New member/new tortoise parent

Bmhernandez92

New Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2021
Messages
1
Location (City and/or State)
Dallas, TX
Hello everyone! I originally found this forum googling symptoms for my sulcata tortoise. Please don’t be too hard on me, I’m a very new/inexperienced tortoise parent. I’ve had my little guy since august of last year. He adapted well to the habitat I made him and we had a routine going. I’ve been on top of researching how to properly care for him and feel I’ve done at least “okay” raising him more or less blindly. My family and I took a two trips out of town and took him along. The first trip he did fine but the second we were gone a week longer than planned and when we came home he didn’t eat for a good 5 days. Now that we are home he still hasn’t eaten and now it’s been 6 days since he last opened his eyes. Again, I’m a new tortoise parent so I’ve been scrambling to try and figure out what’s wrong but I can’t seem to pinpoint it and I’m so scared he is going to die on me! Please help me. If I need to be more specific I can be, I just need some guidance for my little guy! Thank you in advance to anyone who replies!
 

Blackdog1714

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2018
Messages
4,666
Location (City and/or State)
Richmond, VA
Welcome! Trips are stressful for all especially torts! They have routines and territories that are well defined so they do better with a huge pile of food or a friend dropping by everfew days. Now the big stuff at first guess you are not keeping it warm enough with the correct humidity here is an excellent care guide that recommends a closed chamber to properly control heat and humidity.
Post in thread 'The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise' https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181497/post-1949094
 

autumn_0201

Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
56
Location (City and/or State)
Kuantan
Hello everyone! I originally found this forum googling symptoms for my sulcata tortoise. Please don’t be too hard on me, I’m a very new/inexperienced tortoise parent. I’ve had my little guy since august of last year. He adapted well to the habitat I made him and we had a routine going. I’ve been on top of researching how to properly care for him and feel I’ve done at least “okay” raising him more or less blindly. My family and I took a two trips out of town and took him along. The first trip he did fine but the second we were gone a week longer than planned and when we came home he didn’t eat for a good 5 days. Now that we are home he still hasn’t eaten and now it’s been 6 days since he last opened his eyes. Again, I’m a new tortoise parent so I’ve been scrambling to try and figure out what’s wrong but I can’t seem to pinpoint it and I’m so scared he is going to die on me! Please help me. If I need to be more specific I can be, I just need some guidance for my little guy! Thank you in advance to anyone who replies!

Welcome to the forum. I hope you will have a nice time here ? About ur tortoise though, Is he moving? Or is he in his shell all the time? There are some factors that causes closed eyes in torts. A potential cause of it is lack of humidity. He also might have vitamin A deficiencies, trapped plant matter, or infection of the eyelids. But we won't know for sure. I think the best way to fix this is a visit to the vet. Good luck!
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,388
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
My guess is he wasn't kept warm and moist enough during the time away from home. Babies are pretty sensitive to their environment. My suggestion is to start over. Re-read the care sheet, and get that baby in a warm and humid environment (a covered enclosure works VERY well!)

 

Jan A

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2021
Messages
1,808
Location (City and/or State)
Boulder, CO
Hello everyone! I originally found this forum googling symptoms for my sulcata tortoise. Please don’t be too hard on me, I’m a very new/inexperienced tortoise parent. I’ve had my little guy since august of last year. He adapted well to the habitat I made him and we had a routine going. I’ve been on top of researching how to properly care for him and feel I’ve done at least “okay” raising him more or less blindly. My family and I took a two trips out of town and took him along. The first trip he did fine but the second we were gone a week longer than planned and when we came home he didn’t eat for a good 5 days. Now that we are home he still hasn’t eaten and now it’s been 6 days since he last opened his eyes. Again, I’m a new tortoise parent so I’ve been scrambling to try and figure out what’s wrong but I can’t seem to pinpoint it and I’m so scared he is going to die on me! Please help me. If I need to be more specific I can be, I just need some guidance for my little guy! Thank you in advance to anyone who replies!
Give photos, temps & humidity levels in his enclosure, his age & more info. The more you can tell our experts & experienced tort owners, the better. Welcome.
 

TaylorTortoise

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2020
Messages
1,461
Location (City and/or State)
Abington
My guess is he wasn't kept warm and moist enough during the time away from home. Babies are pretty sensitive to their environment. My suggestion is to start over. Re-read the care sheet, and get that baby in a warm and humid environment (a covered enclosure works VERY well!)

Hi Yvonne.
They are very sensitive in general tortoises with travel, but I assume it affects babies worse. I travel every other weekend down the shore with my torts if nobody is home. I try to get my torts comfortable with their travel homes. They go out down the shore and bask when we are down there. I bring their lamps, favorite foods hides substrate etc. I also believe leaving them alone and making sure you do the exact same routine at home to where you travel will minimize stress. So making sure living conditions are still the same from their regular homes.
 

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