Need some advice (baby lethargic)

[Masqurade]

So I have a young hatchling that I have had for 4 months now. I live in Maryland and about two weeks ago we lost power for 3 days, since then Shelldon has not been eating and looks extremely dried out. Also since we did not have power I was unable to get his enclosure much above 60 degrees. I am not sure what to do.

I soak him every other day for 15-30 min.

He eats collard greens, spring mix with calcium supplement.

He is in a 4ft sterile lite container with sand mixed with Timothy substrate.

Is enclosure is 85 on the hot end, 70 on the cool. (I am getting higher wattage bulbs to warm it up more, I know this is too low).

He was doing perfectly fine till we lost power, any ideas? He perks up and opens his eyes when I soak him, but he just goes back to sleeping under his lights when I put him back.

 

[wellington]

RE: Need some advice

Hello and Welcome. Get rid of the sand and hay substrate, use coconut coir. The little Sullies need a 80% humidity day and night and temps no lower then 80. Please read Toms threads below for proper housing and care. You also need to give a bigger variety of food.

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Also, keep soaking him every day, maybe even 2 times a day for 20-30 minutes in warm water. The sand can cause impaction and along with the hay, is way too drying.

 

[Masqurade]

RE: Need some advice

Thanks. I had gotten some advice initially from a pet store owner (not who I got him from) and he had told me sand because "that is what they have in the wild" and I was going to have a moss/humid hide but he said they don't have access to those in the wild. Supposedly he had raise two Africans before.

 

[Yvonne G]

RE: Need some advice

Yeah, that's the old way of thinking, and the reason there are so many pyramided sulcatas in our homes today.

Since your baby is acting sick, you need to make a smaller hospital tank. Something like a 10 gallon aquarium would suffice. You want to have the tank overall warmer than you normally would keep the tortoise, so, say about 85F degrees. The twice a day warm soaks that Wellington suggested is a very good idea too.

Good luck. I hope you can get this baby on the road to recovery.

Just in case this ever happens again, you can buy and have on hand a product called "Hot Hands." It's chemicals enclosed in little packets that warm up when you break them inside and mix the chemicals together. Some of them will last for about 12 hours, and they're not very expensive to buy.

You can also warm water on the stove and keep a hot water bottle in with the baby.

One of our more dedicated members actually carried her baby tortoise under her shirt next to her skin until the power came back on.

 

[Masqurade]

RE: Need some advice

Thanks! I am planning to move to Florida by this coming December, so if I can get Shelldon over this hurdle and back on track then I hopefully will not be fighting my states dryness in winter! I am so upset because I had purchased the coco core originally and had given it to a friend, who has ball pythons, when the pet store owner told me to get sand. I am going to go and get some stuff tonight to hopefully get him back on track and looking healthier and eating again!

 

[wellington]

RE: Need some advice

Do not ask the pet store owners or workers for advice, even on the best products they have too use. Most of them will not give you the proper info and a lot of products on the market are either not good for the animals they are intended for or are not worth the money as they usually don't work good. A clay flower pot saucer is best for a water/self soak dish. No coil bulbs, bad for eyes and the disc type temp and humidity gauges they sell are not very reliable. Just too mention a few.

 

[DeanS]

RE: Need some advice

The BEST substrate you can use for these guys is an 4:1 mixture of coconut bark to coco coir...bar none! This is all I've used and all I'll ever use! Kind of a brick and mortar theory...if you will! NEVER use sand...not even calci-sand.

Soak at least 30 min EVERYDAY! An hour is better! And when it heats up...for you usually around late May through early October...soak 'em under the sun...for at least an hour early AM and an hour or so before you bring 'em in for the night!

Also, it wouldn't hurt to add some Mazuri to his diet! Or, you can be a little creative and do one of these...

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-19944.html
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-39021.html

 

[Masqurade]

You live and learn, unfortunately. From now on I will take what pet store folk say with a grain of salt. But I am going tonight to get him proper substrate and a new enclosure (I don't have a lid for the tub I have currently, I didn't think I needed it and I doubt walmart will just let me roll out with the lid). Thank you everyone for your help and I am also going to look into getting him different variety of foods as well. He is just so little i am often unsure if I am offering him enough food. When he was eating he was eating about a handful of food.