Potentially Sick Sulcata Milo!

[ctkee57]

My little brother has a Sulcata tortoise named Milo that we have had for about 8 months and he is just about a year old. My brother had not done proper research before purchasing him and I have recently done research into tortoises of his kind because we think he may be sick. Up until today we had his substrate based only off of Cedar chips which I found out this morning is seriously detrimental. Upon learning that we changed his bedding to a newspaper base layer and orchard grass on top. However, he still appears sick. Here are his characteristics of the last two days:

-Mainly burrowing and not active.
-Eats less than he normally does (Diet is dark green romaine lettuce with powdered calcium applied on occasions).
-Has urinated but does not seem to be going "number 2" as frequently as he had in the past.
-Also seems to be making squeaking sounds, but he has done that since we have had him so I am not sure if I should be concerned.

I would GREATLY appreciate any advice offered, even though Milo is not my pet specifically he is my family's only pet and I care about him very much!

 

[lkwagner]

I already know this is coming so to speed up the process so people can really help you please include what light and heat sources you're using, the 4 temps, humidity level, what is he being housed in... The more details the better

One thing I do know from the information provided is that his diet is not adequate and needs to be changed.

Make sure you read toms thread about how to raise baby sulcatas

 

[luvpetz27]

I am so glad you joined
the forum so you can help
Milo get well. I have learned
a great deal from here and I am
sure you will too. Welcome!

 

[ctkee57]

I already know this is coming so to speed up the process so people can really help you please include what light and heat sources you're using, the 4 temps, humidity level, what is he being housed in... The more details the better

One thing I do know from the information provided is that his diet is not adequate and needs to be changed.

Make sure you read toms thread about how to raise baby sulcatas

Do you have a link to Tom's thread perhaps? I would love to check it out!

But he is currently housed in a 50 Gallon tank. I am not sure what his Humidity level is but my brother has not been bathing him too frequently so my first thought is that it is a problem with dehydration. His tank temp hovers around 80 degrees F. For heating, we use an infrared heating light 75W. We use a coil 120W bulb for UVB and the other one we use is just a regular non-coil bulb, I do not have the box for that one though.

 

[lkwagner]

I do not have a link but I'm sure if you search around you will find it.

First thing I would do is soak the tort 2-3 times a day and make sure the water stays warm.

Second, I would get rid of that coil bulb. I've read a lot about how these are not good for sulcatas eyes and stuff like that.

Also I would go out and buy some coco coir from the pet store ASAP this is a really good substrate and will help boost the humidity

I'm sure more people will be on soon to help

 

[Yvonne G]

Just go to the Forum page, and scroll down to the sulcata section. At the top of that section there are "important threads." Everything you need to know about raising a healthy baby sulcata will be found in those important threads.

 

[Love4tortoises]

I am a newer member to this thread, but I have learned SO much just from listening to the members on here. Please do all the research you can and listen to the people on here. They do know what they are talking about.

I have a 4 month old sulcata and so many factors contribute to having a healthy little one. I have the cool side set at 85-87, the basking spot between 105-110 and the warm side is about 90-95. The humidity is arounf 70-80 all the time and he has access to water 24/7. At night, I turn his heat light off, but keep his CHE (ceramic heat emitter) on so the temps dont drop below 80 at night. This is super important if your enclosure is humid. Hot and humid is good, cold and humid is bad! This is how they get respirtory infections. The substrate I use to help hold humidity is Eco Earth. The diet is another huge factor in making them healthy. They need variety everyday! Some of the best things for them is grasses and weeds, Endive, Escarole, Dandelion, Kale, Arugula, Turnip, Collard... Etc. And they should be switched around each day so he has a variety. This is all info that I have learned just from being on here for about 2 weeks. Like everyone else, I highly suggest going and reading ALL of Tom's threads. They are SO helpful!

I really hope this helps and that the little guy gets better soon!

 

[cemmons12]

Toms threads at the bottom of my post.

 

[L82lalaland]

I noticed you said you had a coil bulb those would be the first thing I would get rid of. They may do more harm that good.

 

[Love4tortoises]

I had to replace my bulb today and it is one that has both UVA & UVB as well as heat and light. You might want to invest in one of these instead of the coil bulbs because those are bad for the torts eyes. The bulb is made by Zoo Med and depending on your tank size, I would go with 100w. Hope this helps!

 

[ctkee57]

Thank you for all of the advice guys I really appreciate it!

I have gotten a chance to check out that feed from Tom and it has a lot of great advice. I think the first thing I will do is alter his enclosure. And certainly bathe him a bit more. I would love to hear some more opinions and advice though!

 

[mainey34]

I would suggest to soak the tort 2 times daily, maybe give weeds and grasses. If he doesn't start pooping you can give mineral oil. That will help get things moving.

 

[sibi]

I suspect that he may be compacted Compaq well as dehydrated. It wouldn't be a bad thing to vive sarm soaks even 3 times a day. Babies that are dehydrated need plenty of water even if he doesn't seem to want it or drink it. If you have to give him mineral oil, it will be extremely difficult to get it into his mouth. You'll need to hide it in his foods or fruit like strawberry. Since he's not eating, givi g bin some strawberry is fine for now. Worse comes to worst, u may need to use a syringe to administer the mineral oil. Let us k ow if it gets to that. We'll help you through it. Btw, have you allowed your tort to graze outside? If yes, ha e you or your brother priced if he's eating rocks?

 

[Laura]

newspaper with hay isnt good either.. and even if you get the right substrate its not going to help right away.. your tort could have injested the cedar chips and be blocked, or its the toxins making him ill, or the poor diet.
Can you tell us more? how warm do you keep him? Lights? outside at all?

 

[luvpetz27]

I already know this is coming so to speed up the process so people can really help you please include what light and heat sources you're using, the 4 temps, humidity level, what is he being housed in... The more details the better

One thing I do know from the information provided is that his diet is not adequate and needs to be changed.

Make sure you read toms thread about how to raise baby sulcatas

Do you have a link to Tom's thread perhaps? I would love to check it out!

But he is currently housed in a 50 Gallon tank. I am not sure what his Humidity level is but my brother has not been bathing him too frequently so my first thought is that it is a problem with dehydration. His tank temp hovers around 80 degrees F. For heating, we use an infrared heating light 75W. We use a coil 120W bulb for UVB and the other one we use is just a regular non-coil bulb, I do not have the box for that one though.

She stated that she uses a NON-COIL bulb!

---

I noticed you said you had a coil bulb those would be the first thing I would get rid of. They may do more harm that good.

She has a NON COIL bulb!

 

[lkwagner]

Woops

 

[ctkee57]

newspaper with hay isnt good either.. and even if you get the right substrate its not going to help right away.. your tort could have injested the cedar chips and be blocked, or its the toxins making him ill, or the poor diet.
Can you tell us more? how warm do you keep him? Lights? outside at all?

He has actually been doing a bit better the last few days and I think changing the bedding has helped a bit even though you are right I will probably change it again to help with humidity. He also has pooped today so whoohoo! Doesn't look like it was a blockage I think he may have been dehydrated a bit because as we have upped his daily baths he has been acting better. But his tank hovers around 80-85 degrees F and we don't take him outside really, just because it is cold now but he will wander around our house.