New Baby Sulcata Maybe Has RI?

[dishwoman]

hey, i am new to this forum and owning a tortoise. i recently got a baby sulcata from a well-established pet store in my area. we brought him/her home last thursday. i have heard that babies sleep a lot, but he/she doesn’t seem super active. sometimes they have good spurts. i am worried that they have a respiratory infection because they rub their eyes a lot and seem to do the tortoise breathing “shrug” a lot. i haven’t seen any snot bubbles/running nose, and their eyes don’t look puffy but they are kind of watery. i am a bit of a hypochondriac myself, but is it worth taking them in for a check-up? should i take them in to the original pet store i got them from? i have a video of them moving around/breathing, but i don’t think i can upload it onto here.

update: i added a picture of them for context. i don’t know their gender yet, so that’s why i am saying them. also, they are 2 1/4 inches along their shell. the little red on their nose is from a strawberry that they had yesterday.

 

[Jan A]

hey, i am new to this forum and owning a tortoise. i recently got a baby sulcata from a well-established pet store in my area. we brought him/her home last thursday. i have heard that babies sleep a lot, but he/she doesn’t seem super active. sometimes they have good spurts. i am worried that they have a respiratory infection because they rub their eyes a lot and seem to do the tortoise breathing “shrug” a lot. i haven’t seen any snot bubbles/running nose, and their eyes don’t look puffy but they are kind of watery. i am a bit of a hypochondriac myself, but is it worth taking them in for a check-up? should i take them in to the original pet store i got them from? i have a video of them moving around/breathing, but i don’t think i can upload it onto here.

update: i added a picture of them for context. i don’t know their gender yet, so that’s why i am saying them. also, they are 2 1/4 inches along their shell. the little red on their nose is from a strawberry that they had yesterday.

First of all, welcome to the forum. You have a cute one who does look like he's about to sneeze in your photo. It is confusing to us older people when you refer to "they" when you're talking about one tort, so I'm assuming you have only one tort. Baby torts DO sleep a lot even if nothing's wrong. That's what babies do.

Only you can decide whether to take your tort back. Did the store offer a credit towards a vet visit when you bought it? Unfortunately, many stores know less about tort care than the buyer.

The big questions we need answers to are what are your temps & humidity levels, what lighting are you using, the size of your enclosure & is it open or closed? Are you soaking your tort daily? What's are you using for substrate? Is your tort eating & what are you feeding it?

 

[dishwoman]

First of all, welcome to the forum. You have a cute one who does look like he's about to sneeze in your photo. It is confusing to us older people when you refer to "they" when you're talking about one tort, so I'm assuming you have only one tort. Baby torts DO sleep a lot even if nothing's wrong. That's what babies do.

Only you can decide whether to take your tort back. Did the store offer a credit towards a vet visit when you bought it? Unfortunately, many stores know less about tort care than the buyer.

The big questions we need answers to are what are your temps & humidity levels, what lighting are you using, the size of your enclosure & is it open or closed? Are you soaking your tort daily? What's are you using for substrate? Is your tort eating & what are you feeding it?

hey! thanks for replying! it is just one baby tortoise. they are too little right now for me to know, but we call them reggie so i’ll use he until further notice. the store offered care up to 48 hours after we brought him home. we have a neighbor who is friend’s with an exotic vet, so he might be able to help.
currently, i use a sun simulating bulb that is 125 W that provides UV. there is also a heater pad attached to the bottom of the “hot” side of the tank. he is in a 20 gallon tank that is glass with a mess top. we try and keep his hiding cave/spot moist. we have been giving him 15 minutes baths every day and introducing a soft bristle tooth brush to scrub his back and legs.
he is eating mostly leafy greens, no spinach, and a little fruit when doing “bonding feeding” (i try and hand feed him). he was eating good until we started using kale yesterday. so i think he is just not a big fan. i don’t know exact temperatures of the tank because the thermometer had to be replaced but it was at 85 ish degrees during the day.
i was told that the substrate is a cedar wood mulch, but i have seen some posts that the substrate could be irritating reggie’s eyes. do you have any recommendations?
thanks for helping out!

 

[Tom]

You are making many mistakes in the way you are housing and feeding your baby. This is not your fault as most pet stores give you the wrong info and sell you the wrong products. Still, your baby can't survive with the wrong conditions.

Read this for the correct care info and make changes ASAP:

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

 

[dishwoman]

You are making many mistakes in the way you are housing and feeding your baby. This is not your fault as most pet stores give you the wrong info and sell you the wrong products. Still, your baby can't survive with the wrong conditions.

Read this for the correct care info and make changes ASAP:

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

oh my gosh! i thought i was doing a lot of the right things. i will definitely start changing the enclosure and environment first and then see if he gets better. thank you so much!

 

[Tom]

oh my gosh! i thought i was doing a lot of the right things. i will definitely start changing the enclosure and environment first and then see if he gets better. thank you so much!

Theres a lot of info to take in on the care sheet. Please feel free to ask all your questions. It will differ from what you've already been told drastically and there are very good reasons for that. We are happy to explain why the old info is wrong, and how we know the new info is correct. My (our) goal is to help you have a healthy thriving tortoise and a happy tortoise keeping experience.