Tortoise refused to eat salmon. What to do?

Wed Aug 15, 2007, NLB 5.33 pm

A lady called me to seek advice. Her tortoise used to eat prawns only. She would peel off the shells. The tortoise passed white faeces and the lady decided to switch from prawns to salmon as she thought there would be too much calcium or urea. I could not hear her clearly as I was in the National Library and could not talk loudly.

The tortoise stopped eating. Would he starve to death? "What to do?"

In such situations, the switch to a new food should be gradual. This principle applies to dogs too. A sudden change may cause stomach upset too. It is hard to tell whether the tortoise had a tummy upset and stopped eating. It could also be constipated instead of having diarrhoea.

I advised: "Give 90% prawn mixed with 10% salmon and over the next few weeks, reduce the prawn %." The lady had not thought of this. She thanked me. Up to now, I still don't know who she is nor have I consulted a tortoise for the past few years.


LATER AT NIGHT I got a text message:
"Gd evening, Dr Singh..." offering to pay for phone consultation for her softshell turtle as she was a first-time pet owner. It was very kind of her.