baby sulcata wont eat PLEASE HELP

hdelg004

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I bought a baby sulcata about three weeks ago. Since I bought her she has give me a hard time to eat. At first I would give her small pieces of lettuce and se would eat it in my hand, but now she doesnt even look at it, is like if she has lost her appetite. She is a little bigger than 2 inches, she is active went I take her outside the enclosure, and I have found feces inside the cage that seem to be normal. I have also noticed that her beak is dirty which could be a sign that she is eating, but barely. I am worried because I always put on her bowl two pieces of mazori, carrots and romaine lettuce, and when I come back from work the food is still intact. I have her outside the house, inside a plastic container, with her food water, and hollow log so she can hide in there. I dont have heat lamps or uv lamp because she is outside, and the weather here in miami is pretty similar to their natural habitat ( during the day is close to the 90 degrees and at night round 72 degree, humidity 60%.) Please give me some feed back or advise on what I coud do to get her to eat more.
 

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Yvonne G

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I don't think that baby recognises what you are giving it to be food. Can you contact the previous owner and ask what they feed the babies?

Also, a tiny baby like that would not be able to bite off a piece of carrot. Might be ok it it were cooked, but certainly not if uncooked.

I cut weeds from the yard (mulberry, grape leaves, fillaree, mallow and dandelion), up into very tiny pieces. To that I'll add cut up escarole, endive and radicchio, zucchini, cactus. Occasionally I'll add soaked Mazuri, but not very often. I cut this all up into very, very tiny pieces. As the tortoise grows, I make the pieces bigger and bigger until one day I don't cut it at all, once the baby is big enough to be able to bite through the food on his own.
 

mainey34

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Agree with above..is this how previous owner raised this sully? Otherwise, i would suggest changing temps. And humidity. Also i would offer more greens instead of carrots. Below my signature there are 2sites. One is the tortoise library. Look up sulcata there is helpful info there...
 

sibi

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I believe that the night temps are definitely too low. If temps are below 80 degrees at any time, he will not eat. Also, you can not feed this baby raw carrots or lettuce. The above threats will give you a good idea on what to feed a baby. As a hatchling, you should soak your baby , 2-3 times daily for 10-20 minutes. Try the suggestions about cutting up foods for him. He should start eating soon.
 

Sulcata_Sandy

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Agreed....too cold and too dry.

I have a baby coming from Tom. So I've been setting up my closed chamber and boning up on my baby Sulcata husbandry. So I'm on top of Tom's recommendations...and others...for raising Sulcata.

Daytime Basking area of 100°. I'm using a PowerSun for both basking and UV.
Moist hide 90°
Cool area 80°
Relative humidity no less than 80°

Night temps
Moist hide 90°
Ambient 80°

The enclosure is layers of bark mulch, then peat moss, then sphagnum. All is SATURATED with gallons of water. As Tom keeps saying, would an earthworm dry out? Not in MY closed chamber!!!

[GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES][GROWING HEART]



-------
Sandy
Oregon-Washington Tortoise Rescue

Mo the Sulcata (4.8 lbs)
Oliver the Sulcata (50 lbs)
Larry the Jordanian Greek
Curly the Eastern Hermanni
....baby Sulcata Franklin on the way!
Lola the Basenji
Dexter the Basenji
John the boyfriend stuck in Kansas...so I get more tortoises!
 

wellington

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Please read Toms threads below in my post for raising a smooth, healthy sulcata. I would also try adding a bigger variety of things too eat. Chop it all small until he gets bigger. The temp should be 80 day and night with a humidity of 80% and with a basking temp of 95+. Water available 24/7 and soakings in warm water for 20-30 minutes daily.
 

Tom

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Babies don't usually do very well when housed outside all day. Even worse if they are out overnight. THIS baby has been kept too dry. I can tell by the big notch between the scutes. Move it indoors with the proper temps and lighting, soak it daily, and it will probably come around. There is very little margin of error for babies, so don't delay.

Here is a thread on housing them:
http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-79895.html

Here is a thread on feeding them:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-76744.html
 

sibi

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sibi said:
I believe that the night temps are definitely too low. If temps are below 80 degrees at any time, he will not eat. Also, you can not feed this baby raw carrots or lettuce. The above threats will give you a good idea on what to feed a baby. As a hatchling, you should soak your baby , 2-3 times daily for 10-20 minutes. Try the suggestions about cutting up foods for him. He should start eating soon.

*I meant thread
 

mainey34

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Take a closer look at the baby sullies mouth and nose area... tell me if im seeing things???
 

sibi

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Omg, I kinda looked over that the first time around. But if I'm not mistaken, there seems to be some sort of deformity. I mean, the nose holes are way lower than it should be, and it almost looks like the mouth is fused shut.

Have you ever seen his mouth open? Also, in one of the pics, your food dish is too high for the baby to get to. You're better using a plant saucer because you can set it just slightly under the substrate so that it's level with the substrate and the baby can easily get in and out.. Please let us know if you ever saw your baby open his mouth.
mainey34 said:
Take a closer look at the baby sullies mouth and nose area... tell me if im seeing things???
 

mainey34

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sibi said:
Omg, I kinda looked over that the first time around. But if I'm not mistaken, there seems to be some sort of deformity. I mean, the nose holes are way lower than it should be, and it almost looks like the mouth is fused shut.

Have you ever seen his mouth open? Also, in one of the pics, your food dish is too high for the baby to get to. You're better using a plant saucer because you can set it just slightly under the substrate so that it's level with the substrate and the baby can easily get in and out.. Please let us know if you ever saw your baby open his mouth.
mainey34 said:
Take a closer look at the baby sullies mouth and nose area... tell me if im seeing things???
Thank you for confirming that..i would see a qualified vet on this one. I fear that the mouth has been fused shut. The "dirt" on the mouth area must of been some sort of rot or something of the sort. I would suggest bringing the tort indoors.


sibi said:
Omg, I kinda looked over that the first time around. But if I'm not mistaken, there seems to be some sort of deformity. I mean, the nose holes are way lower than it should be, and it almost looks like the mouth is fused shut.

Have you ever seen his mouth open? Also, in one of the pics, your food dish is too high for the baby to get to. You're better using a plant saucer because you can set it just slightly under the substrate so that it's level with the substrate and the baby can easily get in and out.. Please let us know if you ever saw your baby open his mouth.
mainey34 said:
Take a closer look at the baby sullies mouth and nose area... tell me if im seeing things???
Thank you for confirming that..i would see a qualified vet on this one. I fear that the mouth has been fused shut. The "dirt" on the mouth area must of been some sort of rot or something of the sort. I would suggest bringing the tort indoors.
 

hdelg004

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Hi everyone, thank you for all the comments. Her mouth is fine i have seen her open her mouth. Actually today i feed her lettuce and she ate some. I have been soaking her on water 30 min before feedinh her. I am going to the pet shop tomorrow to buy the uv bulb and everything else i need to move her inside the hpuse. I have one question though Since I had her outsode i boight calcium wothout D3, but now she is gonna be inside thw house with uv bilb do I need to buy her votamin D3 to go with her calcium?
 

Sulcata_Sandy

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If she's receiving a varied diet with calcium rich greens, and a quality UVA/UVB bulb for 8-12 hours a day (after trying several different varieties, and listening to experts on this forum, I strongly recommend sticking with the PowerSun 100w), then she will makes her own D3 and should not need supplementation.

However, mine are being raised as above, and I do sprinkle a tiny bit of a ReptiCal on their greens once a week. I probably don't need to.

I've lost a few expensive PowerSuns prematurely...so MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE you by a large clamp lamp with a ceramic/porcelain base. I had to get mine at the feed store, they are the kind intended for red heat lamps for chicks. $12 each. Then ditch the clamp and hang the lamp suspended from a plant hanging bracket

ImageUploadedByTortForum1381676513.486496.jpg

But here is my current closed baby chamber awaiting my baby Sulcata from Tom.
It's very small, but I can control the temps/humidity perfectly. It's been up and running for a week now. I document morning, day, night temps and basking/humidity. Right on target according to Tom's earthworm theory.

ImageUploadedByTortForum1381676641.010824.jpg

I'm no expert, but I've don't a stupid amount of restudying a baby's needs, so it's all right here in front of me and fresh on my mind. So far, Tom nor anyone has jumped on and said "Sandy, you are regarded" and publicly spanked me, so I must be on track. Tom wouldn't send me a baby if he though I'd BBQ it in a dry open table. LOL.
Right, Tom? [GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

Tom is probably sick of me by now, there have been some shipping delays out of his control, and it keep asking when....it's like a kid a Christmas, and his toy was back ordered and everyone else got to open theirs, HAHAHAHA


-------
Sandy
Oregon-Washington Tortoise Rescue

Mo the Sulcata (4.8 lbs)
Oliver the Sulcata (50 lbs)
Larry the Jordanian Greek
Curly the Eastern Hermanni
....baby Sulcata Franklin on the way!
Lola the Basenji
Dexter the Basenji
John the boyfriend stuck in Kansas...so I get more tortoises!


I meant retarded, not regarded....but gosh, regarded would be nice. [GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]


-------
Sandy
Oregon-Washington Tortoise Rescue

Mo the Sulcata (4.8 lbs)
Oliver the Sulcata (50 lbs)
Larry the Jordanian Greek
Curly the Eastern Hermanni
....baby Sulcata Franklin on the way!
Lola the Basenji
Dexter the Basenji
John the boyfriend stuck in Kansas...so I get more tortoises!
 
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hdelg004

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Hi everyone, i jave started feeding my baby sulcata grass i have been picking from a park neatby. She loves it. I usually put some calcium and mazuri. Is tgis ok for babies? I know sulcatas die is suppose to be 90% grass and weeds but i am not quite sure if this also applies to babies. Once again thamks a lot for all the comments and help.
 

Blakem

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You don't need calcium everyday. I put it on my 1.5 year olds food 2-3 times a week. I used to up to 4 times a week. SOme feed mazuri everyday, while other feed it 2-4 times a week. Diet should have different kinds of weeds, different kinds of grass, cactus, mazuri, etc. Look around the forum; you can find a perfect diet by clicking as follows to get to the diet section: "tortoise topics", then "tortoise diet and food". super easy and you'll find a lof of great information. I looked up pictures for references on what certain weeds and grasses are. As a side note, you don't want just ANY grass. Some people put fetilizers and other pesticides on lawns, weeds,etc. This could be fatal to your baby. I always ask before I take grass or weeds from anywhere. Good luck, and read away!
 

Tom

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There really is not set percentage of how much grass they should eat. They could live their whole life with no grass and be fine, or they could eat only grass and nothing else ever and be fine too. I like mine to get 20-80 percent grass depending on the day and what else I have to offer at the moment. Some day they get no grass. Other days they get nothing but grass.

I would not use grass from a park. Parks use all sorts of toxic chemicals on the grass and surrounding areas, whether they admit it or not. Sometimes the guy you ask genuinely doesn't know what the other guys have or have not put on the grass. Not worth the risk. There are several grass ideas in the thread I linked for you in post number 8.
 
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