Hatchling not thriving

lruthtort

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Thanks in advance for any help!
I have a hermann's hatchling with a hatch date of May 1st who doesn't seem to be thriving. When I first got him at 1month old he was an amazing eater and pretty active. He buried himself a lot and slept a lot but was active a good hour or two a day. Now he seems to not want to eat at all and sleeps pretty much 24/7. This started around 3 weeks ago but has gotten progressively worse. He doesn't bury himself anymore and I only catch him eating a few times a week. I soak him every morning and for the last week or so I have been soaking him in mazuri or an electrolyte hydrating supplement for reptiles I got at a local pet store. Food he has been offered since I've had him is dandelions, broadleaf plantain, romaine green and red leaf lettuce, collard greens, cactus pads, mazuri once a week and I even recently tried a Zoo Med pellet food. His lights in his indoor enlosure are a 10.0 strip uvb light and a basking bulb with uva kept at 95 degrees underneath. He also has an outdoor enclosure that I put him in when the temps are nice. Still no burying and not actively eating. I weighed him in the middle of june and he was 18 grams. Today he's 19 grams so he's only gained 1 gram in 2 months! I have an appointment for him at the vet for Thursday (my next day off work) but hoped maybe someone had some advice here until then. Thank you!
 

Toddrickfl1

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Uploading some pics of your enclosure may help pinpoint what might be going on. Be very careful at the VET. Most have no idea what they're doing with torts and sometimes can do more harm then good. Don't let them do any vitamin, or calcium injections. You could also try turning your UVB light off for a few days and instead just use a regular light. The UVB might be too strong. See if there's any change in activity.
 

lruthtort

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This is the indoor enclosure. it's around 2ft x 3ft. I know it's a bit small and I plan to double the size before winter when he spends all his time there.
I did raise the strip light about a week ago. It was sitting right on the lid but I thought maybe that was part of the issue was it was too strong being so low.
 

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Tom

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Everything you are doing sounds spot on. This leads me back to the breeder. Where did you get it? How was this baby started? Dry or wet routine? Housed indoors or outside? What was the incubation media? How long was it in a brooder box set up before it went into an enclosure?
 

lruthtort

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I got him from southern reptiles in florida. He was shipped to me in Indiana. This is the answer he gave to your questions: It was housed indoors, 70% humidity. Soaked daily. Substrate was spagnum moss. Uvb light. CEramic heat emitter. Vermiculite for incubation 7 days in the container after hatching then moved to spagnum moss
 

Tom

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I got him from southern reptiles in florida. He was shipped to me in Indiana. This is the answer he gave to your questions: It was housed indoors, 70% humidity. Soaked daily. Substrate was spagnum moss. Uvb light. CEramic heat emitter. Vermiculite for incubation 7 days in the container after hatching then moved to spagnum moss
The only major problem I see there is the sphagnum moss. They eat it and it can cause an impaction.
 

Tom

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What's the treatment for impaction?
You can try to get things to pass on their own with some good foods, like opuntia, and lots of exercise and long soaks. In older, larger tortoises, surgery can be an option, but in smaller tortoises, not so much.
 

Maggie3fan

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Thanks in advance for any help!
I have a hermann's hatchling with a hatch date of May 1st who doesn't seem to be thriving. When I first got him at 1month old he was an amazing eater and pretty active. He buried himself a lot and slept a lot but was active a good hour or two a day. Now he seems to not want to eat at all and sleeps pretty much 24/7. This started around 3 weeks ago but has gotten progressively worse. He doesn't bury himself anymore and I only catch him eating a few times a week. I soak him every morning and for the last week or so I have been soaking him in mazuri or an electrolyte hydrating supplement for reptiles I got at a local pet store. Food he has been offered since I've had him is dandelions, broadleaf plantain, romaine green and red leaf lettuce, collard greens, cactus pads, mazuri once a week and I even recently tried a Zoo Med pellet food. His lights in his indoor enlosure are a 10.0 strip uvb light and a basking bulb with uva kept at 95 degrees underneath. He also has an outdoor enclosure that I put him in when the temps are nice. Still no burying and not actively eating. I weighed him in the middle of june and he was 18 grams. Today he's 19 grams so he's only gained 1 gram in 2 months! I have an appointment for him at the vet for Thursday (my next day off work) but hoped maybe someone had some advice here until then. Thank you!
You can try to get things to pass on their own with some good foods, like opuntia, and lots of exercise and long soaks. In older, larger tortoises, surgery can be an option, but in smaller tortoises, not so much.
The secret weapon, for a hatchling, cut up iceberg lettuce. I recently had an adult tortoise who was impacted. It was an awful time as we thought he was going to die, xrays showed he was impacted and he was give a constipation drug and I offered him all kinds of not too acceptable foods but the iceberg lettuce was the winner, with the meds and daily soaking in strained carrots. The Vet will be expensive and as you've been told, NO VITAMIN A injections.
 
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