# Help!!! My tortoise won't wake up or move



## TortFam (Apr 15, 2015)

My leopard tortoise Goomba (about 2-3 months old) barley eats and has a very soft shell. Yesterday we forced fed him through a syringe a mixture of natural human baby food carrot favor, blended sweet potato, and winter squash with calcium, D3 mix (repti cal). Today we took him out as we usually do under the sun, with a shaded area. After checking on him a few times I noticed that he hasn't moved, he was next to the water plate directly under the sun. When I picked him up he was fully in his shell and stiff.

He's still stiff, won't react to anything. Is he dead? 

We placed him in a Luke warm tube with electrolytes but he still hasn't waken up. His legs, arms, and legs, are tightly in his shell and his eyes are closed.


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## wellington (Apr 15, 2015)

@Yvonne G any thing they can do,to make sure it's gone? 
So sorry about your little one.


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## TortFam (Apr 15, 2015)

I don't know how to make sure


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## russian/sulcata/tortoise (Apr 15, 2015)

he looks dead to me. i can see you are using hay as substate and the enclosure is not moist. humidity and hydration is very important for hatchling tortoises, if they are kept dry and dehydrated there organs stop working properly this is called hatchling failure syndrome. when they get this they slowly start to die. pull on his legs gently to see if there is any resistance. can you take a pic of his plastron? I'm sorry for you loss if he is dead.


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## Tidgy's Dad (Apr 15, 2015)

I am very sorry, but I think he's gone.
Eyes look shrunken and it sounds like rigor mortis to me.
So sad about your loss.


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## TortFam (Apr 15, 2015)

There's no resistance anymore before he was more stiff, now when I try to pull out his little head gently it just goes back inside but no response to anything. We have 4 leopard tortoise around the same age of 2-3 months. We bathe all of them in Luke warm water twice a day, everyday. I don't think the problem was dehydration. I read that he might be in shock in this tread http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/is-my-tortoise-dead.98414/


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## leigti (Apr 15, 2015)

I think your tortoise is gone. Rigor mortis has now ended and is lambs may become lamp. I'm very sorry for your loss. Take care of the others, sometimes hatchlings are very fragile and no matter what you do they just don't make it.


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## wellington (Apr 15, 2015)

I don't know about shock in a tortoise, not sure if that member which was only a member for a month at that time has much experience for you to put much into their opinion. Sometimes it's very hard to tell, specially in small ones. We have seen several on this forum that was just to hard to tell if they were alive or not. Of course, I don't remember if we ever got the final answer on them. I would wait until tomorrow and see if there is any life at all at that time. Do a soak, let him sink to bottom for a few seconds and see if he will try to recover to the top of if bubbles emerge. If no reaction to the soak or during a portion of the day, I would call him gone. Sometimes it happens for no reason anyone can say, just hatchling failure syndrome.
So sorry if he has passed.


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## Tidgy's Dad (Apr 15, 2015)

And please ensure a higher humidity in the enclosure for the other sweet ones. 
It may be necessary to change the substrate.
poor little mite, but he may already have been sick when you got him.


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## Tom (Apr 15, 2015)

Can you tell us where you got them and how they were started?

I'm sorry to hear about this one, but now my concern is for the other three.

Check these out:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.78361/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

This might be what is going on:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/hatchling-failure-syndrome.23493/


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## Jodie (Apr 15, 2015)

So sorry. Hope the others will be ok.


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## TortFam (Apr 15, 2015)

Thank you all for your reply's I will wait for tomorrow just to make sure. Is the hay still too dry for them even if we soak them twice a day? What do you recommend we use that won't bring bugs?


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## leigti (Apr 15, 2015)

TortFam said:


> Thank you all for your reply's I will wait for tomorrow just to make sure. Is the hay still too dry for them even if we soak them twice a day? What do you recommend we use that won't bring bugs?


Yes, the hay is very drying. Try coconut Coir. It holds moisture well. For tonight, just to make sure about your little toward us, keep him where it is warm. If there is still no change tomorrow morning then he is gone. I'm very sorry.


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## Tidgy's Dad (Apr 15, 2015)

Hay is too dry.
If you moisten it, it can go moldy and harbour nasties.
You need coco coir, orchard bark or one of the other suggestions in the care sheets.
And keep it damp, but not wet.


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## Tom (Apr 15, 2015)

TortFam said:


> Thank you all for your reply's I will wait for tomorrow just to make sure. Is the hay still too dry for them even if we soak them twice a day? What do you recommend we use that won't bring bugs?



No need to soak twice a day. What baby tortoises need is a combination of warmth, humidity and hydration. Keeping them bone dry between soaks is not good.

Substrates don't bring bugs. The bugs are already present in your environment and the substrate gives them somewhere to live and breed. These bugs are harmless and irrelevant. If you boil, bake, or replace your substrate every two weeks, you won't have any substrate flies.


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## ascott (Apr 15, 2015)

TortFam said:


> Thank you all for your reply's I will wait for tomorrow just to make sure. Is the hay still too dry for them even if we soak them twice a day? What do you recommend we use that won't bring bugs?



No earth substrate is going to be free of some type of insect....the insects are not harmful to the humans...remember, this is an earth loving animal....there is no way to know the cause of death with out necropsy being done....just all guesses and speculation otherwise....not all babies are destined to survive....I would not necessarily call it this "hatchling failure syndrome" garb....but you will not know unless you know for certain by necropsy....

I am sorry for your loss and rest in peace little


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## ZEROPILOT (Apr 16, 2015)

Soaking them doesn't do the same for them as being in a humid environment. You need both.


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## tortdad (Apr 16, 2015)

Any better this morning?


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## enchilada (Apr 16, 2015)

you dont need to soak him anymore. just start digging


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## leigti (Apr 16, 2015)

enchilada said:


> you dont need to soak him anymore. just start digging


Be nice. He is talking about the remaining tortoise. I think it is obvious now that the little one has passed away. But there is another one to take care of.


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## crimson_lotus (Apr 16, 2015)

The coco coir I have is bug free and mold free, but I do keep her enclosure very clean and make sure I pick up any extra plant/food matter. I did have little gnats in my enclosure but I believe that was from my sphagnum moss. Once the few died in my enclosure, they never came back.


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## Tidgy's Dad (Apr 16, 2015)

Three others, I think to take care of.
We're very sorry for your loss, but please take some well meant advice regarding the care of the others.


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## TortFam (Apr 16, 2015)

There was no change today, we buried little Goomba tonight :'(
I will get coco coir tomorrow for the other little guys. I'm using the links you all sent as reference. 
thank you all for your help.


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