UKTortie
New Member
Hello all
I am after some advice after our young cherry head died and I am after some reassurance that it wasn’t my fault. It is the first time I have kept a tortoise but not the first reptile. Here’s the story (sorry for the essay).
In June we bought a six month old from what I thought was a reputable pet store here in Manchester UK, I had already done my research and checked him for signs of illness etc. I brought him home and put him in a 3ft wooden Vivarium which had a 3 layer substrate of hydro balls, eco earth soil and top layer of loose bark, a uv light which was 12% which spanned the full length of the viv and finally a che which was on a thermostat set to 88 degrees. At first everything was fine albeit he would hide a lot and didn’t seem very active. I was feeding him different types of greens with fruit but some days he would eat and then others he wouldn’t, when I watched him eat it would sometimes look like he couldn’t see his food as he kept missing, I bathed him every other day for 20 minutes and made sure he drank from his water bowl.
He still wasn’t very active and would stay in the warm end even though the cool end never went below 80 degrees so there was ambient temperature throughout and the humidity never dipped below 70%. After a few weeks I still wasn’t happy so went back to the pet store and they told me he was probably still settling in and they are naturally shy.
He did improve slightly and everything was ok, he ate on and off, drank and pooped but was still missing his food from time to time. Fast forward a few months and I bought him a new habitat (Exo Terra 90x45x30) with same substrate and changed his uv to 5% as I was told that it might be the bright light which was causing the problem, I was also finding keeping temperature and humidity easier.
Anyway three weeks ago things were just not right with him, he stopped eating completely and he wasn’t growing, he had lost weight and was hiding all the time, so I took him to the vet, he did have some discharge around the eyes but no other symptoms, the vet gave injections of antibiotics and calcium, with another injection of fluid as he appeared dehydrated, I went back again 2 days later for the next dose and he did appear more active and to be getting better but the day after he seemed restless, eyes were shut but walking round, constantly in the cool end, I couldn’t get him back to the vets as they were closed and there isn’t an emergency reptile vet in our area. Sadly I woke up the next morning to get him ready for the vets to find his head completely retracted inside his shell, he had died and I was devastated.
Unfortunately I have only just found this forum but I don’t know if he was sick when I got him or if I have done something wrong, I am thinking about getting another but I want to make sure I am doing things right first. Sorry for the long winded story and all comments are welcome, good or bad.
I am after some advice after our young cherry head died and I am after some reassurance that it wasn’t my fault. It is the first time I have kept a tortoise but not the first reptile. Here’s the story (sorry for the essay).
In June we bought a six month old from what I thought was a reputable pet store here in Manchester UK, I had already done my research and checked him for signs of illness etc. I brought him home and put him in a 3ft wooden Vivarium which had a 3 layer substrate of hydro balls, eco earth soil and top layer of loose bark, a uv light which was 12% which spanned the full length of the viv and finally a che which was on a thermostat set to 88 degrees. At first everything was fine albeit he would hide a lot and didn’t seem very active. I was feeding him different types of greens with fruit but some days he would eat and then others he wouldn’t, when I watched him eat it would sometimes look like he couldn’t see his food as he kept missing, I bathed him every other day for 20 minutes and made sure he drank from his water bowl.
He still wasn’t very active and would stay in the warm end even though the cool end never went below 80 degrees so there was ambient temperature throughout and the humidity never dipped below 70%. After a few weeks I still wasn’t happy so went back to the pet store and they told me he was probably still settling in and they are naturally shy.
He did improve slightly and everything was ok, he ate on and off, drank and pooped but was still missing his food from time to time. Fast forward a few months and I bought him a new habitat (Exo Terra 90x45x30) with same substrate and changed his uv to 5% as I was told that it might be the bright light which was causing the problem, I was also finding keeping temperature and humidity easier.
Anyway three weeks ago things were just not right with him, he stopped eating completely and he wasn’t growing, he had lost weight and was hiding all the time, so I took him to the vet, he did have some discharge around the eyes but no other symptoms, the vet gave injections of antibiotics and calcium, with another injection of fluid as he appeared dehydrated, I went back again 2 days later for the next dose and he did appear more active and to be getting better but the day after he seemed restless, eyes were shut but walking round, constantly in the cool end, I couldn’t get him back to the vets as they were closed and there isn’t an emergency reptile vet in our area. Sadly I woke up the next morning to get him ready for the vets to find his head completely retracted inside his shell, he had died and I was devastated.
Unfortunately I have only just found this forum but I don’t know if he was sick when I got him or if I have done something wrong, I am thinking about getting another but I want to make sure I am doing things right first. Sorry for the long winded story and all comments are welcome, good or bad.