Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I have a friends sulcata tortoise who hasn't been eating and who's been a bit lethargic. I took her to my vet (her owner didn't want to be bothered) and we discovered she has a belly full of gravel. UGH on top of this she isn't eating. We gave her a vitamin injection to stimulate her appetite but I was wondering what foods your sulcatas find irresistable. I will try whatever it takes to get her eating. I know they shouldn't normally have much fruit but it would help get things moving if she'd eat. (oh yeah we did enemas too, so were working this from both ends). Any ideas would be appreciated.

hello
mine love cactus pads, tomatoes, and squash
red apples are the only fruit i would even consider
they love red
apples are high fiber
but the sugars are bad
once would do no harm in my opinion
regards
jeff

Thanks I'll give it a try. I know fruit isn't good for them but now I'm more concerned with getting her to eat anything and fruit may help slide the gravel thru. I'll adjust her back to a proper diet after she gets functioning again. Worse case scenario is force feeding and I'm not looking forward to that!(she isn't either!!) Doc said fruit and/or squash may act like a laxative for her. Thanks

Carrots are a natural wormer too.
They really like carrots.
They might help pull the stones loose.
Good luck with the tort
Maybe mix all of them together and see what happens
Sulcatas doing this is more common then people think.
I have had quite a few people bring in impacted tortoises since I have had the store.
best regards
jeff

Again Thank you Jeff. Nice to know your out there.

Hibiscus are a number one in my sulcatas book! Both the leaves and the flowers are very good for them.
Grasses should consist of a major part of their diet. Let them graze as much as possible.
There are some good sites out there with nutritional info you can trust. sulcata-station.org is a great one.

Rich
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bigdnutz
1.2 Suriname Boa
1.0 Venezuelan Boa

You could try pumpkin. I believe it acts as a laxative and a lot of tortoises really like it. Try brightly colored things they usually attract them. A lot of tortoises like the color red.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions but...still not eating. She has been offered hay, fresh endive, mustard greens, bok choy, collards, carrots, apples, squash, watermelon and freshly picked dandelions. Nothing. She'll sorta sniff at the squash but thats it. I've been doing twice a day enemas. Nothing. She occasionally stands and acts as if shes trying to poop but nothing. I've even asked the aquatic expert at our local aquarium who has sea turtle experience for ideas. I will force feed her if I have to but am a bit reluctant because this is a fifty pounder and it won't be easy on her or me. I'll just keep trying but if anyone has any ideas I haven't already tried I would greatly appreciate the input. Why do torts always pee on you when you don't want them to and then not pee when there're supposed to!! Geez after all this is done I'm gonna have a serious talk with this torts human!

She has been offered hay, fresh endive, mustard greens, bok choy, collards, carrots, apples, squash, watermelon and freshly picked dandelions. Nothing.
Our girls love strawberries as a treat. They're small so they don't even get a full one but they go for it in a heartbeat. Pumpking is something else they love. Our older one tried to go for my finger once but she was just curious. In October they got their own pumpkin that I cut up and froze so they coudl eat throughout the year. Loved that too. It's a once a month treat kind of thing for them but I can definately tell a difference in their poo with just a little bit. Maybe more would help? Good luck!

~Katie
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too many Corns
1.3 Columbian Red Tail Boa (Abu, Jasmine, Princess, and Baby)
1.0 Burmese Python (Merlin)
2.3 Western Hognose (Stumpy, Sir Hiss, Lizi, Nozi, and Gabbi)
0.2.3 Leopard Geckos (Cutie, Lily, and 3 babies)
0.1 Pac Man Frogs (Gordito)
0.2 Sulcatta Tortoise (Shelly and Tails)
2.4 Ball Pythons (Fluffy, Fred, ?, Betty, Aurora, and Zoey)

I hope this tort is doing better by now. The only suggestions I have are these:
My sulcata loves broccoli more than anything else. If I didn't limit his intake it's all he would eat. As far as laxatives go, let's just say I'll never feed him prickly pears again unless he's stopped up.
He also likes nibbling on my girlfriend's pink-polished toenails, but you can't have those