i have some questions that i am hoping someone can help to answer. i have a baby leo that i think is sick and I'm not sure how long to continue treatment now that she seems to be improving. jeff was hatched around march/april i think and she was very little when I got her (26g). she initially did great and seemed to thrive but never really gained weight since i got her (only a gram or two I think) while the other babies she shares her tub with gained several grams a week. I made sure to watch them eat every day to make sure no one was getting bullied and there are several piles of greens available at all times plus since she is so small, I held her back after soaking and offered her greens separately from the others to give her a head start. She never gained significant weight or looked any bigger then she started losing weight and her appetite decreased. I noticed her sleeping in the pile of greens quite frequently. She had puffy eyes, and they were closed most of the day, lethargy, and a softening of her shell (or at least i think it was softening- it was never really "hard" to begin with like my other torts).
i brought temp up in enclosure (no lower than 75 in cold area at night and 85 during the day with hot side about 100 at all times), added full spectrum bulb because previously she was exposed to sunlight all day because of her location but I had to leave the window open and its getting cold here (maybe she got colder than I realized when the weather turned chilly). humidity was always 90-100% on the humid side based on hydrometer in tub and i use coconut bedding that gets re-wet with warm water every few days plus she gets misted a couple times a day. I increased her soaking to twice daily and added daily calcium powder to the greens she was offered. After a week of this, she ate with gusto on friday night for the first time in a long time. Her eyes are less puffy today and she’s been keeping them open more since Friday night. I compare her to my other babies and she looks more normal tonight than she has in a long time.
When I weighed her tonight after soaking she gained weight (5 grams) since yesterday and this is the first time she’s gained weight. This makes her 1 gram shy of the weight she was when I got her.
She passed gas and pooped very small on Friday and then pooped twice (again very small) during her soak tonight.
I don’t want to over supplement her so how long do I need to continue calcium supplementation at this higher level? Her shell is about the same softness as before but I know it will take time to firm up. I know she didn’t get sick overnight so I don’t expect her to recover overnight. I just don’t know how long it will take.
When will I know that she is out of the woods?
Is there anything else that I should or can do?
How will I know if I am over supplementing her calcium?
How else can I monitor progress or what else do I need to be monitoring on a regular basis other than her eyes, poop and weight?
I am cautiously optimistic at this point but I know that she still has a ways to go.
i brought temp up in enclosure (no lower than 75 in cold area at night and 85 during the day with hot side about 100 at all times), added full spectrum bulb because previously she was exposed to sunlight all day because of her location but I had to leave the window open and its getting cold here (maybe she got colder than I realized when the weather turned chilly). humidity was always 90-100% on the humid side based on hydrometer in tub and i use coconut bedding that gets re-wet with warm water every few days plus she gets misted a couple times a day. I increased her soaking to twice daily and added daily calcium powder to the greens she was offered. After a week of this, she ate with gusto on friday night for the first time in a long time. Her eyes are less puffy today and she’s been keeping them open more since Friday night. I compare her to my other babies and she looks more normal tonight than she has in a long time.
When I weighed her tonight after soaking she gained weight (5 grams) since yesterday and this is the first time she’s gained weight. This makes her 1 gram shy of the weight she was when I got her.
She passed gas and pooped very small on Friday and then pooped twice (again very small) during her soak tonight.
I don’t want to over supplement her so how long do I need to continue calcium supplementation at this higher level? Her shell is about the same softness as before but I know it will take time to firm up. I know she didn’t get sick overnight so I don’t expect her to recover overnight. I just don’t know how long it will take.
When will I know that she is out of the woods?
Is there anything else that I should or can do?
How will I know if I am over supplementing her calcium?
How else can I monitor progress or what else do I need to be monitoring on a regular basis other than her eyes, poop and weight?
I am cautiously optimistic at this point but I know that she still has a ways to go.