, but still no food interest. Last night I bought some fencing & stakes & this morning I set up a 10 foot by 16 foot enclosure, so I'm hoping that this extra room will make him more active & the outdoors will spark a desire to start feeding again. So far he's very active until I come near, but he still is showing no interest in the food. Hopefully he will.

.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He seems very active since I put him in the outdoor pen this morning. Really walking all around but not even giving the food a second glance.

I'd suggest keeping up the daily soakings and try to get a fecal sample to take to a vet.

Passport gave you some good suggestions.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I'll need a fecal in order to get one & I haven't seen anything yet. Think giving flagyl orally will help? If I can get it in him.

...hope you have a good outdoor quarrantine place away from other animals since these guys may also carry imported TICKs

I have a Manouria emys phayrei (burmese black mountain) and mine was similiar to yours when I got her. I looked at it like this:
these guys lived in hiding and away from preditors all there lives, not seeing humans. So when captured the see us as very large preditors and have fear. Large hands reaching at them, new surroundings, travel is all scary.

With mine I created a large indoor enclosure, covered, at a constant 80 degree temp, with a humidifier (from walgrees $10) going on for 2 minutes every hour, and a moist base 1" thick of spag moss, cedar mulch, coco fiber over the whole area. Then I added a large pie pan pushed into the base and and a basking light above it, along with some plantings in pots. She liked this base (substrait)and burrowed into the base in hiding areas in the corners. I would let her sleep/hide for 22 hrs of the day then at 3:30 I would gently pick her up and put her in the pie pan with warm water up to her nose, then I would get out of the area and give quiet and have cardboard up over the enclosures plastic walls (so she could see me). She starting loving this and when she pumped her throat and put her back legs up (flying) I knew she was happy. I then would leave her in ther as long (sometimes 3 hours) as she liked (never watching her directly).
At the point of her leaving the pool I introduced a plate of:
sweet patotoes, collar greens, crushed strawberry, almost rotten banana and thats it. I just placed it in front of her. Then finally she started eating everyday and the rest is history.
Probably the main things are they do not liked to be watched while eating at all, they are very,very slow and careful and are easily spooked.
I love my black and she is slowly coming out of it. It takes years for them to come around. They are not like any other tort on the market and are not for children or can be taken as a pet.
I still have to find mine in the substrait and put her in the pool or she just stays hidden and she is 1 year old and I have had her for 3 months. If you live in a tropical area she can go outside for a time each day.

I take alot of research and time for this species and if you get to a point of not wanting yours, please let me know.

good luck and hang in, its not about you and your needs with this species!!!!!