i recently purchased Chase about a month ago and the first two weeks he was active and was great...eat, oncei n awhile walk around dip himself in the bowl and etc...however, recently about 2 weeks now...i notice all he does is sleep...literally throughout the WHOLE day..he doesn't he get up to dip himself in water or drink or even bask in the light...i have to do everything for him...his eyes are always shut too...he refuses to eat as well....i'm using calci sand and pebbles as substrate now...although before i was using timothy hay...not sure if theat made the difference cause since he was put in tim hay that's when he began acting different...the temp is at 88 degrees and humidity is 50%...everything is at par...but i don't understand his behaviour...i checked for any infections but it looks like nothing...he poops white creamy poop...and it looked like on his right eye he had a tiny blob of this creamy poo so i tried whiping some off..thought it was off but today he opened his eyes for like 20 seconds and it looks like there's still a little there...not sure if that's an infection or if it is just poo...but i'm really worried about him.

Hi Matt,
We need to know more about your set-up to help.
Is the 88F your warm end temperature or under the basking lamp?
What is your warm end, cool end, under basking lamp and night time temperatures? How long are your lights on for?
I would go back to the hay as a substrate or use finely shredded aspen bedding. Calcisand isn't good as a substrate for tortoises as they tend to eat it and become compacted.
It sounds like your leopard tortoise has an eye infection and should see a vet asap. Sometimes eye infections are precursors to having a respiratory infection.

Danny

This post was last modified: 04-02-2008 05:34 AM by egyptiandan.

it is 88 under the basking light when it is on and temperature drops down to about 70 when the light is off...the light is set on a timer for 12 hours.

I would up the temps, the white creamy poo - sounds like urates - which what they release for urine instead of liquid. Do you have a uvb bulb? As Danny said sounds like your little guy has an eye infection and you should take him to the vet. If you need help locating one let me know your state and I can send you a list. Hope he gets better soon.