New Sulcata (back from the brink?)

My name is Joe and am in western Pennsylvania. My wife surprised me with a new Sulcata she purchased at the local lawn and garden store. My son named him Donatello so we will go with he until we can tell for sure. He wouldn’t eat was very lethargic and would barely open his eyes. His shell also seemed very pliable to me on the bottom and sides nearest the bottom. I have had a lot of experience with snakes and lizards in the past even brief turtle experience but this is the first tortoise. I am pretty sure if it wasn’t for all the great info on this forum he would already be dead. It may be too soon to say but he really seems to be making a recovery. The store claimed to have had him for over a month but he seems little more than a hatchling to me. He was 36 grams when we bought him he dropped to 34 in the first few days but is finally back up to 37! I have been giving him regular soaks in water as well as carrot baby food mixed with water and calcium powder. They really seem to have brought the life back into him. His setup currently is a 40g breeder with two 100 watt ceramic heat emitters, a 100 watt basking light and an 18 inch t8 uvb light. Hot side is in the 95-105 range cool side 82 plus or minus a couple degrees during the hot part of the day or at night. I am using a terra-cotta dish for food he had a cuddle bone and as he has no interest in still water I built him a waterfall with little pond for him to swim and drink from. Humidity seems to fluctuate all over the place but he does have a hide that is 90 plus percent all the time the rest of the enclosure is between 50-80. Anything else I should be doing to make things easier on him? I have started having success getting him to eat spring mix minus the spinach and some collard greens. He has also had some grape leaves and hosta flowers. I realize they are supposed to eat mainly grass but he has no interest have tried it in the yard he barely nibbles some dandelion. He also has no interest in the mazuri ls or the zoo med grassland tortoise food. When should I start forcing more grasses? I am so excited he is eating anything at this point I hesitant to change much before he starts getting bigger. Thanks for any advice!

Don't worry about grass right now. They eat it automatically when they're bigger. If you want to add it to his diet you're going to have to cut it up into tiny pieces and mix it in with the other foods. I like to keep my baby enclosures 80-85F all over, with no hot side, no cool side. . . day and night, and for babies, no desiccating basking light.

Yvonne G said:

Don't worry about grass right now. They eat it automatically when they're bigger. If you want to add it to his diet you're going to have to cut it up into tiny pieces and mix it in with the other foods. I like to keep my baby enclosures 80-85F all over, with no hot side, no cool side. . . day and night, and for babies, no desiccating basking light.

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Awesome thanks for the reply! Didn’t want to start him with any bad habits. He really seems to love sitting in that basking light, do you think I should leave it off? Also any favorite foods to get the little guys off to a good start?

Hello. I would asap take out the orange/pink small stones in his water dish. He might eat them and that causes a bad constipation.
What your baby needs now is warmth day and night and high humidity with daily soaks and fresh greens. You can feed lambs lettuce and belgium endive as well as romain lettuce when you have to feed grocery food.
Does he gain weight ? That is a good sign. He should eat well and gain weight every week.

Awwww he is so cute and tiny!!!! I'd get a greenhouse cover for the aquarium to keep it a closed chamber for constant humidity. Other than that offer radicchio, endive, chicories, finely cut hays and grasses that have been soaked in warm water and added to his greens. Finely chopped hosta, dandelion, plantain, grape leaves, mulberry leaves, turnip greens, radish greens.......the list is infinite. Finely chopped cactus is great and don't be discouraged when he doesn't like a new food. It took mine weeks to realize Mazuri was food as well as many other greens. I just kept mixing it into the foods he does like and boom now he eats it all.

Bee62 said:

Hello. I would asap take out the orange/pink small stones in his water dish. He might eat them and that causes a bad constipation.
What your baby needs now is warmth day and night and high humidity with daily soaks and fresh greens. You can feed lambs lettuce and belgium endive as well as romain lettuce when you have to feed grocery food.
Does he gain weight ? That is a good sign. He should eat well and gain weight every week.

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Thank you he lost 2 grams the first two days but has since gained 3. He gets multiple soaks and temp always 80 or better. Was trying to replicate the water feature they had him in where he was purchased plan to make a better more permanent one ASAP. Have to get some glass tonight and will get everything siliconed in place.

daniellenc said:

Awwww he is so cute and tiny!!!! I'd get a greenhouse cover for the aquarium to keep it a closed chamber for constant humidity. Other than that offer radicchio, endive, chicories, finely cut hays and grasses that have been soaked in warm water and added to his greens. Finely chopped hosta, dandelion, plantain, grape leaves, mulberry leaves, turnip greens, radish greens.......the list is infinite. Finely chopped cactus is great and don't be discouraged when he doesn't like a new food. It took mine weeks to realize Mazuri was food as well as many other greens. I just kept mixing it into the foods he does like and boom now he eats it all.

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Thanks! Where would I go to find a greenhouse cover? Just planted spineless prickly pear pads yesterday hope to have some for him soon.

Home Depot, Lowes, and Amazon carry them. Most are under $40 and have the PVC framing to hang lights and your heat source as well.

daniellenc said:

Home Depot, Lowes, and Amazon carry them. Most are under $40 and have the PVC framing to hang lights and your heat source as well.

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Awesome thank you!