More questions

[AmRoKo]

Make sure if you give him the dewormer yourself that you check up on what the correct dosage would be for a baby tortoise, I imagine the dosage would be pretty small. Also about him still passing stuff is probably his body trying to rid itself of the infestation.

 

[Amanda81]

Ya I spoke w the vet this morning and he told me what to do. 50mg/kg body weight. I do have a pumpkin in the fridge, I thought about grinding up some of it and going that route but I worry it might not be enough if he is real bad infested. Of course I also worry that he is so lethargic and weak at this point that giving him any type of chemical might be harmful at this point.

 

[AmRoKo]

The overabundance of pinworms could also be whats making him weak because to many pinworms can be robbing him of nutrients and what's making him lethargic.

It's overall a very bad situation and I can totally relate to being unsure of what's right and wrong and what will or will not help. I can't say how this baby will turn out but I would give him the dewormer and then make sure that he is kept very hydrated and to keep trying to get some nutrients in him either from liquid vitamins/baby food soaks/ that jump start thing you said I think others have used that on this forum or I'm pretty sure I've seen something similar used it sounds familiar so I would give that a try also.

 

[Amanda81]

I have a question about substrate. I use Eco earth, and I keep it real wet. I have a 3" layer and I keep it soaked with a 2" layer of bark on top of it that I will mist down every morning and let dry out throughout the day. I have started to notice an odor in my enclosure. I spot clean daily, I make sure all old food particles are got up and any poo there might be so I'm thinking it has something to do w the Eco earth being so wet. Is it possible for that to go bad some how? Should I be doing something with it every so often or something?

 

[Amanda81]

What are the sesame seed looking things? I see these in my hatchlings soak and I thought it was from her long fiber sphagnum moss substrate but now his has me wondering??

I believe the sesame seed things are from the moss. I noticed yesterday that they were in Alfie soak water (Alfie is my sulcata hatchling that's in a separate enclosure perfectly healthy) and I had pulled him out his humid hide which is full of the same moss you mentioned and put him straight in his soak water.

 

[Elohi]

I believe the sesame seed things are from the moss. I noticed yesterday that they were in Alfie soak water (Alfie is my sulcata hatchling that's in a separate enclosure perfectly healthy) and I had pulled him out his humid hide which is full of the same moss you mentioned and put him straight in his soak water.

Yeah I agree it has to be the moss. I find them on my hands after handling her and sometimes they are dry and look like an open, thin empty seed pod.

 

[Elohi]

I have a question about substrate. I use Eco earth, and I keep it real wet. I have a 3" layer and I keep it soaked with a 2" layer of bark on top of it that I will mist down every morning and let dry out throughout the day. I have started to notice an odor in my enclosure. I spot clean daily, I make sure all old food particles are got up and any poo there might be so I'm thinking it has something to do w the Eco earth being so wet. Is it possible for that to go bad some how? Should I be doing something with it every so often or something?

I had this issue in my smaller closed chamber. Sometimes it smelled like elephant poop and at one point the urine smell was noticeable. I had to change out the substrate. I think when the substrate stays too wet it doesn't absorb odors like it does when it's dry to damp. I say that because I only had that issue when the substrate would become saturated.

 

[Amanda81]

Ok. Ya my Eco earth is very saturated. I keep it wet wet, it might be time to take it out and put new in. Thanks!

 

[Amanda81]

Another question:
If your tortoise is passing mucus when he poos, is that a sign of anything specific? Worms? RI? Stomach issue? Anything specific?

 

[Yvonne G]

It might mean nothing, and it might mean the type of parasites you need to treat with Flagyl.

 

[Elohi]

Another question:
If your tortoise is passing mucus when he poos, is that a sign of anything specific? Worms? RI? Stomach issue? Anything specific?

None of mine have ever passed any mucus. There have been some softer poos but never any mucus. Their poos are much more solid when I add orchard grass and grassland pellets to their diet.

 

[Amanda81]

This is just like a glob of mucus. No poo at all. Duke was passing it, sometimes w some poo sometimes no poo, and then this morning I noticed another one has passed some in his soak.

 

[Elohi]

This is just like a glob of mucus. No poo at all. Duke was passing it, sometimes w some poo sometimes no poo, and then this morning I noticed another one has passed some in his soak.

Have you been feeding a lot of cactus or aloe?

 

[Amanda81]

No. When duke first started passing it I thought it might b that so I quit feeding it, but that wasn't the cause.

 

[AmRoKo]

So much mucus is passing because his intestines are irritated most likely by the huge parasite load, intestines have a wall of mucus naturally and mucus does pass with bowel movements but you normally don't see the mucus unless something is wrong.

That smell you are talking about from your substrate is basically when you let water just sit in someplace bacteria builds up and that's what you are smelling the bacteria. Just let the substrate dry out a bit and the smell will go away.

 

[Amanda81]

Temp question: I have thermometers places all over my enclosures. Warm side, cold side, humid hide, basking area. Yesterday ivory knocked one the thermometers over and I notice it's now measuring the substrate temp. So my cool side is reading 84 but the substrate on the cool side is reading 92, should I monitor the temp of the substrate? Should it be 84 on the cool side which would bring the air temp down or what? I have noticed that she is sleeping in her food dish a lot here lately, am I keeping her to hot or something?

 

[AmRoKo]

I measure all my temps at substrate level so that I know exactly what the actual temps my torts are experiencing. It definitely sounds like it is much to hot in there right now.

I'm currently using an on-screen keyboard because my actual one broke so I have to apologize if I sound really vague or confusing. >_<

 

[Amanda81]

So if I start measuring substrate temp instead of ambient temp and my substrate is staying around 85-90, that will be ok? I just think something's up because my guys aren't active hardly at all. They seriously lay around and sleep all the time. The only time they get perked up is after they have been in a warm water soak for ten minutes or in the evening when I drop their mazuri in. I give them fresh green stuff every morning after their soaks but they nibble and go back to sleep.

 

[AmRoKo]

I would try to lower the ground level temps to the 85-90 and see what happens.

 

[Amanda81]

So I put my thermostat sensors in my substrate and set them on 87 degrees, it's been a couple days and I have noticed that their somewhat more active now. I have also noticed their now basking sometimes. I have had my sulcata baby's since mid July and they have never used their basking spot, never, but I caught Arizona using it this morning. So I think maybe I have had them to hot all this time, maybe?