Hello from Pennsylvania

thecheesylittlerat

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Jul 28, 2018
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Location (City and/or State)
Pittsburgh
Hello! I've been browsing this forum for the past month and finally got the courage to post.

We have a baby sulcata and we live in Pennsylvania (cringes)... I know that's not the best environment for him, but we are doing the best we can.

We bought him at a local reptile show. We went looking for a smaller species (russian or red footed) and ended up with him. We never had a tortoise before (I know... sorry) and we are learning as we go along.

When we bought him I was told several things that were incorrect... and on top of that he was already a very sick tortoise.

I was told to feed him kale and strawberries, mist him once a day, keep him on the alfalfa pellet substrate that he also sold me, and he only needed a UVB light during the winter. (All wrong... I know now).

Two days after we bought him, I was concerned about a lesion on his neck, that I originally thought was a scaly skin feature. His eye on the same side also was shut most of the time and he kept rubbing it. He was also becoming less active. We called a another local reputable reptile dealer and he referred us to an exotic vet. He was diagnosed with multiple abscesses and a systemic infection 4 days after we bought him. He scraped the abscesses and gave us antibiotic shots we were to give him every 3 days. The vet gave him a less than good chance of pulling through.

He is actually doing much better now. It's been a few weeks and he's done with his shots. He's much more active, the abscesses have not returned, and his eyes look much better. I still get concerned when he rubs his eyes during his daily soak. We feed him spring mix (with the spinach removed), kale, collards, and clippings from our yard (grass, clover, etc), which is untreated. We don't feed him strawberries at all.

That's where we are. He is very small (about 3 inches long) and is being kept in a larger glass terrarium with the lighting system rigged, so I can get it close enough to keep his cage at about 100 degrees in his basking spot. We have a half hollow log in there he never uses, except to tumble off of and land upside down on his shell. We only keep it in there when we are at home. He sleeps in the corner above his under tank heating pad.

I have so many ideas on the direction I'd like to go with his enclosure. The vet told us to keep him in there on newspaper until he is better... and he's better.
 

Tim Carlisle

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Welcome! Glad to hear it's doing better. Got any pics to share?
 

Maro2Bear

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Glenn Dale, Maryland, USA
Welcome to the Forum, and you’ve landed on a great Site for Sully assistance.

You really have your work cut out for you, and it sounds like you are on the right track.

  • You might just get rid of the log, get urself a dark small rubbermade tote and make a small entrance for the hide. I never used “the log”. They just seem like things that cause hatchlings to crawl and tip over. Plus, you don’t want to be adding and taking away. Your lil guy needs a nice, humid dark spot to crawl safely into (not on top) and snuggle in and be safe.
  • Soaking. You didnt mention any soaking you are doing? You should be soaking daily for 20-30 mins in nice warm (not hot) water.
  • Enclosure. Needs to be larger so you can keep a hot basking spot and then the rest at 80ish, msybe ev3n a tad warmer. Aldo, do you have it fully enclosed (a lid)?
  • Heat Mat. Most folks here highly recommend no heat mat for hatchlings. They are meant to get heat from top down.
  • Substrate. Id use fine orchid bark or coco coir. It’s easy to keep moist and tidy. Definitely not the pellets.
  • Food. Your on the right track, skipping all the fruit. Have you tried any Mazuri pellets yet? A pellet or three of nice moist Mazuri might help.
  • Lighting. Make sure no CFL type bulbs....no red lights at night.
  • Heating. CHE coupled with a good thermostat to maintsin overall ambiet temp dsy and night. No chilly/cold areas.

Good luck. Happy Torting!

I’m sure @Tom and others can help too.

Try and upload some pix of your enclosure.
 
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Yvonne G

Old Timer
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Clovis, CA
Hi and welcome!

Do you prefer to be called Cheesy or Rat? :p
 

Tom

The Dog Trainer
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Location (City and/or State)
Southern California
Hello and welcome.

Sounds like you've been through the wringer already! You got all the wrong info and now you've found the right info. I'm very happy that your baby is recovering. That is some welcome good news.

Here is all the care info in one convenient place:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

Questions and conversation are welcome!
 

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