Baby Sulcata sick for a while

[Gbear]

My baby sulcata has been sick for a little while. She's been slower, stopped eating and sleeps all day. I've taken her to the vet about 3 times in the last month. The vet told me that it could be bullying from my other sulcata since he is doing fine and growing at a normal rate. So we separated them and put her on antibiotics. I was soaking her every day in a pedialyte and water mixture so that she would drink and get some electrolytes. She seemed to get a little better. The second visit, the vet took her off the antibiotics because she never showed any respiratory problems. The vet then force fed her some food and an appetite stimulate. I continued with the soaks in pedialyte and water and she seemed to be doing well. I also made them an outdoor enclosure where they could run around eating wheat grass and mustard greens when they wanted. The sun seemed to stimulate her and make her better. I went to a follow up visit and told the vet she seemed to be getting better and he seemed hopeful. He gave her another shot of fluids and the second set of food and appetite stimulants. Since the last visit she has been slow again and her shell seems to be getting thinner. I was hoping that it was just her being stressed from going to the vet again, but it doesn't look like she is getting any better since the last vet visit. Is there anything else I can do? I would be very thankful for any advice. Her plastron seems to be getting thinner now and I've only seen her eat a little...:-( Attached are pictures of her.

 

[JoesMum]

Can I clarify whether your torts are still completely separated or not?

You have already had a bullying problem. They must live separately on a permanent basis.

 

[Gbear]

They are separated.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm sorry to say that once you see how thin the plastron is, like in your picture where you can actually see through the plastron, there's really not much you can do. Prepare yourself that you're going to lose this one.

Go ahead and keep trying with the calcium and vitamin d3/UVB from either a good light or the real sun. Hopefully it will work.

Good luck to you.

 

[Gbear]

She was doing much better and gaining a lot of weight and then she just seemed to shut down and thats when I noticed the shell getting thinner. I'm very sad, but I'm going to keep trying. I just put her in the sun with some water mellon with calcium that has d3 on it and am hoping she will eat it since it's a treat and help hydrate her and get some more calcium in her. It just seemed to come out of nowhere yesterday after she was getting better from the vet visits.

 

[Tom]

I can't do a link from this device, but do a forum search for thread titled "hatchling failure syndrome". This will give you the most likely explanation of what is going on.

 

[Gbear]

Tom, everything described in your post about "hatching failure syndrome" my Betty has been going through. She's always been a little slower than my other sulcata and we got them from different reptile stores. Her group of babies at the store did have a reptile ramp water dish, but it was the largest one you could get and I'm sure she had a time getting in and out of it. For a hide they only had a small fish tank ceramic step ladder that just gave them shade. No humidity was provided in their tank. Also, this pet store had so many animals I doubt they had proper soakings, but I can't say that for sure. I've had turtles all my life and have always wanted a tortoise. Since getting my two sulcatas I have done a lot of research and have tried to provide the proper requirements for them. One has been prospering and growing nicely and the other has not. I don't want to blame the reptile store entirely as these are my first tortoises and the reviews showed it as a reputable source for reptiles. It's been a learning experience and I could have made a mistake along the way that I haven't realized. I'm hoping I can get her to come back around and push through. Thank you for your help.

 

[Speedy-1]

Sorry to hear you are going through this , and hope your ongoing efforts are rewarded !