Healthy Sulcata?

[Shellk]

Hi, I’ve had a Sulcata for 2 years now and he seems to be doing fine. I recently got a baby sulcata who is now 3 months old. She was active at first but now I’m not seeing much action and she usually sits there. She seems much smaller than my older tort at her age and I found out that her shell is somewhat soft. She has been with my older tort until recently when he moved to a different habitat and I’m not sure if that has affected her. They both were given somewhat of a variety in their diet but pellets seemed to have worked for my older tort. I’ve attached pictures of her


Any tips or advice on how to help her get healthy again would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

 

[Melis]

Hello! We need a lot of info from you to help. Let’s start with the enclosure. Pics would be helpful. What are you keeping her in? What is your substrate? What lights are you using? What are the temps? What is the humidity?
Is there a water source? Are you soaking?
Now for food, what exactly are you feeding and how often?
That’s good you separated the two, being in a pair especially of 2 different sizes can be dangerous.
How often do you let her roam the floors like in your pics? This is also very dangerous.
When you say the shell is soft, which part of the shell are you referring to?
Have you read the care sheets in the sulcata section?
Sorry for all the questions, but all this info is necessary to be able to help you.

 

[design]

Just a FYI it’s NOT a good idea to keep 2 Sulcatas together especially with size differences. Usually the smaller one loses out. See the sticky notes on the Sulcata Pages.

 

[Shellk]

Hello! We need a lot of info from you to help. Let’s start with the enclosure. Pics would be helpful. What are you keeping her in? What is your substrate? What lights are you using? What are the temps? What is the humidity?
Is there a water source? Are you soaking?
Now for food, what exactly are you feeding and how often?
That’s good you separated the two, being in a pair especially of 2 different sizes can be dangerous.
How often do you let her roam the floors like in your pics? This is also very dangerous.
When you say the shell is soft, which part of the shell are you referring to?
Have you read the care sheets in the sulcata section?
Sorry for all the questions, but all this info is necessary to be able to help you.

The tank is 1 1/2 x 3 ft
Coconut Molch
The lights that I am using are 1 Reptisun 5.0 UVB 13 watt bulb and 1 Repti Basking Spot Lamp 100 bulb.
The temperature ranges from 85-95 F.
I don’t have a way to check the humidity.
There is a water source that I clean every 2 days if not daily and I soak them once a week.
I’ve been using Flunkers Tortoise Diet for a long time and every now and then I will give them lettuce, spinach, ETC.
Rarely do I let her roam the floor but occasionally I take her outside to roam on our driveway.
The sides of her shell are soft.
I am new to this forum so I haven’t really gotten a chance to look around.

Btw the hole in the back wall was from my older tort digging through the wall

 

[Shellk]

Just a FYI it’s NOT a good idea to keep 2 Sulcatas together especially with size differences. Usually the smaller one loses out. See the sticky notes on the Sulcata Pages.

Thanks! I was exploring the forum a little bit ago and I came across that. I’m glad they are separated now

 

[TechnoCheese]

There are a few things wrong with your care, but I don’t think that would have caused this. Where did you get your tortoise?
Please give these a read-
How To Raise A Healthy Sulcata Or Leopard, Version 2.0 https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php...ealthy-Sulcata-Or-Leopard,-Version-2.0.79895/
For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata... https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/For-Those-Who-Have-a-Young-Sulcata....76744/
Beginner Mistakes https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Beginner-Mistakes.45180/

 

[TechnoCheese]

It could be partially that she was housed with another tortoise, but I’m thinking it’s a case of hatchling failure syndrome.

Watch out for these symptoms-
"Hatchling Failure Syndrome"

https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php...p?threads/"Hatchling-Failure-Syndrome".23493/

 

[Toddrickfl1]

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The tank is 1 1/2 x 3 ft
Coconut Molch
The lights that I am using are 1 Reptisun 5.0 UVB 13 watt bulb and 1 Repti Basking Spot Lamp 100 bulb.
The temperature ranges from 85-95 F.
I don’t have a way to check the humidity.
There is a water source that I clean every 2 days if not daily and I soak them once a week.
I’ve been using Flunkers Tortoise Diet for a long time and every now and then I will give them lettuce, spinach, ETC.
Rarely do I let her roam the floor but occasionally I take her outside to roam on our driveway.
The sides of her shell are soft.
I am new to this forum so I haven’t really gotten a chance to look around.

Btw the hole in the back wall was from my older tort digging through the wall

Some of those coil light bulbs can cause issues. Did you recently get that bulb? Did the tortoise start acting differently coincide with starting to use that bulb by any chance?

 

[Shellk]

Some of those coil light bulbs can cause issues. Did you recently get that bulb? Did the tortoise start acting differently coincide with starting to use that bulb by any chance?

I got new bulbs a few days after getting her (or him idk) but I didn’t notice a change in behavior until last week

 

[Shellk]

There are a few things wrong with your care, but I don’t think that would have caused this. Where did you get your tortoise?
Please give these a read-
How To Raise A Healthy Sulcata Or Leopard, Version 2.0 https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/How-To-Raise-A-Healthy-Sulcata-Or-Leopard,-Version-2.0.79895/
For Those Who Have a Young Sulcata... https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/For-Those-Who-Have-a-Young-Sulcata....76744/
Beginner Mistakes https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Beginner-Mistakes.45180/

I got the tort from a reptile convention near me. She was in a container that had styrofoam but it could have been just for show at the convention.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

How long have you had him or her? Does he/she keep their eyes closed a lot?

 

[Shellk]

How long have you had him or her? Does he/she keep their eyes closed a lot?

I’ve had her for about a month and 1/2 and I’m noticing more sleeping and her eyes are closed for about 5 seconds after waking her up

 

[Toddrickfl1]

I’ve had her for about a month and 1/2 and I’m noticing more sleeping and her eyes are closed for about 5 seconds after waking her up

Might not be the light but if it was me I would try replacing your coil light with a regular 40 watt light bulb for about 3 days, and instead for uvb take your baby outside for natural sunlight about an hour everyday (supervised of course). If you don't notice a change in a few days it's not the bulb.

 

[vladimir]

I would recommend getting rid of the CFL UVB bulb immediately. There have been enough instances of problems related to that that I would recommend replacing it with a tube style UVB lamp. Even the basic ZooMed ReptiSun flourescent bulbs will be better than the CFL.

See this thread for more examples:

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/coil-bulbs.166917/

 

[Shellk]

I would recommend getting rid of the CFL UVB bulb immediately. There have been enough instances of problems related to that that I would recommend replacing it with a tube style UVB lamp. Even the basic ZooMed ReptiSun flourescent bulbs will be better than the CFL.

See this thread for more examples:

https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/coil-bulbs.166917/

Might not be the light but if it was me I would try replacing your coil light with a regular 40 watt light bulb for about 3 days, and instead for uvb take your baby outside for natural sunlight about an hour everyday (supervised of course). If you don't notice a change in a few days it's not the bulb.

Thanks for the info! I will definitely change the bulb and take her outside more often

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Thanks for the info! I will definitely change the bulb and take her outside more often

I can agree with Vlamidir though probably best to switch it out and rather be safe then sorry. You can get an 18" fluorescent fixture at Wal-Mart for like $10. Then just get a tube uvb bulb.

 

[Shellk]

It could be partially that she was housed with another tortoise, but I’m thinking it’s a case of hatchling failure syndrome.

Watch out for these symptoms-
"Hatchling Failure Syndrome"

https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/"Hatchling-Failure-Syndrome".23493/https://tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/"Hatchling-Failure-Syndrome".23493/

If she happens to have Hatchling Failure Dyndrome is there anything I can do then just hope she doesn’t?

 

[TechnoCheese]

If she happens to have Hatchling Failure Dyndrome is there anything I can do then just hope she doesn’t?

Sometimes they pull through, and usually they don’t. What’s important is that you get the enclosure, care, etc. as perfect as possible, so that if she does have it, she has a chance at pulling through.

If she does have it, I personally wouldn’t waste my money on a vet. A lot of times they make it worse, and no amount of treatment will help.

Just keep in mind that there is definitely a fair chance that she doesn’t have it, so don’t get too worried yet

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Is the tortoise still eating?

 

[Shellk]

Sometimes they pull through, and usually they don’t. What’s important is that you get the enclosure, care, etc. as perfect as possible, so that if she does have it, she has a chance at pulling through.

If she does have it, I personally wouldn’t waste my money on a vet. A lot of times they make it worse, and no amount of treatment will help.

Just keep in mind that there is definitely a fair chance that she doesn’t have it, so don’t get too worried yet

Thanks for the encouragement! Would a vet be able to determine if she really has it?