Indian star hatchling SICK ?

[Cooksmorrell]

I have an Indian star hatchling now for about a month. She was about a month old when I got her and she’s been super active eating great and everything was fine. Two days ago I noticed she didn’t move all day or open her eyes. I gave her a warm soak and put her back in her enclosure. I noticed that day she started to move around a bit and even ate a little bit but she never opened her eyes. I got a cotton swab and rubbed her eyes with some warm water at which Point she open them for a little bit but then closed them again. Yesterday she didn’t eat at all nor open her eyes or move. I removed all substrate and everything from her enclosure except for damp paper towels. This morning when I woke up she hadn’t moved but she had green diarrhea at her butt. I cleaned her up and gave her another soak. I just put her back in her enclosure for the past half hour in front of her food and she hasn’t moved but again green diarrhea. I’m not sure what’s going on with her but I’m getting a little nervouse. Any ideas?

 

[Lyn W]

Hi, hopefully some of the members more knowledgeable about tort health problems will be here soon, but meanwhile here's a caresheet that you can use to check if there's anything you need to change to help her.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Could she have eaten anything toxic?

Baby carrot food soaks are often used to help inactive torts with eyes shut - 50/50 water and carrot food but you may want to wait and see what's said about the diarrhoea.
Maybe @zovick or @Tom can help you.

 

[Cooksmorrell]

Hi, hopefully some of the members more knowledgeable about tort health problems will be here soon, but meanwhile here's a caresheet that you can use to check if there's anything you need to change to help her.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Could she have eaten anything toxic?

Baby carrot food soaks are often used to help inactive torts with eyes shut - 50/50 water and carrot food but you may want to wait and see what's said about the diarrhoea.
Maybe @zovick or @Tom can help you.

Thank you! Your article was very insightful

Hi, hopefully some of the members more knowledgeable about tort health problems will be here soon, but meanwhile here's a caresheet that you can use to check if there's anything you need to change to help her.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Could she have eaten anything toxic?

Baby carrot food soaks are often used to help inactive torts with eyes shut - 50/50 water and carrot food but you may want to wait and see what's said about the diarrhoea.
Maybe @zovick or @Tom can help you.

Thank you your article was super insightful!

 

[Cooksmorrell]

Thank you! Your article was very insightful

Thank you your article was super insightful!

No. No way she could’ve eaten anything toxic but until she has better God willing I’m going to keep her on moist paper towels. After that I will be switching her substrate to orchid bark

 

[Cooksmorrell]

I have since given her a carrot baby food soak but in doing so I’m now noticing she’s very swollen and puffy around her legs and neck

 

[Lyn W]

I have since given her a carrot baby food soak but in doing so I’m now noticing she’s very swollen and puffy around her legs and neck

I would have waited until I found about more the diarrhoea, maybe wash her off in plain water and keep her warm.
Lets try some of the members again @Yvonne @Tom @zovick @ZenHerper posting pics may help

 

[Lyn W]

None of the members I've tagged are logged in at the moment but I'll look out for them and PM if I see them.

 

[turtlesteve]

Be more specific about the green waste product, and can you take a photo of it happens again? Green could maybe be undigested food, but bright green urine / urates points to possible liver failure. So if it does not obviously look like undigested food, I fear it may be serious (and bad swelling could point to organ failure also).

Any pictures you can get would help too - of the tortoise and your setup/enclosure. Indian stars are also known for being really sensitive as hatchlings and can become severely dehydrated quickly if humidity is too low or they are not given regular soaks. This can progress to organ failure. They also can catch respiratory infections if kept cool and humid.

 

[zovick]

I have since given her a carrot baby food soak but in doing so I’m now noticing she’s very swollen and puffy around her legs and neck

It is possible the tortoise has a parasitic infestation, such as amoebiasis or some type of worms (pinworms are a good bet). To be positive, you should take a stool sample to a vet to see if this may indeed be the problem, and if so, to get the proper medication(s) to treat it.

Puffiness around the legs and neck can indicate kidney failure, which is bad news. A vet visit quite soon would be in order, IMHO. There is a very good exotics department at the University of PA Vet School right in Philly.They might even take emergencies on Sunday if you are inclined to try going there.

 

[Cooksmorrell]

Be more specific about the green waste product, and can you take a photo of it happens again? Green could maybe be undigested food, but bright green urine / urates points to possible liver failure. So if it does not obviously look like undigested food, I fear it may be serious (and bad swelling could point to organ failure also).

Any pictures you can get would help too - of the tortoise and your setup/enclosure. Indian stars are also known for being really sensitive as hatchlings and can become severely dehydrated quickly if humidity is too low or they are not given regular soaks. This can progress to organ failure. They also can catch respiratory infections if kept cool and humid.

It looked more like waste product as I could see tiny pieces of dandelions greens I feed a few days before. If she does it again I will take a photo. I broke down her old set up so I don’t have photos of that. I now have her in a 10 gallon tank on only moist paper towels. The Ambient heat throughout the tank is 83° and the basking spot is 97°. I’ve been trying to keep the humidity between 60 and 75% by spilling a little water in the hottest side as it dries out and I’ve increased her soaks to twice a day but before I was only soaking her 1 time every 3 days and the humidity was around 30-40 percent.

 

[zovick]

It looked more like waste product as I could see tiny pieces of dandelions greens I feed a few days before. If she does it again I will take a photo. I broke down her old set up so I don’t have photos of that. I now have her in a 10 gallon tank on only moist paper towels. The Ambient heat throughout the tank is 83° and the basking spot is 97°. I’ve been trying to keep the humidity between 60 and 75% by spilling a little water in the hottest side as it dries out and I’ve increased her soaks to twice a day but before I was only soaking her 1 time every 3 days and the humidity was around 30-40 percent.

The tortoise appears to looks pretty stressed. You might want to try the carrot baby food soaks once a day to see if that might help.

Also, it might be a good idea to give the tortoise a hide area so it can feel more secure in that tank. They don't really like being totally out in the open. You can just cut a doorway into a small cardboard box so the tortoise can get in and out, or you could use a plant like a spider plant with long droopy leaves under which it can hide.

 

[Cooksmorrell]

The tortoise appears to looks pretty stressed. You might want to try the carrot baby food soaks once a day to see if that might help.

Also, it might be a good idea to give the tortoise a hide area so it can feel more secure in that tank. They don't really like being totally out in the open. You can just cut a doorway into a small cardboard box so the tortoise can get in and out, or you could use a plant like a spider plant with long droopy leaves under which it can hide.

I have plenty hides I can add one this is just the first day I’ve taken everything out to clean and create a more sterile environment. This isn’t her usual set up. I’ll place a hide back inside though. Thank you ??

 

[Lyn W]

Make sure your temps are definitely warm enough and are as recommended on the caresheet.

 

[Tom]

I have an Indian star hatchling now for about a month. She was about a month old when I got her and she’s been super active eating great and everything was fine. Two days ago I noticed she didn’t move all day or open her eyes. I gave her a warm soak and put her back in her enclosure. I noticed that day she started to move around a bit and even ate a little bit but she never opened her eyes. I got a cotton swab and rubbed her eyes with some warm water at which Point she open them for a little bit but then closed them again. Yesterday she didn’t eat at all nor open her eyes or move. I removed all substrate and everything from her enclosure except for damp paper towels. This morning when I woke up she hadn’t moved but she had green diarrhea at her butt. I cleaned her up and gave her another soak. I just put her back in her enclosure for the past half hour in front of her food and she hasn’t moved but again green diarrhea. I’m not sure what’s going on with her but I’m getting a little nervouse. Any ideas?

Moving an already stressed tortoise is not a good move. It just adds to the stress.

What were your four temps in the old enclosure? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and overnight low?
Was it a closed chamber or open topped tank?
What heating and lighting? What type of UV bulb?

 

[Cooksmorrell]

Make sure your temps are definitely warm enough and are as recommended on the caresheet.

Moving an already stressed tortoise is not a good move. It just adds to the stress.

What were your four temps in the old enclosure? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and overnight low?
Was it a closed chamber or open topped tank?
What heating and lighting? What type of UV bulb? 100w basking bulb and 150 uvb bulb

97 basking area cold side was about 78° And the overall tampering around 82. Ambient temp 77/78. It’s a mesh top enclosure but half of it is covered in plastic to hold humidity.

 

[Tom]

97 basking area cold side was about 78° And the overall tampering around 82. Ambient temp 77/78. It’s a mesh top enclosure but half of it is covered in plastic to hold humidity.

Stars like it hot. I think you are having a problem because its too cool and too dry.

You need a closed chamber to keep humidity and temps up. 80 is fine for an overnight low, but daytime ambient, yes ambient, should climb to the high 80s or low 90s. My platynota will still bask when the ambient temp is 93.

The "dry" season in India is 60-80% humidity, so says a tortoise forum member who lived there for two years. The "wet" rainy season features humidity of 80-100%.

I don't know how'd you'd accomplish any of this with an open topped enclosure in a cool dry room.

 

[Cooksmorrell]

Stars like it hot. I think you are having a problem because its too cool and too dry.

You need a closed chamber to keep humidity and temps up. 80 is fine for an overnight low, but daytime ambient, yes ambient, should climb to the high 80s or low 90s. My platynota will still bask when the ambient temp is 93.

The "dry" season in India is 60-80% humidity, so says a tortoise forum member who lived there for two years. The "wet" rainy season features humidity of 80-100%.

I don't know how'd you'd accomplish any of this with an open topped enclosure in a cool dry room.

Right now I have this make shift lid. I have a plastic placemat held down over the mesh lid with a book on it and it’s holding the humidity pretty well. Keeping it between 65 and 80 I just have to keep adding water. If she pulls through I’ll definitely be looking into closed chamber.

 

[Cooksmorrell]

I’ve switched from carrot baby food to blended organic carrots and water.

 

[zolasmum]

I’ve switched from carrot baby food to blended organic carrots and water.

Is the white stuff on her food some kind of vitamin powder? if so, there looks a good deal of it, which could be putting her off eating.
I do hope she recovers.
Angie

 

[Cooksmorrell]

Yes it was calcium powder. She ate her food with calcium powder on it with no problem before any of this happened. She hasn’t opened her eyes or mouth in three days so I don’t think it’s the calcium powder, there’s something going on inside. I really think it was dehydration which is what I’ve been really treating for with the electrolyte soaks and high humidity and such but from what people say seeing as she is puffy around her limbs she may already be in organ failure 😞