Help (baby sulcata not doing well)

Shelley#Raphael

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I bought a tiny sulcata around the 4th of July. I researched what I thought was a good amount, I was wrong. He hasn't been feeling well for 7 days, not eating and eyes closed very lethargic. I started doing what was suggested of me through this page and he felt better one night, 2 nights ago and opened eyes and ate 2 bites of spring mix. But now he is back feeling bad. I had so much hope..... Now my question is, as a veterinarian tech, should I consider euthanasia. He hasn't eaten in going on 10 days. Is he suffering?
 

Ray--Opo

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I have heard of soaking them a carrot bath. You might try. Good luck I will be praying for the little tort
 

wellington

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What all have you done?
Temps should not be lower then 85 for a sick one. Daily warm soaks with baby food puréed carrot and piedialyte add to the soak water.
No cfl/coil type bulbs to be used.
 

Ray--Opo

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Pics of your enclosure would be great. There just was another post and when he showed pics of the enclosure. @wellington and others had lots of suggestions and figured the tort was dehydrated. Good luck
 

LaLaP

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Some people are able to turn things around for a tort in that stage of sickness. Don't give up. There are things you can do and people here can help. Tell us more about your care and set-up. And do the soaks that @Ray--Opo and @wellington suggested.
Don't give up!
 

TechnoCheese

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Here is a picture of my enclosure

There is definitely a lot that needs to be changed. I don’t have much time to type, so please give these a read and compare your care-
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/
I’m sure another member will come along and point out what needs to be changed.
 

Shelley#Raphael

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I have been doing the carrot soaks twice daily with calcium in it for around 5 days. His ambient temp is 84-100. I haven't regulated or measured the humidity. I've ordered a sticky to tell me that for the inside of his cage.
 

Arzu78

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I have been doing the carrot soaks twice daily with calcium in it for around 5 days. His ambient temp is 84-100. I haven't regulated or measured the humidity. I've ordered a sticky to tell me that for the inside of his cage.

Shelley, in order to create the humid ambiance you need, you have to close, by putting foil paper on top, of the mesh squares. You have to moisten the substrate with warm water, so the enclosure becomes humid. Be careful with the calcium, do not include it in every soak, and it is just a tiny bot. Keep up the soaks. Don’t give up, there have been success stories around!!! Be strong [emoji1317][emoji1317][emoji1317]
 

Minority2

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Here is a picture of my enclosure

I believe your tortoise may be severely dehydrated from being housed in the enclosure he or she is currently in.

This is a very small enclosure. No tortoise of any size should be housed in one of these. There is only enough space for a basking area. This means your tortoise does not have the option to move away from the basking area. The substrate level not high enough to aid in thermoregulating. Please read the links provided by @TechnoCheese and put your tortoise in a larger enclosure, at least an 4' x 2' ft enclosure for the time being. I wouldn't use that substrate (hay?), feeding dish, water dish, or anything else in there.

1. how many times is the tortoise soaked per week?

2. what type of foods is your tortoise given?

Please use an accurate infrared temperature gun or digital food/weather branded thermometer hygrometer reader with probe to get your readings. Cheap sticky analog and digital gauges are not accurate nor are they reliable enough for tortoise care.
 

TechnoCheese

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Ok, finally have time to leave a longer response.
- That enclosure is way too small, and it’s made for small, arboreal lizards and frogs that don’t need much space on the bottom. Your baby Sulcata should be in a bare minimum of a 40 gallon tank, preferably 4x2 feet.

-you need to change the substrate to fine grade orchid bark, coco coir, or cypress mulch. There is no way that you’re going to hold humidity with hay, and it molds when damp.

-the thermometer you’re using is very inaccurate. Get a digital thermometer with a probe, or a temp gun.

-your water bowl should be changed to a large terra cotta saucer.

-what are you using for heat? Is it a ceramic heat emitter, or a light?

-are you using uvb? Does your tort go outside regularly?
 

TechnoCheese

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I believe your tortoise may be severely dehydrated from being housed in the enclosure he or she is currently in.

This is a very small enclosure. No tortoise of any size should be housed in one of these. There is only enough space for a basking area. This means your tortoise does not have the option to move away from the basking area. The substrate level not high enough to aid in thermoregulating. Please read the links provided by @TechnoCheese and put your tortoise in a larger enclosure, at least an 4' x 2' ft enclosure for the time being. I wouldn't use that substrate (hay?), feeding dish, water dish, or anything else in there.

1. how many times is the tortoise soaked per week?

2. what type of foods is your tortoise given?

Please use an accurate infrared temperature gun or digital food/weather branded thermometer hygrometer reader with probe to get your readings. Cheap sticky analog and digital gauges are not accurate nor are they reliable enough for tortoise care.

Whoops! Seems I sent my reply too late, lol.
 

Ray--Opo

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I have been doing the carrot soaks twice daily with calcium in it for around 5 days. His ambient temp is 84-100. I haven't regulated or measured the humidity. I've ordered a sticky to tell me that for :)the inside of his cage.
Shelley don't give up and don't feel bad. I made many mistakes until I found this forum Hang in there:tort:
 

kazjimmy

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Your baby tortoise was grill by you. If 10 days no eating. Bye a new one and don’t make the same mistake.
 

KarenSoCal

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Your baby tortoise was grill by you. If 10 days no eating. Bye a new one and don’t make the same mistake.
What a cruel and nasty thing to say!

I see you have been a member here for one month. I don't know if you have any tortoise experience or not. But we see many cases like this where the damage was done to the baby by poor care by the breeder, long before the owner purchased it.

Maybe the care for this little one hasn't been optimal, but the OP is trying to improve it now. I, for one, would like to encourage that effort, rather than cause additional heartbreak and grief by throwing blame and accusations.

At least this baby is loved, and won't just be tossed out to "bye (sic) another one"!
 

kazjimmy

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I’m not try to be an Ahole here. I adopted sulcata, I raised sulcata,I breed them and I sell them. This is just another bad mistake for the ppl who did not do at least 10 minutes of research before they getting them. Generally speaking,sulcata were cheap and easy tortoise. They look cute when they were little and ppl were told this is a easiest tortoise to raise. Back to the topic, this pet owner use a chameleon cage and put a super heat uvbuva light bulk on the top, basically he/she cooked/killed this baby. After he/she realized there is nothing could possibly save this poor little life. She post a thread here to ask forgiveness and try to do some last thing about it!. Above is my opinion for the tragedy.

Pet has no choice all they got was just you.
 

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