Hello from Nebraska!

Allybean1002

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Nov 30, 2018
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Nebraska
my name is Alycia and I am from Nebraska. I was initially asked to leave a review with the horrible experience I have had with a vendor and gladly joined to share my story my baby hatchling Charlie we have had for 2 months but has fallen sick and is now septic and will most likely not make it at this point but I am getting a juvenile hermanns next week so am still loving to learn anything I can about them to triple check i am doing everything correctly! I’m excited to be a part of a big group of tortoise lovers!
 

CarolM

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South Africa - Cape Town
my name is Alycia and I am from Nebraska. I was initially asked to leave a review with the horrible experience I have had with a vendor and gladly joined to share my story my baby hatchling Charlie we have had for 2 months but has fallen sick and is now septic and will most likely not make it at this point but I am getting a juvenile hermanns next week so am still loving to learn anything I can about them to triple check i am doing everything correctly! I’m excited to be a part of a big group of tortoise lovers!
Hi Alicia.
I replied to your other thread re the moisture and I am so sorry that your little one is sick.
I hope the more knowledgable members will correct me if I am wrong, however try and up the heat in the little ones enclosure and give it daily soaks from about 25 minutes anywhere up to an hour. Hopefully it will help. I am hoping that those with far more experience can jump in here and give more advice.
In the meantime if you can upload some pictures of your little one, it's enclosure, and advise on what lighting you have, what it's basking temperature, cool sides temperature and humidity is, it will help us to get a clearer picture on where to guide you going forward.
@Yvonne G, @Markw84, @Tom, @JoesMum
 

Allybean1002

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Nebraska
Of course thankyou! I just noticed these spots today so I am going to call his vet tomorrow and see what we need to do but everybody believes he is septic.. He is only 14g he was under 7 when we got him.. Here's some pictures please let me know what all you guys think!
 

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CarolM

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South Africa - Cape Town
Of course thankyou! I just noticed these spots today so I am going to call his vet tomorrow and see what we need to do but everybody believes he is septic.. He is only 14g he was under 7 when we got him.. Here's some pictures please let me know what all you guys think!
Oh dear. Shame poor thing. There are a lot of people on here with great experience who hopefully will be able to guide you. Did you take your little one to the vet?
 

CarolM

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Oh dear. Shame poor thing. There are a lot of people on here with great experience who hopefully will be able to guide you. Did you take your little one to the vet?
Oops sorry didn't read it properly. So missed the part about the vet. Hopefully some antibiotics can clear the septisis up.
 

Allybean1002

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Nebraska
Well he also has a soft shell and we took him in last week and she didn’t think he’s gonna make it anyways so i have a feeling at this point it would just be best to put him down so he won’t suffer. It’s so hard I just don’t know what to do
 

JoesMum

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Your enclosure looks far too dry and I can't see what lighting you have.



Soft shell is a sign of metabolic bone disease. This is caused by lack of UVB light which stops your tort making its own Vitamin D3 which helps your tort use dietary calcium.

Your tort must be able to bask at 95-100F directly under the basking lamp. This lamp must be on 14 hours a day with complete darkness at night.
Your tort must also ave a UVB lamp that is switched on for 14 hours a day. We do not recommend the compact, CFL UVB bubs as they cause eye problems in tortoises; these are the ones with a screw thread that look like a low energy light bulb.

At night, temperatures must not drop below 80F for a baby like this. You will probably need a Ceramic Heat Emitter, which must be used with a thermostat, to do this. The thermostat means that the CHE can be on 24/7 as it will only cut in when needed. Tjis constant 80F is especially important for sick torts too.

The dry enclosure you have suggests that you were not given up to date care information. There is a lot of outdated care information out on the internet and from pet stores and sadly from some breeders and vets too. I recommend you read the TFO care guides and follow their advice quickly.

Beginner Mistakes
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Care of young Testudo (written about Russians, but applies to Hermann's too)
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/b...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/
 

CarolM

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Your enclosure looks far too dry and I can't see what lighting you have.



Soft shell is a sign of metabolic bone disease. This is caused by lack of UVB light which stops your tort making its own Vitamin D3 which helps your tort use dietary calcium.

Your tort must be able to bask at 95-100F directly under the basking lamp. This lamp must be on 14 hours a day with complete darkness at night.
Your tort must also ave a UVB lamp that is switched on for 14 hours a day. We do not recommend the compact, CFL UVB bubs as they cause eye problems in tortoises; these are the ones with a screw thread that look like a low energy light bulb.

At night, temperatures must not drop below 80F for a baby like this. You will probably need a Ceramic Heat Emitter, which must be used with a thermostat, to do this. The thermostat means that the CHE can be on 24/7 as it will only cut in when needed. Tjis constant 80F is especially important for sick torts too.

The dry enclosure you have suggests that you were not given up to date care information. There is a lot of outdated care information out on the internet and from pet stores and sadly from some breeders and vets too. I recommend you read the TFO care guides and follow their advice quickly.

Beginner Mistakes
https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Care of young Testudo (written about Russians, but applies to Hermann's too)
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/b...or-other-herbivorous-tortoise-species.107734/
Thank you Linda.
 

Allybean1002

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Nov 30, 2018
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Nebraska
Yes the uvb is a 24 inch zoo med bulb it’s not the small screw in one so I think I have it correct. I did not mist his cage but always had a big bowl of water that I would imagine kept the humidity higher. My crested gecko is right next to him and his humidity is at 50 when dry so I’m guessing the tortoises was more than that just not 100% sure what exactly it was. We don’t have a CHE for at night but we always have our space heater on high so I wouldn’t imagine it goes down lower than that I’m not sure I will look into getting one for sure. I will look through and read the links you sent. Very much appreciated thankyou so much!
 

SweetGreekTorts

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Welcome to the Forum! Very sorry to hear about your little one. It looks like you did the best that you could for him [emoji173][emoji217]
 

Yvonne G

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Welcome to the Forum!

Heating the room is not the same thing as providing heat inside the enclosure. Run a CHE (Ceramic Heat Emitter) at night to make sure the inside of the enclosure is as warm as yo think it is, and invest in a point and shoot temperature checker (I don't know what they're called)
 

Allybean1002

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Nebraska
Do i need to keep the Che on a thermometer? I know i can get them at Home Depot or Lowe’s but I have no clue how to set up a temperature thing on it to make sure it doesn’t get too hot
 

JoesMum

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Do i need to keep the Che on a thermometer? I know i can get them at Home Depot or Lowe’s but I have no clue how to set up a temperature thing on it to make sure it doesn’t get too hot
You need a THERMOSTAT not a thermometer.

You plug the thermostat into the mains electricity, put its probe in the enclosure (away from the CHE and basking lamp), set the temperature to 80F and plug the CHE into the thermostat. It is very easy

The Thermostat will look something like this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01486LZ50/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
 

Jacqui

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Hi! *waves* I am from Nebraska, too. How is he doing?
 

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