Baby sulcata Uneven Shell

[yuhe123]

Hi, folks: I'm new to the community, I just got my baby sulcata this morning and I found his shell on the left side has a little dent, it seems uneven and not in balance. By the way, his shell is a little bit soft. Has anyone got this situation before? If so can it turn back to normal?

Base info: Humidity -- 65%
Day temp -- 84-85f
Night temp --80f
(Since I'm keeping them in fence, it's hard to keep higher humidity and temp)

Appreciate any help!

 

[yuhe123]

Hi, folks: I'm new to the community, I just got my baby sulcata this morning and I found his shell on the left side has a little dent, it seems uneven and not in balance. By the way, his shell is a little bit soft. Has anyone got this situation before? If so can it turn back to normal?

Base info: Humidity -- 65%
Day temp -- 84-85f
Night temp --80f
(Since I'm keeping them in fence, it's hard to keep higher humidity and temp)

Appreciate any help!

By the way he is eating well and energetic!

 

[wellington]

You need to change his housing so you can get the humidity to 80% and he needs a basking area of 95-100.
Read the closed chamber thread and sulcata care sheet ASAP

 

[wellington]

How old is he? Sometimes they are like that when hatched and usually straighten out. He seems awfully small, like too young yet to have been sold. At his age/size it is normal for shell to be a little soft.

 

[Maggie3fan]

How you treat him now affects the whole rest of his life, seriously. Is his egg sac gone? He's soft because that's how they are in the egg. He looks way young. He needs to be in a humid (80%+)hide NOW and for the foreseeable future. He is NOT to be outside. Read these

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

Sulcata Diet Sheet

 

[Tom]

Hi, folks: I'm new to the community, I just got my baby sulcata this morning and I found his shell on the left side has a little dent, it seems uneven and not in balance. By the way, his shell is a little bit soft. Has anyone got this situation before? If so can it turn back to normal?

Base info: Humidity -- 65%
Day temp -- 84-85f
Night temp --80f
(Since I'm keeping them in fence, it's hard to keep higher humidity and temp)

Appreciate any help!

Hello and welcome. Get ready to discover that all of your previous research was on the wrong material. This is a jagged pill to swallow, but you must find a way to get it down if you want your baby to survive.

Start here and the care sheet that Maggie linked for you is down near the bottom. There is also a heating and lighting breakdown.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

There is no way to maintain the correct, necessary enclosure parameters in an enclosure like that. That is like trying to heat your house in winter with no roof on it. Its just physics, and it can't work. The entire enclosure needs to be 80+ at night. During the day the ambient temp in the whole enclosure should rise to around 90, with a basking area around 95-100, as Barb pointed out. All with humidity constantly above 80%. The only way to accomplish all that is in a large closed chamber type enclosure.

This info is very upsetting to people when they have researched what to do for months, spent loads of money and hours of their time to do everything just right, only to find out that nearly every info source was/is wrong. While that is upsetting, we hope you don't get angry and leave. Get angry with the people on YT, and the breeder, and the pet store that gave you the wrong info. We are only trying to help your baby thrive, and make you a happy pet owner. Neither of those will happen in your current enclosure.

Also, the red bulb needs to go ASAP. Did the pet store also sell you a cfl type UV bulb? That must go ASAP too.

Many of them hatch out lopsided like that. Most of them straighten out over time. A warm damp monsoon environment will help with that, vs. an open dry desiccating environment. Yours really isn't too bad.