- Joined
- Nov 2, 2010
- Messages
- 18
I had a leopard hatchling that had very similar symptoms to yours. I had to feed it baby food with a feeding needle for a few weeks before it started eating. if finally started to eat a little but was still losing weight so I went back to the vet and he gave me Batryl (antibiotic) that I placed on the ball of the feeding needle before feeding. my tortoise never started to gain weight and I had to give it the antibiotic and feed it with the feeding needle when it would stop eating. I was able to keep it alive for just over a year before he died. I suspect that my tortoise had "failure to thrive" disease which may be a result of organ damage due to dehydration. This took place before I purchased the tortoise at a reptile expo. This December I got a new leopard tortoise hatchling and it is eating great and has went from weighing 40 grams upon arrival to 120 grams. My previous leopard tortoise's weight fluctuated between 24 and 36 grams and its shell never hardened. This goes to show you that providing excellent care and doing everything possible won't always he enough to save a sick leopard tortoise hatchling that cannot fight infection and be strong enough to grow. I wish the best of luck to you. Keep doing what you are doing and make sure all parts of the enclosure are at least 82 degrees with a basking spot around 100. Just don't think you are at fault if it ends up not making it in the end.