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aw what a lil sweetie! he's lucky to have you!

Crazy1 Wrote:Barbie, I hope every thing is OK with your CT scan. you may have answered these questions already, sorry If I am repeating any. What is the temps and humidity in his enclosure? (cold side, spot light, warm side?) How long do you soak him for?
I soak mine for a min. of 20 min. 2 to 3 times a week. I often have to change the water 2 or 3 times just keep it clean and warm. that is cuse I am afraid too many soaks will cause him to lose too much food to fast ( he poos almost everytime I soak him).

Just checked the temps and humidity....90 deg on the hot spot and 75 on the cool side with it a little cooler at night. Humidity looks to be at 38% right now. I had not really worried too much about humidity due to his condition and warm soaks so this is the first time I even checked it. He seems to hang out in his water dish on the cool side or directly in the heat on the hot side. Never in between.
I only soak him for about 15 minutes at a time and I also re-do the water to keep it warm for him. He really seems to like this.

cvalda Wrote:aw what a lil sweetie! he's lucky to have you!

Thank you! I really hope I can turn him around and make him happy and healthy. Sarah, my 15 year old said "I just need to be positive and he will be fine." She said she tells him everyday how much she loves him and how adorable he is. Such a good girl.

Crazy1 Wrote:It has also been found that African Sulcata tortoises raised in dry conditions are more likely to develop a shell abnormality called "pyramiding," which is an abnormal hump-shape of the scutes. Tortoises raised in environments with 45-99% humidity had less abnormal shell growth than those raised in drier conditions.

I have never heard anything about this before. I was under the impression that Sully's don't really need high humidity. So would spraying down the tort home to keep the humidity over 45% be a good idea?

Agnieszka

Hi Barbie,
It sounds like he might have a vitamin A deficiency. With my hatchling I soak them once a week with liquid vitamins in the water.
I use Vitasol for birds for a liquid vitamin. For him I'd use it twice a week until you saw improvement.

Danny

barbie69 Wrote:Just checked the temps and humidity....90 deg on the hot spot and 75 on the cool side with it a little cooler at night. Humidity looks to be at 38% right now. I had not really worried too much about humidity due to his condition and warm soaks so this is the first time I even checked it. He seems to hang out in his water dish on the cool side or directly in the heat on the hot side. Never in between.
I only soak him for about 15 minutes at a time and I also re-do the water to keep it warm for him. He really seems to like this.

From what I’ve read the temps seem to be fine the humidity I read should be about 45%. I am not an expert on Sullys and I do hope he is better soon.

The info I have gotten on Sullys is from http://africantortoise.com/pyramiding_in_tortoises.htm
And http://africantortoise.com/pyramiding_in_tortoises.htm

Per Danny’s suggestion I also soak my baby Greek once a week with Vitasol liquid vitamins in the water

I have 3 baby sulcata's , I lost one to a resperatory infection, I keep the humitidy low ,The daytime temps 80-90 deg & 65 -70 at night. If your little guy is sick I would soak him every other day, Offer him water once a day with food, Some people say they never see there sulcata's drink but mine do when soaking & from a water dish. Keep him warm & try some vitamins like someone suggested. They come from the desert so they like it hot & dry. Best of luck!!

Thanks so much for the help...I like the idea of soaking with the vitamins, I have not ever tried this so I am going to give him a little vitamin soak this evening. He is still doing okay and seems to move from sleeping in the cooler area and basking in the hot spot. No vet yet, I work today 7:30-7:30 and I worked Monday 7:30-7:30. We are in our rush time at work and I am not allowed to miss any during this "blackout" period. Until I can get him in I will keep temps up and humidity in the middle somewhere just to not have to deal with any respiratory issues while he is not well.