Question About Sulcata Tortoise Health and RI

[Freddyguy2018]

I recently purchased a friendly baby sulcata tortoise at an exotic pet store but after one day he started showing some signs of a possible Respiratory Infection. When giving him a warm soak I noticed he was making squeaking noises and moving his head slowly into his shell while rubbing his eye. He’s been shedding quite a bit recently and has some nice new skin underneath near his eye which looks white and unbothered so it didn’t worry me as much as seeing him blow a little bubble out of his nose. After googling for a few hours it seemed apparent the little guy could be sick. I’m not sure if I could’ve done anything wrong that would make him sick in such a short time frame. The store owner couldn’t tell me how old he was or how much he weighed, didn’t have any thermometers in his container to measure his heat or humidity, didn’t even look like they kept it humid in there it looked very dry and only had one small bulb keeping them warm. I wasn’t very impressed with this place but I thought I could give this neat little friendly tortoise a better life. We promptly brought him home with all the necessary tortoise equipment and set him up. Unfortunately we had to wait a couple days because it was the weekend and the vet was closed Monday as well since it was Labor Day. We got him into the vet and they prescribed him an oral antibiotic to use for 10 days. They gave us a lot of extra in case he gives us trouble taking it. He also had some shedding skin covering his nostrils which made it very hard to see them and was probably contributing to the squeaking noise so he showed me how to gently rub the nose with a warm q tip to help keep it open. It’s been 7 days of treatment and he’s still making some squeaking noises and I even saw him blow a little bubble today again…his overall attitude is fine though he’s still very active and eating quite a bit. Whenever I interact with him he’s always such a sweetheart and loves to climb on me. The vet advised me to give him daily warm soaks while on this antibiotic which is usually most if not the only time I hear him squeak which might just be him vocalizing? Do tortoises normally do that? Maybe he doesn’t like the water? It’s fairly warm but not enough to burn him. I do have some questions.
1. How often does a baby sulcata normally sleep? I have a tortoise camera set up to keep an eye on the little guy while I’m at work. He sleeps for a good chunk of his day but he gets up and walks around likes to climb his house and munch down on his greens. Is this a Normal day in the life for a baby sulcata?
2. What substrate would you all recommend? I’m currently using a cypress mulch but online it seems like everyone has varying opinions about what works best.
3. Is there anything else I can be doing to help him? I’ve fallen in love with this little guy he’s like my son and I want to give him the best life I can.

 

[Tom]

I recently purchased a friendly baby sulcata tortoise at an exotic pet store but after one day he started showing some signs of a possible Respiratory Infection. When giving him a warm soak I noticed he was making squeaking noises and moving his head slowly into his shell while rubbing his eye. He’s been shedding quite a bit recently and has some nice new skin underneath near his eye which looks white and unbothered so it didn’t worry me as much as seeing him blow a little bubble out of his nose. After googling for a few hours it seemed apparent the little guy could be sick. I’m not sure if I could’ve done anything wrong that would make him sick in such a short time frame. The store owner couldn’t tell me how old he was or how much he weighed, didn’t have any thermometers in his container to measure his heat or humidity, didn’t even look like they kept it humid in there it looked very dry and only had one small bulb keeping them warm. I wasn’t very impressed with this place but I thought I could give this neat little friendly tortoise a better life. We promptly brought him home with all the necessary tortoise equipment and set him up. Unfortunately we had to wait a couple days because it was the weekend and the vet was closed Monday as well since it was Labor Day. We got him into the vet and they prescribed him an oral antibiotic to use for 10 days. They gave us a lot of extra in case he gives us trouble taking it. He also had some shedding skin covering his nostrils which made it very hard to see them and was probably contributing to the squeaking noise so he showed me how to gently rub the nose with a warm q tip to help keep it open. It’s been 7 days of treatment and he’s still making some squeaking noises and I even saw him blow a little bubble today again…his overall attitude is fine though he’s still very active and eating quite a bit. Whenever I interact with him he’s always such a sweetheart and loves to climb on me. The vet advised me to give him daily warm soaks while on this antibiotic which is usually most if not the only time I hear him squeak which might just be him vocalizing? Do tortoises normally do that? Maybe he doesn’t like the water? It’s fairly warm but not enough to burn him. I do have some questions.
1. How often does a baby sulcata normally sleep? I have a tortoise camera set up to keep an eye on the little guy while I’m at work. He sleeps for a good chunk of his day but he gets up and walks around likes to climb his house and munch down on his greens. Is this a Normal day in the life for a baby sulcata?
2. What substrate would you all recommend? I’m currently using a cypress mulch but online it seems like everyone has varying opinions about what works best.
3. Is there anything else I can be doing to help him? I’ve fallen in love with this little guy he’s like my son and I want to give him the best life I can.

Hello and welcome.

Here is the info you need:

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

Your questions:
1. Sounds normal.
2. Orchid bark is best. Cypress mulch is fine.
3. He needs warm monsoon conditions. Temps should never drop below 80 day or night. Ambient temp should rise into the low 90s during the day, and e needs a 100 degree basking area directly under a flood bulb. You need a closed chamber to accomplish this.

 

[Freddyguy2018]

Than

Hello and welcome.

Here is the info you need:

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

Your questions:
1. Sounds normal.
2. Orchid bark is best. Cypress mulch is fine.
3. He needs warm monsoon conditions. Temps should never drop below 80 day or night. Ambient temp should rise into the low 90s during the day, and e needs a 100 degree basking area directly under a flood bulb. You need a closed chamber to accompyou for the

Hello and welcome.

Here is the info you need:

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

Your questions:
1. Sounds normal.
2. Orchid bark is best. Cypress mulch is fine.
3. He needs warm monsoon conditions. Temps should never drop below 80 day or night. Ambient temp should rise into the low 90s during the day, and e needs a 100 degree basking area directly under a flood bulb. You need a closed chamber to accomplish this.

Thank you for the reply this is very useful information. When I asked the Vet about humidity they told me his environment should be kept between 50-60? And his temp around 85? I wasn’t sure how accurate that was and they wanted me to give him Timothy hay.. it just seems way to dry to me but I have read they graze a lot so I picked up some wheat grass cubes to grow for him, not sure how much I can really trust this vet 😅.

 

[Tom]

Than


Thank you for the reply this is very useful information. When I asked the Vet about humidity they told me his environment should be kept between 50-60? And his temp around 85? I wasn’t sure how accurate that was and they wanted me to give him Timothy hay.. it just seems way to dry to me but I have read they graze a lot so I picked up some wheat grass cubes to grow for him, not sure how much I can really trust this vet 😅.

Most vets know very little about tortoise care.

I would have asked the vet: "What is the humidity where these babies hatch in Africa at the start of the rainy season? And, what humidity works best in captive enclosure in American homes by comparison?" You'd probably get a blank stare.

Ambient temp of 85-95 during the day is great, but they still need a 100 degree basking area.

Grass hay is for adults, not babies. Babies need freshly sprouted tender grass mixed in with their greens. When the time comes, at around 12 inches, that you decide to introduce grass hay, Timothy is much too stemmy. Orchard grass hay, teff or Bermuda work best.

 

[jeff kushner]

The luck of some people.................of all the folks he could have run into on the internet with "expert" advice.....he actually ran into an expert, with expect advice!!!

Good for you Freddy, and welcome.....


jeff

 

[Freddyguy2018]

Most vets know very little about tortoise care.

I would have asked the vet: "What is the humidity where these babies hatch in Africa at the start of the rainy season? And, what humidity works best in captive enclosure in American homes by comparison?" You'd probably get a blank stare.

Ambient temp of 85-95 during the day is great, but they still need a 100 degree basking area.

Grass hay is for adults, not babies. Babies need freshly sprouted tender grass mixed in with their greens. When the time comes, at around 12 inches, that you decide to introduce grass hay, Timothy is much too stemmy. Orchard grass hay, teff or Bermuda work best.

Yeah I also have rabbits who eat Timothy hay and seeing them mow it down with there chompers compared to my little sulcata who can barely break his greens…it didn’t seem right lol. I’ve read through your guide and it’s been very eye opening. There’s so much conflicting information online about raising tortoises. I’ll definitely be looking into a way to convert his grow up tank into an enclosed space. Possibly with some plexi glass or acrylic and some sealant. I’m pretty handy so I’ll build anything I need to for this little guy. As well as investing in a solid thermostat and mister to keep him in a much healthier environment.

 

[TammyJ]

You found a great place here! All the best!

 

[wellington]

Yeah I also have rabbits who eat Timothy hay and seeing them mow it down with there chompers compared to my little sulcata who can barely break his greens…it didn’t seem right lol. I’ve read through your guide and it’s been very eye opening. There’s so much conflicting information online about raising tortoises. I’ll definitely be looking into a way to convert his grow up tank into an enclosed space. Possibly with some plexi glass or acrylic and some sealant. I’m pretty handy so I’ll build anything I need to for this little guy. As well as investing in a solid thermostat and mister to keep him in a much healthier environment.

Don't waste money on a mister. Once you get the closed chamber built, adding warm water to the substrate so its damp/wet but not puddled is all you will have to do. You will know when it's time to add more water to get the humidity back up.

 

[Freddyguy2018]

Awesome thank you for the tip! I haven’t had much experience with substrates and I’m currently misting him a few times a day even with the cypress mulch to keep his humidity up. I’m also taking Toms recommendation and have already ordered some of the orchid mulch he uses. I just hope my little guy feels better he’s still very active and eating but I still see him blowing the occasional bubble out of his nose when I soak him in the mornings. If the oral antibiotics don’t work I’ll have to bring him back to the vet for a shot.

Don't waste money on a mister. Once you get the closed chamber built, adding warm water to the substrate so its damp/wet but not puddled is all you will have to do. You will know when it's time to add more water to get the humidity back up.

 

[wellington]

Awesome thank you for the tip! I haven’t had much experience with substrates and I’m currently misting him a few times a day even with the cypress mulch to keep his humidity up. I’m also taking Toms recommendation and have already ordered some of the orchid mulch he uses. I just hope my little guy feels better he’s still very active and eating but I still see him blowing the occasional bubble out of his nose when I soak him in the mornings. If the oral antibiotics don’t work I’ll have to bring him back to the vet for a shot.

If the bubbles are only when soaking it's nothing to worry about.

 

[Freddyguy2018]

Well that’s a relief I was worried he was getting sick since the first thing that shows up on google when you search tortoise blowing bubbles out of nose is Respiratory Infections haha. How Normal is it for squeaking? When soaking I notice him making squeaking noises sometimes and bringing his head into his shell like something’s bothering him. Do tortoises not like being soaked and maybe he’s just voicing his disproval? I’ve also been trying to uncover his nostrils they look like they’re covered by a layer of his skin, he’s been shedding a lot I did hear sulcatas grow quickly. When I weighed him at the vet he was 58grams and 3 inches big

If the bubbles are only when soaking it's nothing to worry about.

 

[Tom]

Yeah I also have rabbits who eat Timothy hay and seeing them mow it down with there chompers compared to my little sulcata who can barely break his greens…it didn’t seem right lol. I’ve read through your guide and it’s been very eye opening. There’s so much conflicting information online about raising tortoises. I’ll definitely be looking into a way to convert his grow up tank into an enclosed space. Possibly with some plexi glass or acrylic and some sealant. I’m pretty handy so I’ll build anything I need to for this little guy. As well as investing in a solid thermostat and mister to keep him in a much healthier environment.

You won't need a mister in a closed chamber.

 

[Tom]

Well that’s a relief I was worried he was getting sick since the first thing that shows up on google when you search tortoise blowing bubbles out of nose is Respiratory Infections haha. How Normal is it for squeaking? When soaking I notice him making squeaking noises sometimes and bringing his head into his shell like something’s bothering him. Do tortoises not like being soaked and maybe he’s just voicing his disproval? I’ve also been trying to uncover his nostrils they look like they’re covered by a layer of his skin, he’s been shedding a lot I did hear sulcatas grow quickly. When I weighed him at the vet he was 58grams and 3 inches big

You do have a RI starting. The cause is usually cold temps. The cure then, is warm temps. Keep him 85 or higher day and night for at least two weeks after symptoms disappear. Be sure your night heat is heating the entire enclosure.

 

[Freddyguy2018]

You do have a RI starting. The cause is usually cold temps. The cure then, is warm temps. Keep him 85 or higher day and night for at least two weeks after symptoms disappear. Be sure your night heat is heating the entire enclosure.

Yeah we have a ceramic bulb that we use at night to make sure he stays nice and warm. We bought a heat pad but it wasn’t cutting it. On the bright side though the wall it’s on is nice and warm so he likes to lay his head against it at night like a warm pillow haha. I always check with our infrared thermometer before we go to bed to make sure he’s toasty. Today I gave him his 9th treatment of oral antibiotics. When we brought him home from the vet he slept the whole day he was very stressed. But these last few days he’s been very lively and back to normal baby sulcata activities. The only time I really see him blowing bubbles or squeaking now is when I give him a warm soak daily. I’ve been trying to uncover one of his nostrils that looks like it’s covered with skin.