RT baby eyes not opening

[Nephelle]

To start, I am really sorry for such a long post. I wanted to list everything out as much as possible to try and give the clearest picture I can. Thank you to everyone and anyone for taking the time to read through it all.

****

BASICS:

• Millie is a 3 month old RT I bought from Tortoise Supply. She came on Wednesday 9/23.

• I am using a set up as close as I can get it to the RT baby care sheet, except I am still working on making a tank topper and at the moment still have plastic wrap over the open areas to try and hold in my humidity. (I bought the plexiglass for the top, I have just never used it before, so have been watching youtube tutorials for the past couple days trying to figure it out)

• Basking end is running somewhere between 90 - 100 with a Zoomed Powersun 100w, I am constantly trying to get this right but it is fluctuating quite a bit. The light is on for 12 hours a day.

• Middle area is heated with a CHE plugged into a Hydrofarm Thermostat set to 80, and sits pretty consistently in the lower-to-mid 80's. There is a hide provided but she doesn't use it (I bought the one TS recommended but I think it might be too small, I ordered a bigger one that will be here Wednesday)

• Cool area sits in the lower-to-mid 70's.

• Humidity is ranging anywhere from 70 - 95%. I'm hoping this will stabilize once I finish the top. I bought a ReptiFogger 2 days ago to help with the humidity in the meantime.

**Note - I had been spraying constantly and getting up early when her light came on to soak her, but the morning humidity levels were hitting around 45-55%, so it was drying out some overnight. I bought the humidifier to try and stabilize this. I also bought another lamp stand to replace the clamp light that was holding the CHE, and that changed up how that area was heated. This was 2 days ago, and all of those changes really messed with my temps, so I basically had to start all over.

• Night-time temps have been somewhere in the 70's, it's been varying a bit but not dropping below 70.

• Millie is getting 2 soaks a day at about 20 minutes each. I've compared the look of her shell to other example pics on the forums and she seems well hydrated.

***THE ISSUES***

FOOD:

At first she ate and stomped around her enclosure without issue. We were able to give her a bit of kale and dandelion and it seemed like she ate a good bit the first day of her arrival. (she had been delayed by UPS and in shipment for 2 days instead of the planned overnight)

Since then, her appetite has been steadily decreasing until taking nothing today. She has still been incredibly active, so I was trying to stay calm and thought perhaps she was just taking a few days to settle in.

We have tried her on dandelion, kale, turnip greens, chicory and chard. I also offered mashed Zoomed Grassland Tortoise Food one day. She ignored everything but the dandelion, chicory and kale, and mostly went for the kale.

Today my shipment from Tortoise Supply arrived containing cactus pads and herbal hay. I offered this but no go.

EYES:

Since the day she arrived, Millie has been slow to open her eyes in her morning bath. It takes about 10 minutes of soaking before she finally opens them. Once she is "awake", however, she becomes very active and resumes said stomping--though her food intake was low.

I read in the forums that this could be from dehydration, and today I will say that with the fogger running overnight, her eyes were open for the first time when I went to get her this morning.

I also took a suggestion this morning that her basking area sit around 100 degrees to help encourage her to eat (it had been somewhere between 90-95). The only way I could get the temps up was to lower the light. I measured a bit ago and I'd lowered it to 9.5" from the substrate, instead of the recommended 12".

Today, however, after being normal for most of the day, her eyes suddenly closed and wouldn't open again. Her activity level didn't change, so basically she was stomping around her enclosure blind. I freaked out and ran to get carrot baby food and immediately soaked her. Her eyes opened to slits a few times but that's it. She didn't really dig down like she has been to go to sleep, so I covered her some.

Then, about an hour ago, we saw she was up and moving about her enclosure again. All other days, she's put herself to bed around 4pm and stayed there. When I checked, her eyes were still closed. Another baby food soak, and I dug her a burrow and covered her up, and she's stayed there so far.

***

I found an old thread where both @Tom and @Yvonne G said the eyes were the first sign of a problem in the enclosure.

I did purchase Terramycin to have on hand, but I don't feel like this is an infection. I think I am messing something up. I just don't know what.

Again, so sorry for the long post. I have scoured past threads for days but I am at a loss. If her eyes are still closed in the morning, I will post a pic just to make sure there isn't anything else going on, but in the meantime here is my current enclosure set up:

 

[ascott]

To start, I am really sorry for such a long post. I wanted to list everything out as much as possible to try and give the clearest picture I can. Thank you to everyone and anyone for taking the time to read through it all.

****

BASICS:

• Millie is a 3 month old RT I bought from Tortoise Supply. She came on Wednesday 9/23.

• I am using a set up as close as I can get it to the RT baby care sheet, except I am still working on making a tank topper and at the moment still have plastic wrap over the open areas to try and hold in my humidity. (I bought the plexiglass for the top, I have just never used it before, so have been watching youtube tutorials for the past couple days trying to figure it out)

• Basking end is running somewhere between 90 - 100 with a Zoomed Powersun 100w, I am constantly trying to get this right but it is fluctuating quite a bit. The light is on for 12 hours a day.

• Middle area is heated with a CHE plugged into a Hydrofarm Thermostat set to 80, and sits pretty consistently in the lower-to-mid 80's. There is a hide provided but she doesn't use it (I bought the one TS recommended but I think it might be too small, I ordered a bigger one that will be here Wednesday)

• Cool area sits in the lower-to-mid 70's.

• Humidity is ranging anywhere from 70 - 95%. I'm hoping this will stabilize once I finish the top. I bought a ReptiFogger 2 days ago to help with the humidity in the meantime.

**Note - I had been spraying constantly and getting up early when her light came on to soak her, but the morning humidity levels were hitting around 45-55%, so it was drying out some overnight. I bought the humidifier to try and stabilize this. I also bought another lamp stand to replace the clamp light that was holding the CHE, and that changed up how that area was heated. This was 2 days ago, and all of those changes really messed with my temps, so I basically had to start all over.

• Night-time temps have been somewhere in the 70's, it's been varying a bit but not dropping below 70.

• Millie is getting 2 soaks a day at about 20 minutes each. I've compared the look of her shell to other example pics on the forums and she seems well hydrated.

***THE ISSUES***

FOOD:

At first she ate and stomped around her enclosure without issue. We were able to give her a bit of kale and dandelion and it seemed like she ate a good bit the first day of her arrival. (she had been delayed by UPS and in shipment for 2 days instead of the planned overnight)

Since then, her appetite has been steadily decreasing until taking nothing today. She has still been incredibly active, so I was trying to stay calm and thought perhaps she was just taking a few days to settle in.

We have tried her on dandelion, kale, turnip greens, chicory and chard. I also offered mashed Zoomed Grassland Tortoise Food one day. She ignored everything but the dandelion, chicory and kale, and mostly went for the kale.

Today my shipment from Tortoise Supply arrived containing cactus pads and herbal hay. I offered this but no go.

EYES:

Since the day she arrived, Millie has been slow to open her eyes in her morning bath. It takes about 10 minutes of soaking before she finally opens them. Once she is "awake", however, she becomes very active and resumes said stomping--though her food intake was low.

I read in the forums that this could be from dehydration, and today I will say that with the fogger running overnight, her eyes were open for the first time when I went to get her this morning.

I also took a suggestion this morning that her basking area sit around 100 degrees to help encourage her to eat (it had been somewhere between 90-95). The only way I could get the temps up was to lower the light. I measured a bit ago and I'd lowered it to 9.5" from the substrate, instead of the recommended 12".

Today, however, after being normal for most of the day, her eyes suddenly closed and wouldn't open again. Her activity level didn't change, so basically she was stomping around her enclosure blind. I freaked out and ran to get carrot baby food and immediately soaked her. Her eyes opened to slits a few times but that's it. She didn't really dig down like she has been to go to sleep, so I covered her some.

Then, about an hour ago, we saw she was up and moving about her enclosure again. All other days, she's put herself to bed around 4pm and stayed there. When I checked, her eyes were still closed. Another baby food soak, and I dug her a burrow and covered her up, and she's stayed there so far.

***

I found an old thread where both @Tom and @Yvonne G said the eyes were the first sign of a problem in the enclosure.

I did purchase Terramycin to have on hand, but I don't feel like this is an infection. I think I am messing something up. I just don't know what.

Again, so sorry for the long post. I have scoured past threads for days but I am at a loss. If her eyes are still closed in the morning, I will post a pic just to make sure there isn't anything else going on, but in the meantime here is my current enclosure set up:

View attachment 150401 View attachment 150400

May I ask why you are using seran wrap to cover the top? I would use foil instead. Also, with the extremely high levels of humidity you are forcing the tortoise to live in, I would not let the temp drop below 80 at night..some will disagree, but I would also dissgree with wet and cool environment at night...what type/shape is the bulb in the black fixture? You said you moved a bulb down to 9.5 inches instead of 12. Inch recommended? What bulb have you moved that close? You may have a tortoise experiencing burned little eyeballs from the close bulb...

 

[Nephelle]

May I ask why you are using seran wrap to cover the top? I would use foil instead. Also, with the extremely high levels of humidity you are forcing the tortoise to live in, I would not let the temp drop below 80 at night..some will disagree, but I would also dissgree with wet and cool environment at night...what type/shape is the bulb in the black fixture? You said you moved a bulb down to 9.5 inches instead of 12. Inch recommended? What bulb have you moved that close? You may have a tortoise experiencing burned little eyeballs from the close bulb...

I honestly hadn't thought to use foil. I had planned on using the lid for that container, but it broke when I was trying to cut it. I went for plastic wrap because it seemed like it would hold in the moisture better in the meantime. If I use foil instead, can I wrap it around the lights some to try and enclose the top better?

I had wondered about the wet/cool environment at night, especially since she is not using her hide at the recommended 80 degrees as planned.

The bulb in the black dome is a Zoomed Powersun 100w. Up until today it was sitting at the recommended height, just today I dropped it to 9.5".

I just ran across another old thread that suggested the temps fluctuating could be an issue? I have been struggling to keep them consistent but the changes with the humidifier and new stand 2 days ago has made that harder.

 

[dmmj]

when you have high hhumidity you cannot let the temperature dropped to 70 @ night time. with the eyes and loss of appetite I suspect an RI is developing. keep that night time temperature up for now

 

[Nephelle]

when you have high hhumidity you cannot let the temperature dropped to 70 @ night time. with the eyes and loss of appetite I suspect an RI is developing. keep that night time temperature up for now

I just pulled off the plastic and topped it with foil. The temp was sitting at 77 when I did that and is now moving slowly up. I will stay up with it tonight and make sure it is steady.

I should have asked yesterday when I felt something was off

I am doing the carrot baby food soaks. I've seen mentions of pedialite into the soak water. Should I get that for the morning, or is there anything else I can do to help her fight it off, if it is an RI?

 

[ascott]

I honestly hadn't thought to use foil. I had planned on using the lid for that container, but it broke when I was trying to cut it. I went for plastic wrap because it seemed like it would hold in the moisture better in the meantime. If I use foil instead, can I wrap it around the lights some to try and enclose the top better?

I had wondered about the wet/cool environment at night, especially since she is not using her hide at the recommended 80 degrees as planned.

The bulb in the black dome is a Zoomed Powersun 100w. Up until today it was sitting at the recommended height, just today I dropped it to 9.5".

I just ran across another old thread that suggested the temps fluctuating could be an issue? I have been struggling to keep them consistent but the changes with the humidifier and new stand 2 days ago has made that harder.

Foil is a bit stiffer so I think it will hold where you want it to better....and yes, you can wrap the foil around the light fixtures if you find it necessary. I am thinking that you should raise that uv/heat bulb back up to the 12 inch min distance to allow a break to the little ones eyeballs...and if you are still needing warmth you could move that che over a touch closer to the hot spot which will likely offset to achieve the temp you are seeking....just a side question, does the tortoise bask under that hot spot or does the tort avoid the spot? Are the torts eyes swollen along with closed or simply closed? I also am curious why you are attempting to keep the humidity so high? Don't get me wrong, humidity is important, just as air, food, basking, uv rays are all each as important...but that seems kind of high for a constant closed in level of humidity for this species of tortoise...now, if the tort has a high humidity area that is maintained at he excessive level as well as a cooer dry place, then the tort can utilize each as he needs to, the more micro climates the better.

Have you gently flushed the torts eyes with water to help soothe them while you are getting your set up right? I would really concentrate on getting some level of steady warmth for the tort, it is so very important...

 

[dmmj]

baby food sucks and Pedialyte to help keep getting nutrition into him while he's not eating. you might also want to get liquid bird vitamins from the pet store.

 

[ascott]

I just pulled off the plastic and topped it with foil. The temp was sitting at 77 when I did that and is now moving slowly up. I will stay up with it tonight and make sure it is steady.

I should have asked yesterday when I felt something was off

I am doing the carrot baby food soaks. I've seen mentions of pedialite into the soak water. Should I get that for the morning, or is there anything else I can do to help her fight it off, if it is an RI?

I personally would let the humidity drop a bit right now and be sure to keep the tank warm, no less than 80....if a RI is suspect, then even bumping the temp to closer to 83 would be beneficial...the idea behind bumping the heat is that a torts system works better when it is warm, so to get the system at optimum fighting capacity, warm is necessary...not so hot as to over heat but warm and no cool temp drop for night...I would also let the tort be for a little, I understand the carrot soaks purpose but sometimes calm and quiet is alright too....a tortoise naturally wants to sleep/rest in the night hours...

 

[ascott]

I just pulled off the plastic and topped it with foil. The temp was sitting at 77 when I did that and is now moving slowly up. I will stay up with it tonight and make sure it is steady.

I should have asked yesterday when I felt something was off

I am doing the carrot baby food soaks. I've seen mentions of pedialite into the soak water. Should I get that for the morning, or is there anything else I can do to help her fight it off, if it is an RI?

Tomorrow may we see a pic of the tortoise ...if the eyes are still affected poorly a picture helps...

 

[Nephelle]

Foil is a bit stiffer so I think it will hold where you want it to better....and yes, you can wrap the foil around the light fixtures if you find it necessary. I am thinking that you should raise that uv/heat bulb back up to the 12 inch min distance to allow a break to the little ones eyeballs...and if you are still needing warmth you could move that che over a touch closer to the hot spot which will likely offset to achieve the temp you are seeking....just a side question, does the tortoise bask under that hot spot or does the tort avoid the spot? Are the torts eyes swollen along with closed or simply closed? I also am curious why you are attempting to keep the humidity so high? Don't get me wrong, humidity is important, just as air, food, basking, uv rays are all each as important...but that seems kind of high for a constant closed in level of humidity for this species of tortoise...now, if the tort has a high humidity area that is maintained at he excessive level as well as a cooer dry place, then the tort can utilize each as he needs to, the more micro climates the better.

Have you gently flushed the torts eyes with water to help soothe them while you are getting your set up right? I would really concentrate on getting some level of steady warmth for the tort, it is so very important...

I topped it with foil and the temp improved almost immediately. I'm going to watch it to make sure I didn't create an oven in there, thank you for the temp recommendations, that gives me a number to shoot for.

She has been basking under the hot spot regularly, and has been burying herself to sleep on that side of the enclosure at night....which probably means it was too cold and I just didn't realize it.

I am not 100% sure if her eyes are swollen or not. We were trying to compare pictures of them open that we took a couple days ago, but it's hard to tell. I think they might be slightly swollen. I was trying to reference some pictures from the forum on swollen eyes, but if they are, they aren't as bad as the pictures I found. I used a wet q-tip to gently wipe down her eyes earlier, because she had a bit of substrate stuck to her face. That is the best way I could think to do it. I will absolutely take pictures in the morning and post them.

The humidity and the enclosure problems are 100% me being completely new to this, and trying to absorb all this new information. The baby RT care sheet says 80% or over (and several old RT threads have said that it "can't be too high"), but I know Tom's care sheet also says it can be quite a bit lower, so I wasn't sure which to follow.

I think I am getting a better understanding of what I did wrong here. I turned the entire enclosure into a humid hide instead of just one spot, but then followed the recommendation for RT's that the temps drop at night. This is completely my fault and my inexperience, I just hope I can turn it around.

I am really mad at myself for not checking in with my enclosure set up a couple days ago, I should have asked for an evaluation of my set up before tonight.

I won't wake her up to soak her again until tomorrow morning when the basking light comes back on. I soaked her twice today because she woke herself up and was wandering about, but she's down now and I will leave her and work on my temps until morning.

I will add Pedialite to the soak water and run to the pet store in the am for bird antibiotics as well.

@ascott and @dmmj - Thank you both so so much for walking me through this. I am so lucky you both are up tonight to answer my post. I will keep you updated.

 

[Nephelle]

Update 7:50am -

She woke herself up and crawled out of the little nest I put her in last night. Her eyes are still closed. She is moving around but not as much as yesterday.

I hope this picture is clear enough, my phone was giving me issues getting in up close and I didn't want to keep messing with her to try for a closer one.

We are headed out right now for Pedialite and bird antibiotics.

 

[Nephelle]

Update 9:45am -

We got back to find a tiny tortoise looking back at us. So relieved I can't even say. We fed her and she's sampling...not hard eating but definitely up and about! After yesterday, I'll take it!!

More questions...

I bought Pedialite and more carrot baby food at the drugstore. Then we went to Petco and I hunted through their very limited reptile selection and found eye drops for turtles and a bird multivitamin (pics below). I got both, but I don't want to over-dose her or use anything I shouldn't.

I will keep up the carrot baths until she is eating steadily. Should I be mixing in the Pedialite with them, along with the bird multivitamins, or is that overkill? And, are the turtle eye drops something I might want on hand, or should I take them back?

I know this isn't over, and my enclosure still needs work. I will go back and reread both @biochemnerd808 and @Tom 's care sheets once again to try and see where I can make improvements and what I did wrong that got me to this point.

For now, though, this exhausted, up all night tortoise mom is going to go take a nap with a much lighter heart.

Thank you so much for helping me through last night and giving me the tools to make my baby better!!!

 

[ascott]

Update 9:45am -

We got back to find a tiny tortoise looking back at us. So relieved I can't even say. We fed her and she's sampling...not hard eating but definitely up and about! After yesterday, I'll take it!!

More questions...

I bought Pedialite and more carrot baby food at the drugstore. Then we went to Petco and I hunted through their very limited reptile selection and found eye drops for turtles and a bird multivitamin (pics below). I got both, but I don't want to over-dose her or use anything I shouldn't.

I will keep up the carrot baths until she is eating steadily. Should I be mixing in the Pedialite with them, along with the bird multivitamins, or is that overkill? And, are the turtle eye drops something I might want on hand, or should I take them back?

I know this isn't over, and my enclosure still needs work. I will go back and reread both @biochemnerd808 and @Tom 's care sheets once again to try and see where I can make improvements and what I did wrong that got me to this point.

For now, though, this exhausted, up all night tortoise mom is going to go take a nap with a much lighter heart.

Thank you so much for helping me through last night and giving me the tools to make my baby better!!!

View attachment 150437 View attachment 150438

You did good!!! Tenacity is a fabulous thing....so lets take note of what I think you actually did?; you have found a way in which to stabilize the overall temp by tinkering with the material as the cover? and then raised the uv rays to their recommended height? You may have handled two issues that have immediate affect on the tort...with your soaks in the interim the tortoise has remained hydrated and some nutrition taken in, good diversion and hope all now levels out some. Now you can decide what micro climates you have space to offer...keep in mind that access to humidity is necessary just the same as access to dry out some is just as necessary...this is a species that does enjoy a night cool down, but a drier night cool down. Wet and cool is a bad combination.

Finally, take a deep breath and do not beat yourself up too much more, you did that already now move on... you will get it, just remember that there are basics that have to be at play when housing a tortoise--they need warmth, varied uv exposure--more/less depending on the species of tort, food, access to humidity, water, hiding places and the same attention paid to the night environment set up to allow the tort the ability to regulate resting temp and a sense of security in the places they have to choose from to sleep...cute tort by the way...

 

[ascott]

Update 9:45am -

We got back to find a tiny tortoise looking back at us. So relieved I can't even say. We fed her and she's sampling...not hard eating but definitely up and about! After yesterday, I'll take it!!

More questions...

I bought Pedialite and more carrot baby food at the drugstore. Then we went to Petco and I hunted through their very limited reptile selection and found eye drops for turtles and a bird multivitamin (pics below). I got both, but I don't want to over-dose her or use anything I shouldn't.

I will keep up the carrot baths until she is eating steadily. Should I be mixing in the Pedialite with them, along with the bird multivitamins, or is that overkill? And, are the turtle eye drops something I might want on hand, or should I take them back?

I know this isn't over, and my enclosure still needs work. I will go back and reread both @biochemnerd808 and @Tom 's care sheets once again to try and see where I can make improvements and what I did wrong that got me to this point.

For now, though, this exhausted, up all night tortoise mom is going to go take a nap with a much lighter heart.

Thank you so much for helping me through last night and giving me the tools to make my baby better!!!

View attachment 150437 View attachment 150438

Oh yeah, the turtle eye drops usually purchased in the pet stop are high in vitamin a, which is fine, but I believe you will find that one you are spot on with your set up the tort will have also resolved the eye issue....I personally would gently flush the eyes with tepid water, you can do this by getting a small clean squeeze bottle and gently flushing around and over the eye..I would ask Captain (dmmj) about his practical use with the bird vitamins as I have not used them, nor the pedialyte. I only know about the eye drops through a few conversations I have had with others that have used them and then some follow up research on the product....

 

[Tom]

It appears to me that you've made a couple of mistakes here. Not saying this to be mean or hurtful, but to help solve the problems.

We all make recommendations based on what has worked for us. When you mix advice from two different sources you are putting together combinations of untested elements. It seems that you've already realized this...

I would not keep a temperate species at tropical humidity levels. I don't like humidifiers for tropical species, so I would certainly never recommend one for a temperate species. Russians, DTs and other temperate species do not need the higher humidity levels that sulcatas, stars or red foots need. Damp substrate, a humid hide, and partially covering the top should be sufficient in most situations to provide enough humidity for a russian tortoise. Shell spraying and regular soaks won't hurt either. Under these conditions I have always let my night temps drop into the high 60's for russians and never seen an issue. I would not use a humidifier for a russian, but if I did, I would not let night temps drop.

I've not seen you mention what the humidity levels are in your enclosure. Do you know? I'll bet levels are high enough without a humidifier. For russians, I shoot for ambient humidity of 50-70%. In most cases a humidifier will not be needed to achieve this. With the damp substrate and a humid hide, they can make their own little micro climates. My suggestion would be to see where your humidity is, stop using the humidifier and cover more or less of the top depending on what readings you get.

The second issue I see is your MVB placement. At 12" all of the ones that I've used were too hot. I usually mount them around 14-18". At 9", I would guess that UV levels were to eye. MVBs make a lot of UV, so putting one too close could potentially cause the problem you are seeing. Baby food soaks and time should solve this problem. I would not use antibiotics as there is no sign of any bacterial infection here. You have a mechanical injury that will simply take time to heal, if this is your issue. Antibiotics could mess things up in the GI tract and complicate your problems.

For a healthy russian housed as I describe in the care sheet, I night drop in temp is good for them. In the case of a sick one, I would suggest keeping it a little warmer. Once you get him back to health, and get your temperature and humidity issues sorted out, I would suggest using one bulb on a 12 hour timer and nothing at night.

Please ask any and all questions you have for more clarification on any of these points. Also be aware that Ascott has never raised or housed a russian of any age, nor has she ever raised a baby of any species. She has never elaborated to me what her advice is based upon. Just want you and anyone reading to be aware of that.

David, dmmj, has lots of russian experience and has raised several babies that I know of, of multiple species.

Experience level seems relevant in a case like this...

 

[Nephelle]

Thank you so much everyone for all the advice. I will keep saying that probably for years to come

First, as a quick update...my baby ate! And not just ate, but ate like she hasn't for, well...days! She was very active today, eyes open, and marched around her enclosure eating dandelion and her live plants to the point I had to add more. She buried herself down as usual and is now sound asleep. I will keep up the baby food soaks until I am positive we are over this hump AND until my enclosure has been finished and approved.

Please do not ever worry about me thinking the advice I get here would be mean or hurtful. I am so grateful for all the help and kindness I am being shown again and again. I will NEVER put my own feelings before the health and well-being of my animals--if I am wrong, I want to be told as quickly and clearly as possible so I can fix the problem.

That said, I thought I would list out the things I know, now, that I did wrong, so that any future person who has waded this far into my panic-stricken thread might be able to avoid my mistakes.

1 - In my quest to know EVERYTHING in a very short amount of time, I read through many, many threads with differing opinions. I then sourced from several different places and kind of mashed it all together. This was 100% wrong. Pick one care sheet and stick with it. In my information overload and a genuinely well-meant but misplaced effort to do the very best for my baby, I made her sick instead. I went back and read through @Tom 's care sheet, and I will be modifying my enclosure (I will start another thread for that tonight or in the morning, Tom, before this gets too cluttered--thank you for being willing to answer my questions!!) to match his recommendations.

2 - One of the most consistent recommendations on this forum for tortoises that I have found, is to keep them well-hydrated. This makes sense, as I am a big advocate of a big glass of water fixing most minor ailments--anyone who has ever watered a wilted plant can see how important this is to life. HOWEVER, as @ascott mentioned above, there are many different factors that come into play when building a healthy environment. I got caught up in the importance of humidity and went way, way overboard--again, most likely making my baby sick. I can see how this could happen easily with anything--lights, substrate, enclosure, diet. From now on, balance will be my goal.

While I know there are many differing opinions and methods of care to be found here, I am also deeply grateful to everyone who takes the time to respond to questions in such caring and helpful ways. Last night I was literally in tears, on the verge of a panic-attack thinking that I had damaged this tiny creature in my care. Luckily, @dmmj and @ascott were there to talk me down, answer my questions, and get us through the night.

 

[ascott]

Thank you so much everyone for all the advice. I will keep saying that probably for years to come

First, as a quick update...my baby ate! And not just ate, but ate like she hasn't for, well...days! She was very active today, eyes open, and marched around her enclosure eating dandelion and her live plants to the point I had to add more. She buried herself down as usual and is now sound asleep. I will keep up the baby food soaks until I am positive we are over this hump AND until my enclosure has been finished and approved.

Please do not ever worry about me thinking the advice I get here would be mean or hurtful. I am so grateful for all the help and kindness I am being shown again and again. I will NEVER put my own feelings before the health and well-being of my animals--if I am wrong, I want to be told as quickly and clearly as possible so I can fix the problem.

That said, I thought I would list out the things I know, now, that I did wrong, so that any future person who has waded this far into my panic-stricken thread might be able to avoid my mistakes.

1 - In my quest to know EVERYTHING in a very short amount of time, I read through many, many threads with differing opinions. I then sourced from several different places and kind of mashed it all together. This was 100% wrong. Pick one care sheet and stick with it. In my information overload and a genuinely well-meant but misplaced effort to do the very best for my baby, I made her sick instead. I went back and read through @Tom 's care sheet, and I will be modifying my enclosure (I will start another thread for that tonight or in the morning, Tom, before this gets too cluttered--thank you for being willing to answer my questions!!) to match his recommendations.

2 - One of the most consistent recommendations on this forum for tortoises that I have found, is to keep them well-hydrated. This makes sense, as I am a big advocate of a big glass of water fixing most minor ailments--anyone who has ever watered a wilted plant can see how important this is to life. HOWEVER, as @ascott mentioned above, there are many different factors that come into play when building a healthy environment. I got caught up in the importance of humidity and went way, way overboard--again, most likely making my baby sick. I can see how this could happen easily with anything--lights, substrate, enclosure, diet. From now on, balance will be my goal.

While I know there are many differing opinions and methods of care to be found here, I am also deeply grateful to everyone who takes the time to respond to questions in such caring and helpful ways. Last night I was literally in tears, on the verge of a panic-attack thinking that I had damaged this tiny creature in my care. Luckily, @dmmj and @ascott were there to talk me down, answer my questions, and get us through the night.

I am so hapoy to hear you two are doing well...