Sluggish guy

[gotrenzi]

Normally, I feed Crawly every day before I go to work and he's a voracious eater.  Often I find him sitting in his bowl or on the edge just waiting for food.  He's also been very active ever since I adopted him (Dec 09).  He's always tromping around his enclosure, climbing, digging, etc.  He normally only sleeps in the later afternoon/evening.  When he's done, he just goes under his rock staircase and stays until the next morning. 

I went away for the July 4th weekend & it was only 3 days I would miss him so I didn't have someone come in to feed him.  I've always been told they don't need to eat every day.  So I gave him 2 meals the day I was leaving (morning & late afternoon), soaked him, filled his water, and left.  Now since I've been back, he's sleeping most of the time, barely eats, and just hasn't come out of it.  He still appears to be healthy, no outward signs of sickness.  He is eating, but not much and not like before.  Should I be worried or is this ok?

[Upstart68]

Personally I wouldn't worry about especially if he is still eating. I have seen torts/box turtles refuse meals for days at a time especially RT's I chalk it up to their ability to eat a ton in the three months time in the wild when the seasonable food is available. If you see him super listless and go off food all together take him to your vet, But I really wouldn't worry about it.

[go_fish]

This is interesting because something similar happened to me. Earlier this year, I moved all my torts to my boyfriend's house because my place was undergoing renovation. I had a routine where I would go to his place after work, and each day around 5pm, all my torts would be active and waiting for me. Their cute heads would all be perked up, and as soon as they saw me heading towards their enclosure, they would get all excited and start running towards me. Then I would take them outside in the garden for feeding, etc. This happened every day.

But...my boyfriend and I went on a small weekend trip together, so the torts didn't see us for 2 days. They were fed a nice meal before I left, and I left them with hay and water for the weekend.  When I came back at the usual time after the weekend, the torts were all sleepy and acting groggy. They usually are not sleeping at that time of day. Even my female who usually is the most excited to see me was hard to perk up. I was worried, and didn't know what happened. After about 3 more days of the regular routine, they were back to normal again.

I'm not really sure what happened...but I think torts in general are very routine-oriented, and so when something changes in that routine, they get confused, stressed,  and don't know what to expect next. Maybe they get depressed and just want to sleep...  

[gotrenzi]

I hope it is just that, that his routine got messed up and he's pouting or sleeping it off.  We've been home for 2 weeks now and he has been outside his sleeping spot for two days now.  He's still asleep & hard to rouse but he's starting to perk up.  Today I sat in the room for a little while & he is now eating and hanging off his bowl as usual.  He likes to dive in head first with his feet hanging over the edge.  Silly boy!

[Upstart68]

Great to hear he is eating still and climbing up his food bowl. Did you try his favorite treat as well to see if you can make peace with him for causing him to miss his regular schedule lol

[gotrenzi]

Crawlyman is eating but he's just more subdued.  Do they go through cycles of more & less activity maybe?  He doesn't have a favorite treat that I know of.  He just likes food usually.