Problem?

[kywilli2063]

Hi everyone....this is Morla, and I'm a little worried about this whiteness around the eyes and mouth. Both of my little sulcata's are getting it also and it seems to get worse when they're outside. Morla has also been a bit sluggish and I just want to try and figure out if I could be doing anything wrong.

 

[Jodie]

That doesn't look good. What are your temps? Basking, warm side, cool side and night low? I would bump the low up to 85F and soak daily. What is the humidity in the enclosure?

 

[wellington]

What type of bulbs are you using? More care info including set up and things already asked is needed for us to help

 

[kywilli2063]

I'm using a mercury combo bulb, basking and UVB. And a ceramic heater near that bulb along with 2 of the radiant heat panels in the enclosure to try and keep the average temp at 80.
I live in New Mexico, so naturally there's zero humidity, but I blocked the air vents in the back of my enclosure and keep enough moisture in there that it beads on the front glass consistently.

 

[Yvonne G]

The mouth is fine, and what you're seeing on the eyes is just a closed eye. That's what they look like when they're closed. When you pick up a little tortoise, the eyes should open almost right away. When they stay closed, there's something wrong, and it's usually your husbandry.

Do you soak these babies daily for at least 15 minutes? Have you tested the temperature all over the floor of the habitat?

 

[kywilli2063]

They are all soaked daily for at least 20 minutes. usually double that

 

[kywilli2063]

Temps range from 75 to 120 around the enclosure.

 

[kywilli2063]

She's also lost a gram over the last 3 weeks. While the two sulcatas have averaged a gram or 2 a week gain.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

120°F is pretty dehydrating for such a wee one.
My "sweet spot" indoor basking temp was 95ish. Everyone has to tweak things a bit differently but considering the issue, I suggest you try dropping the high temp and raising the low temp. 80-95 was a good range for my leopard babies.

 

[kywilli2063]

I can't really raise the low temp. I think the second heat panel I have is defective, but when I asked about what it's doing all they did was claim you can't run 2 of them off one thermostat, which Tom said you can. It can't even get an average at 80 at the moment, which is what I have the thermostat set at.
She seems to sit in a spot that's around exactly what you said, 95ish. None of them hang out under the 120 spot, not that I would expect them to.

 

[Tom]

I can't really raise the low temp. I think the second heat panel I have is defective, but when I asked about what it's doing all they did was claim you can't run 2 of them off one thermostat, which Tom said you can. It can't even get an average at 80 at the moment, which is what I have the thermostat set at.
She seems to sit in a spot that's around exactly what you said, 95ish. None of them hang out under the 120 spot, not that I would expect them to.

120 is too hot. It needs to be closer to 95-100. Raise the bulb up a little bit, or use a different, lower wattage bulb.

75 is too cool. Why can't you raise the temp a little bit?

The thermostats I use can run up to 1000 watts. The RHPs I run are 78 watts each. The RHP only knows if its got power, or not. It doesn't know what other devices are, or are not, plugged into the thermostat, and it doesn't matter as long as the RHP is getting 110-120 volts and enough amperage. I run 2 or 3 RHPS or Kane mats of one thermostat everyday. Works perfectly. If you were running things that exceeded the capacity of your thermostat, then I could see this being an issue, but other than that, I don't think the person who told you that understands electronics. What size RHPs are you using? Is the cage a closed chamber? Where is the thermostat probe?

I don't see any problem with the pic of your tortoise. The closed eye does concern me too though.

 

[kywilli2063]

I got the exact thermostat you had suggested, it says 1000w max on it. I have one 90 RHP and one 120. I'm testing the 120 right now having it plugged in stand alone to see if it stays on.
I'll turn the ceramic off in the daytime and leave just the basking light and see how that changes temps.
The probe for the low is in the back middle slightly behind directly below the 120 w panel.
I've closed it off aside from right above the heat lights.

 

[Tom]

I got the exact thermostat you had suggested, it says 1000w max on it. I have one 90 RHP and one 120. I'm testing the 120 right now having it plugged in stand alone to see if it stays on.
I'll turn the ceramic off in the daytime and leave just the basking light and see how that changes temps.
The probe for the low is in the back middle slightly behind directly below the 120 w panel.
I've closed it off aside from right above the heat lights.

All that sounds okay to me. Let us know how the RHP works when plugged in directly.

Who told you that you could't run two RHPs on one thermostat? Did they say why? In theory, you could run 10 of them on one thermostat if they were all the 80 watt models.

 

[kywilli2063]

Some guy from their company claimed it. I responded to them that that's not the issue, and that (as I just checked) the behavior is the same whether plugged into the thermostat or not. Something is obviously loose, cutting power to it, I redid the plug already once though and nothing changed, so I suspect inside the unit there's an issue.

 

[Tom]

Some guy from their company claimed it. I responded to them that that's not the issue, and that (as I just checked) the behavior is the same whether plugged into the thermostat or not. Something is obviously loose, cutting power to it, I redid the plug already once though and nothing changed, so I suspect inside the unit there's an issue.

You are handling this the right way.

Which company did you buy it from? I have about 15 RHPs from Reptile Basics and I haven't had a bad one yet.

Whoever you bought it from ought to warranty it with no problems, or we will see to it that they get a lot of bad publicity here. If you bought two and one works fine while the other doesn't, then the issue is obviously in the panel itself.

Please continue to keep us posted.