my sulcata, what does this mean..

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bdoyle

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Hey Everyone

I've been monitoring my young sulcata since the whole BAD UV light situation...

And he's still very lethargic and keeps his eyes close most of the day..

he stopped eating about a week ago...

Then.. in the last 2 days we've had really nice weather so I've made him a small home outside in my yard..

When we bring him out there.. within 5 minutes he's up and walking around eyes open.. and EATING grass!

Doesnt eat alot.. and his activity level drops after about an hour.. when he goes and finds himself a shady spot..


but this perk in activity when he's taken outside.. what could this tell me of his housing right now?

Not bright enough?... too hot maybe? .. the temp outside is between 75 - 80 air temp.. the sun im sure feels warmer on his shell...

inside his home right now temps range from 80 in cool side 100 on the basking lamp.

Or is this perhapse an issue with my UVB bulb not being strong enough now..

I took the one that was emitting UVC out of his enclosure and put a repti-sun 5.0 bulb in its place, 9 inches above his basking spot.


Not sure but he likes being outside so i am going to keep him out there any days I can.

Just wondering if anyone could suggest what to change in my indoor setup

I've revamped it 3 times since we got him.. new substrate ,changed humidity.. raised temp from a 92 degree basking area to a 100 degree basking area.. nothing really changed his behavior.
 

Crazy1

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Blair, you know when he is outside he is more active and his eyes are open and he is eating, inside just the opposite. You are right something inside is not right. Listing inside environment you have lighting (uvb, plain light like florescent or incandescent), humidity, substrate, ambient air temp, basking temp. So something is off. I am still suspicious of the lighting. If you have his 5.0 bulb at 9 inches from substrate you might want to try moving it up to at least 12 inches. Perhaps even a few inches will make a difference.

Can you set up his indoor enclosure to mimic the outdoor area? Substrate, ambient air temp, even humidity? Just try to duplicate them inside?

And Yes I would have him outside as much as possible it seems he does best there and it gives you the summer to tweak his inside habitat for this winter.
 

bdoyle

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I will likely have to be changing his enclosure out yet again

as today he pooped out a long thin white worm..

check the general tortoise forum for my post about this..

im guessing i have to swap out and wash down all his enclosure now..

sigh

give me a change to revamp things though
 

Coldliz

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Im sorry to hear that Freddy isn't doing well. I hope he gets better soon. Keep us posted.
 

janiedough

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Hey I had the same problem with Percy - I found he was bored with his enclosure.

I use Aspen bedding so every few days I take him, his water bowl and his burrow out. I mix up the shavings and put everything in a new place. I even make a "hill" on one side of his enclosure which he always loves to climb onto - it also makes it to where he can see more of the room he is in.

At first I thought this might stress him out - but he really gets active and he goes exploring and pushes stuff around. Sometimes he burrows in the hill I make and sometimes he drags his food ontop of it and sits there for days basking and just eating.
 
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