re: hibernating or sick

[floridakat85]

I also discovered a tiny hairline crack developing in his shell, this has me thinking that the bulbs I've been using since I got him have not been UVA/UVB and he's not absorbing calcium at all. I picked up a second lamp with a 26 watt light with 10 watts UVB, which is supposed to be enough for desert tortoises, which Karloff would be I think. So am I doing this correctly now, with two lamps on him? One lamp is 100 watts UVA full spectrum, the second lamp is 26 watts with 10 watts UVB it says - I upped the heat source because its getting cold and his basking place was reading a temperature of 89 degrees. It has since gone up to 94, and should rise a little higher once the additional bulb is on him. Also, should I do anything to heal the hairline crack in his shell? Does the heat/light setup sound appropriate?

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I also discovered a tiny hairline crack developing in his shell, this has me thinking that the bulbs I've been using since I got him have not been UVA/UVB and he's not absorbing calcium at all. I picked up a second lamp with a 26 watt light with 10 watts UVB, which is supposed to be enough for desert tortoises, which Karloff would be I think. So am I doing this correctly now, with two lamps on him? One lamp is 100 watts UVA full spectrum, the second lamp is 26 watts with 10 watts UVB it says - I upped the heat source because its getting cold and his basking place was reading a temperature of 89 degrees. It has since gone up to 94, and should rise a little higher once the additional bulb is on him. Also, should I do anything to heal the hairline crack in his shell? Does the heat/light setup sound appropriate?

See the added pictures, they show the black lamp (UVA) and silver lamp (UVB) over the basking area on the opposite side from his hide.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Katie...What are his symptoms that make you think he's sick? I don't like his substrate. Is it sand? Nope, sand is bad for him. His basking area should be 95-100 degrees. I have to close now cuz my hands are jerking so it's hard to type, but why do you think he's sick? I

 

[Yvonne G]

In my opinion, you don't need two UV lights. One good one would be just fine. The hair-line crack might just be where the new growth is. Its probably nothing.

What makes you think he might be sick?

I'm thinking you started this thought on a different thread, right? Refresh our memories please!

 

[floridakat85]

In my opinion, you don't need two UV lights. One good one would be just fine. The hair-line crack might just be where the new growth is. Its probably nothing.

What makes you think he might be sick?

I'm thinking you started this thought on a different thread, right? Refresh our memories please!

Sorry, yes I did start on another post and this was an add on to it. He hasn't been eating much in the past week or so, and there were a couple of different things that could have caused it. So to fix it, I upped the temperature in his enclosure, added a UVB bulb to help him absorb calcium better, and changed up his diet. In just the past couple of hours since I've made these changes, I've already seen a difference in his behavior and eating, in that he's eaten more today than I've seen him eat in a week, and he's been more active than ever. So whatever the problem was, it appears that I've managed to fix it. Thanks

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Katie...What are his symptoms that make you think he's sick? I don't like his substrate. Is it sand? Nope, sand is bad for him. His basking area should be 95-100 degrees. I have to close now cuz my hands are jerking so it's hard to type, but why do you think he's sick? I

His substrate is the standard 50/50 mix of play sand and coconut coir, just difficult to see it in the picture.