HFS "treatment" options

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Hey! I just figured out with the help of some members here that it is quite likely my baby sulcata has HFS. I've been brainstorming "treatment" options, since there are no medicines that will help. If come up with 2 possible ones. I hope you guys can help me decide.


Idea 1: Micromanaging
He seems to not be interested in anything good for his health such as water, humid hides, and basking. He will drink and eat, but only if I put him in a dish of water and hand feed him. So I have came up with an idea. It may not be a good one, but you guys can help me figure that out. What if I made a schedule for him that made him spend at least 30 mins in the humid hide and occasionally throughout the day (not including his daily soak) give him the chance to drink. Things like that. But I wouldn't be so micromanaging that he doesn't get a chance to do his thing. I feel like I can make it so I only take about 2 hours from him doing what he wants.

Idea 2:
Simply treating him like a normal tortoise and trusting that he is doing the right thing for himself.

What do you guys think? If you have any other ideas feel free to share. I really feel like my little Pipsqueak has a fighting chance.
 

Yvonne G

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Soak him daily in 50%/50% Gerber strained carrots and warm water. Leave him in the solution for at least a half hour and more is even better. You can put the soaking bowl plus turtle back into the enclosure NEXT to (but not directly under) the light to keep it warm. After his soak place him in front of the food, which is placed right at the mouth of the hiding place, and get out of his sight.
 

Markw84

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The best thing you can do is provide the optimal conditions to allow your tortoise to thrive. If there is not damage where internal organs were not able to develop to a high enough function - there is nothing you can do. Many times there is enough development that when given ideal conditions, they will grow and begin funditoning better and better. So give the best conditions you can.

A closed chamber to really control temperatures and humidity. Keep temps always above 85°. Keep humidity always above 80%
Proper lighting on 14 hours a day. Darkness at night.
Provide hides that retain virtual 100% humidity and proper temps. The best way to do this is put in some potted plants with overhanging fronds. Boston fern, spider plant, pothos. That is provide a natural hide and reduce stress, and the 100% humidity under the fronds. The best situation is if you can barely see him when hiding in his "hide" under the plants.

Follow @Yvonne G 's suggestions on soaking.

Feed the best diet you can provide.

Weigh weekly with an accurate digital scale. Look for monthly gains - some weeks an go up and down but over a month there should be gain. If your tortoise starts gaining around 10% a month - you are out of the woods and have a healthy tortoise.

I have had a few leopard tortoises that I purchased that took almost 15 months to start showing any weight gains. One finally died after 14 months, the other took off and is now thriving.
 
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TurtleBug

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hatching failure syndrome = HFS

Do a search for “hatchling failure syndrome” on this forum and you will find many posts about it. I got 310 threads (thread search only) or 941 posts (all results) with the above search term. :) Maybe you’ll find something useful in the old posts.
 

Yvonne G

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Lol but ok. So no humid hide? I feel like that would be important for him to spend time in it.
I'm not a fan of a humid hide, for the simple reason I feel it's too cool inside a hide for them to be wet in there. Now if you make your hide out of the RHP, I might think it would be a good thing to have humidity in there. I stood two bricks lengthwise up on the lengthwise side and set my RHP over them like a roof. I've got the heat sensor sitting inside the hide so it gets warm or less warm inside the hide as the sensor tells it to.
 
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His humid hide is directly underneath his basking spot, so I think it is warm enough. Not trying to sound rude though.
 

Tom

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I'm not a fan of a humid hide, for the simple reason I feel it's too cool inside a hide for them to be wet in there.

If the whole chamber is 80-85, how can it be too cool in there?
 

Yvonne G

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If the whole chamber is 80-85, how can it be too cool in there?
Same principle applies as in an evaporative cooler. When the water evaporates, it cools the air.
 

Markw84

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Same principle applies as in an evaporative cooler. When the water evaporates, it cools the air.
An evaporative cooler does not work at 90% humidity. And, inside a humid hide virtually 100% humidity is maintained = no evaporation. that is one of the benefits of a humid hide - it maintains high humidity and constant temps.
 

Tom

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Same principle applies as in an evaporative cooler. When the water evaporates, it cools the air.
Thank you for explaining.

I haven't had any cooling inside my humid hides in my closed chambers. Not much evaporation going on in there, I think.
 

ascott

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Hey! I just figured out with the help of some members here that it is quite likely my baby sulcata has HFS. I've been brainstorming "treatment" options, since there are no medicines that will help. If come up with 2 possible ones. I hope you guys can help me decide.


Idea 1: Micromanaging
He seems to not be interested in anything good for his health such as water, humid hides, and basking. He will drink and eat, but only if I put him in a dish of water and hand feed him. So I have came up with an idea. It may not be a good one, but you guys can help me figure that out. What if I made a schedule for him that made him spend at least 30 mins in the humid hide and occasionally throughout the day (not including his daily soak) give him the chance to drink. Things like that. But I wouldn't be so micromanaging that he doesn't get a chance to do his thing. I feel like I can make it so I only take about 2 hours from him doing what he wants.

Idea 2:
Simply treating him like a normal tortoise and trusting that he is doing the right thing for himself.

What do you guys think? If you have any other ideas feel free to share. I really feel like my little Pipsqueak has a fighting chance.

Why do you think that it is the hatchling that failed? More times than not, it is the human host that has failed and not the tortoise. I am not trying to be rude.
 
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