Oh WOW!!!!!! Thank you so much for this information!! I will most definetly turn his house around!! I don't even get knowledge like this at the vet ! Thank you again for your help!!
Its really depressing at times. We have only recently begun to figure all this out. I have been amassing puzzle pieces for years, but there are still many unanswered questions. Most breeders, vets, pet stores, authors and "experts" are still recommending the old, outdated, incorrect ways.
Here is another analogy. There are earthworms all over most of the planet. Imagine bringing and earthworm home from the Sahel region of Africa where sulcatas come from and setting it up with dry substrate, no water bowl and a hot bulb. How long do you think it would live? The same thing happens to the INSIDE of our baby tortoises when they are housed this way. Obviously their skin and scales slow this process down compared to the earthworm, but the concept is the same. Baby tortoises are hunkered down in thick underbrush on damp ground. It is very hot and humid and there are puddles everywhere from all the rain.
Here is another thread you might enjoy. Look at the dates:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-end-of-pyramiding.15137/