Cause of death?

[Lenah_m]

Hello, looking to see if anyone can give me any ideas on if I did anything obviously wrong/ what possibly caused tortoise's death??

We got a baby red-footed tortoise (named Peepers) about a month ago and he unfortunately died this morning.

This was my first tortoise and I am feeling pretty guilty as I am not sure what I have done wrong to cause this?? A couple days after we got him he wouldn't open his eyes very often but other than that he was active and ate a lot. Thought it was the lights so I switched from MVB (w/ UVB strip) to an incandescent (still w/ UVB strip). A week later he seemed to open his eyes even less, so I tried some terramycin which helped a bit, but not for long. A week later he was very lethargic - didn't come out of his shell for about four days ( I continued daily soaks -sometimes with carrot baby food and eventually he came out and ate). A couple days later he stopped eating completely and wasn't active, so I planned on taking him to a vet, but I found him dead this morning.

When we first got him I posted on this forum my enclosure for him and made all suggested changes (from soil to orchid bark, from MVB to incandescent flood light, etc) - thank you to everyone that gave me advice.
Ultimately this is what my enclosure ended up being: 65w incandescent flood bulb with UVB strip on 12hr rotation w/ CHE for nighttime
temps ~85 on warm side, ~92 under basking, ~80 on cooler side
orchid bark substrate
consistently 80% humidity never dropped below 60%
Diet was things like blueberries, papaya, mustard greens, kale, spring mix, banana, etc. always sprinkled with calcium powder and he was soaked in warm water daily.

I know the only way to know his cause of death is to get a necropsy, but I just want to know if there was something obvious I specifically did wrong for this little guy that would have led to his death?

Sorry for the long read and thank you in advance for any input.

 

[wellington]

@ZEROPILOT

 

[wellington]

So sorry for your loss. I'm not a RF expert, but most things you listed sounded good. The calcium if given every day isn't good but that likely wouldn't be the cause this early.
Most likely started out wrong from the breeder.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I see nothing alarming in the way that he was being kept.
It all sounds pretty good.
We have no way of knowing if you received a badly started tortoise that was already ill when you got him. Or if he declined only after he arrived.
A month isn't a very long time. And I'm at a loss for an explanation with such limited information.
You are certain of the temperature? How is it measured? And he was well hydrated? No desicating lights. No sand. No moss. No red light bulb?

 

[Lenah_m]

I see nothing alarming in the way that he was being kept.
It all sounds pretty good.
We have no way of knowing if you received a badly started tortoise that was already ill when you got him. Or if he declined only after he arrived.
A month isn't a very long time. And I'm at a loss for an explanation with such limited information.
You are certain of the temperature? How is it measured? And he was well hydrated? No desicating lights. No sand. No moss. No red light bulb?

Pretty certain on the temp- we had a digital thermometer on either side of the enclosure and also a thermo gun. To the best of my knowledge he was hydrated - long soaks everyday and I saw him drink every time. Just a 65w incandescent flood light, 10.0 UVB T5 HO strip, and a CHE. Initially, I had him on reptisoil, but then switched to orchid bark.
I called the reptile store we bought him from and they said they have never had any issues with anyone having their tortoises dying soon after getting them (I guess any store would SAY that though), but definitely makes me think I must have done something wrong with his care.

 

[TammyJ]

From what you have posted about his care, I feel strongly that his death was not your fault, but was caused by some issue that already existed when you got him, maybe an internal organ defect.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Pretty certain on the temp- we had a digital thermometer on either side of the enclosure and also a thermo gun. To the best of my knowledge he was hydrated - long soaks everyday and I saw him drink every time. Just a 65w incandescent flood light, 10.0 UVB T5 HO strip, and a CHE. Initially, I had him on reptisoil, but then switched to orchid bark.
I called the reptile store we bought him from and they said they have never had any issues with anyone having their tortoises dying soon after getting them (I guess any store would SAY that though), but definitely makes me think I must have done something wrong with his care.

Nothing that you've posted would've made him ill, much less kill him.

 

[Tom]

Hello, looking to see if anyone can give me any ideas on if I did anything obviously wrong/ what possibly caused tortoise's death??

We got a baby red-footed tortoise (named Peepers) about a month ago and he unfortunately died this morning.

This was my first tortoise and I am feeling pretty guilty as I am not sure what I have done wrong to cause this?? A couple days after we got him he wouldn't open his eyes very often but other than that he was active and ate a lot. Thought it was the lights so I switched from MVB (w/ UVB strip) to an incandescent (still w/ UVB strip). A week later he seemed to open his eyes even less, so I tried some terramycin which helped a bit, but not for long. A week later he was very lethargic - didn't come out of his shell for about four days ( I continued daily soaks -sometimes with carrot baby food and eventually he came out and ate). A couple days later he stopped eating completely and wasn't active, so I planned on taking him to a vet, but I found him dead this morning.

When we first got him I posted on this forum my enclosure for him and made all suggested changes (from soil to orchid bark, from MVB to incandescent flood light, etc) - thank you to everyone that gave me advice.
Ultimately this is what my enclosure ended up being: 65w incandescent flood bulb with UVB strip on 12hr rotation w/ CHE for nighttime
temps ~85 on warm side, ~92 under basking, ~80 on cooler side
orchid bark substrate
consistently 80% humidity never dropped below 60%
Diet was things like blueberries, papaya, mustard greens, kale, spring mix, banana, etc. always sprinkled with calcium powder and he was soaked in warm water daily.

I know the only way to know his cause of death is to get a necropsy, but I just want to know if there was something obvious I specifically did wrong for this little guy that would have led to his death?

Sorry for the long read and thank you in advance for any input.

How much did he weigh in grams?

Can you post a picture of the enclosure?

 

[Lenah_m]

How much did he weigh in grams?

Can you post a picture of the enclosure?

Unfortunately, I do not know what his weight was.

Here is a picture of the enclosure (in the pic it's half reptisoil and half orchid bark, because I ran out of orchid bark at the time, but the soil was swapped for orchid bark once I got more - no other changes though based on this pic). Also, it looks like we only have a disc to measure the humidity/temp but we do have digital ones on the side there as well. We had the disc as a place holder the first day we got him and just never took it down.

 

[Tom]

Unfortunately, I do not know what his weight was.

Here is a picture of the enclosure (in the pic it's half reptisoil and half orchid bark, because I ran out of orchid bark at the time, but the soil was swapped for orchid bark once I got more - no other changes though based on this pic). Also, it looks like we only have a disc to measure the humidity/temp but we do have digital ones on the side there as well. We had the disc as a place holder the first day we got him and just never took it down.

I don't see anything particularly alarming. Do you know what all those plants are? Aren't bromeliads toxic? Did you use moss anywhere, like inside the hide?