Greek Hatchling Possibly Sick

[mollykc]

Hi everyone! I got my first hatchling in August and this guy hatched at the end of July. I am a first time tortoise owner so any input is appreciated. When I first got him he had much more energy, he would come out of his burrow every morning when I turned on his lights and he was overall much more active. After a few weeks he stopped coming out of his burrows on his own and I now have to dig him up every day to make sure he eats, soaks, and poops for the day. I took him to the vet and she says he looks fine and she gave him a shot of antibiotics just to be safe in case he had a mild RI. It’s been a few weeks since the vet visit and I still dig him up every day to soak and feed him and he’s just not super active. I don’t know if this is normal brumation behavior for this time of year or if something else is going on that me or the vet aren’t able to catch. Here’s some pictures of him too, his eyes are closed when I first get him up in the morning and he opens them after a few minutes. He is still eating every day and hasn’t shown any signs of not wanting food. His basking spot is 95 and cool end is 75, he spends most of his time burrowed on the hot end. I have a humidifier that keeps him at about 50-60% in the daytime and i spray the substrate once or twice a day. Substrate is reptisoil with a little bit of cypress mulch mixed in. I feed him leafy greens, mashed zoo med pellets, clover, chamomile, dandelion, plantain, prickly pear, and occasionally sweet potato or squash.

 

[wellington]

First thing is never let a vet give antibiotics for a just in case. In fact you should find a new vet. That was irresponsible of him/her.
The antibiotic will make him act the way he is so it's hard to say now if it's that or the time of year.
I would raise the day temps to 80 and be sure there is enough lighting and that it's on 12-14 hours.
It's best not to use humidifiers. If you do it needs to be a warm air/mist one, not one that let's off cool air/mist.

 

[zovick]

Hi everyone! I got my first hatchling in August and this guy hatched at the end of July. I am a first time tortoise owner so any input is appreciated. When I first got him he had much more energy, he would come out of his burrow every morning when I turned on his lights and he was overall much more active. After a few weeks he stopped coming out of his burrows on his own and I now have to dig him up every day to make sure he eats, soaks, and poops for the day. I took him to the vet and she says he looks fine and she gave him a shot of antibiotics just to be safe in case he had a mild RI. It’s been a few weeks since the vet visit and I still dig him up every day to soak and feed him and he’s just not super active. I don’t know if this is normal brumation behavior for this time of year or if something else is going on that me or the vet aren’t able to catch. Here’s some pictures of him too, his eyes are closed when I first get him up in the morning and he opens them after a few minutes. He is still eating every day and hasn’t shown any signs of not wanting food. His basking spot is 95 and cool end is 75, he spends most of his time burrowed on the hot end. I have a humidifier that keeps him at about 50-60% in the daytime and i spray the substrate once or twice a day. Substrate is reptisoil with a little bit of cypress mulch mixed in. I feed him leafy greens, mashed zoo med pellets, clover, chamomile, dandelion, plantain, prickly pear, and occasionally sweet potato or squash.
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Your description sounds like pretty normal behavior for a young tortoise to me. In the absence of nasal discharge or obvious labored breathing, I would not worry.

Many tortoises go through occasional periods of lowered activity from time to time. This often happens in the fall in species whose wild members would normally hibernate in the winter.