Russian hatchling may be constipated. Please, help!

[victoria146]

Guys, you have already helped me out with the incubation things, now I really need you help with my Russian hatchling.
She hatched 10 days ago with almost no yolk sac. She weighed 14 grams upon getting out of the egg and gained 1 more gram a week after.
She spent 6 days in a brooder box with heat and a bit of UVB lamp and was offered all kinds of weeds, but ate almost nothing. During that time she was very active and wanted to get out of the box.
Then, I placed her in her current terrarium (so far it’s a small enclosure of 100cm/50cm, planning on making it bigger soon). It’s 32-33 C (89,5-91,4 F) degrees for the basking spot, 26 (78,8) «in the shade». + I use 12% Arcadia UVB. There are also stones on the busking spot (she usually stays on a flat one). Around the area of her plate there’s orchid bark, and the rest is a mix of orchid bark and coco coir (30/70%).

Humidity is around 50-60%.
I soak her every day in lukewarm water for 15-20 min (lately for 20-30min).

She does eat though, but only out of my hands and small amounts. But she bites stones with a greater appetite.
I give her plantain, mallow leaves and flowers, grape leaves, dandelion, clover, mulberries leaves, evening primrose, some rose petals, burdock leaves (those are weeds which I froze for winter for my other Russian torts). I don’t give them all at once, I make a mix of 4-5 types of weeds and cut them into small pieces.
She seems to be a strong baby, sometimes very active, but still most of the time she’s sleeping in her basking spot or in a small shadow made by a piece of wood.
She does not really explore her new enclosure, she has done it may be twice only. She falls asleep under the lights and I take her into her her «house» when the light is off. In the morning I have to uncover her house a bit so she could understand that’s time to wake up. Usually she wakes up after it, but still sometimes can stay there, sleeping
I’m really worried that she still hasn’t pooped

No poops during 6 days in the brooder box, no poops in her new enclosure. As I work at home and she stays almost in one place, I am 95% sure she hasn’t done it yet

How long can it take a hatchling to start eating normally and pooping?

I’ve read in the forum about steamed pumpkin as natural laxative... can this help?
Thank you all in advance!

 

[victoria146]

P.S. but today I saw as she peed in the water a bit, though

 

[KarenSoCal]

I can't help you with how long she can wait to go.

Spineless opuntia cactus is a great food for a laxative, but I'm sure it's not readily available in Russia!

Cucumber, aloe, and most any really wet foods can have that effect as well.

 

[Tom]

If you were using heat and UV, then it was a small enclosure, not a brooder box. My babies are eating a tone by day 7-10 in the brooder box, so this makes me think whatever you used wasn't such a good way to go.

What incubation media did you use?

Babies can take 10-14 days for the food to go through their GI tract and start making poops regularly. This would take longer if the baby wasn't eating for some reason. If you are soaking daily, then the tortoise will likely make poop in the soak water. For a single tiny baby this would be just a tiny speck or two of debris in the soak water, and you might miss it entirely, or think it was some substrate stuck to the tortoise floating in the water.

Basking temperature needs to be closer to 36-37 C.

How close to the tortoise is the Arcadia 12% bulb?

You coco coir needs to be firmly and packed. Its much too fluffy.

 

[nicoleann2214]

Guys, you have already helped me out with the incubation things, now I really need you help with my Russian hatchling.
She hatched 10 days ago with almost no yolk sac. She weighed 14 grams upon getting out of the egg and gained 1 more gram a week after.
She spent 6 days in a brooder box with heat and a bit of UVB lamp and was offered all kinds of weeds, but ate almost nothing. During that time she was very active and wanted to get out of the box.
Then, I placed her in her current terrarium (so far it’s a small enclosure of 100cm/50cm, planning on making it bigger soon). It’s 32-33 C (89,5-91,4 F) degrees for the basking spot, 26 (78,8) «in the shade». + I use 12% Arcadia UVB. There are also stones on the busking spot (she usually stays on a flat one). Around the area of her plate there’s orchid bark, and the rest is a mix of orchid bark and coco coir (30/70%).

Humidity is around 50-60%.
I soak her every day in lukewarm water for 15-20 min (lately for 20-30min).

She does eat though, but only out of my hands and small amounts. But she bites stones with a greater appetite.
I give her plantain, mallow leaves and flowers, grape leaves, dandelion, clover, mulberries leaves, evening primrose, some rose petals, burdock leaves (those are weeds which I froze for winter for my other Russian torts). I don’t give them all at once, I make a mix of 4-5 types of weeds and cut them into small pieces.
She seems to be a strong baby, sometimes very active, but still most of the time she’s sleeping in her basking spot or in a small shadow made by a piece of wood.
She does not really explore her new enclosure, she has done it may be twice only. She falls asleep under the lights and I take her into her her «house» when the light is off. In the morning I have to uncover her house a bit so she could understand that’s time to wake up. Usually she wakes up after it, but still sometimes can stay there, sleeping
I’m really worried that she still hasn’t pooped

No poops during 6 days in the brooder box, no poops in her new enclosure. As I work at home and she stays almost in one place, I am 95% sure she hasn’t done it yet

How long can it take a hatchling to start eating normally and pooping?

I’ve read in the forum about steamed pumpkin as natural laxative... can this help?
Thank you all in advance!

View attachment 317164View attachment 317165View attachment 317166View attachment 317167

He’s so cute!!!!

 

[KarenSoCal]

That's an excellent picture of him in a spoon! A perfect size reference.

 

[victoria146]

Thank you everyone for answering!

@Tom it’s a bit of relief to known that it can take up to 10-14 days.
Thank you for all the recommendations, I will adjust it all in the terrarium.

The Arcadia 12% is a T8 bulb hung 20cm above the tort. It’s not a very new one, it had been in use in another terrarium for 8 month prior to it.

I used vermiculite for the incubation media,and the tort was removed from there the moment I saw her hatching face. But she started hatching maybe half a centimetre below the substrate surface, so I think may be had eaten some vermiculite (?)

Yesterday she peed with a good amount of urate (not sure of the name for it, this white mass like toothpaste). So I guess that’s a good sign?

Also, could you please comment on the thing that she’s sleepy most of the time, and only when I touch her and interact with her, like bathing or offering her food, does she become active for some time.. is it normal for babies? She eats basically only when I offer her sth, so today she hasn’t eaten anything. She didn’t try to look for food and I decided not to give her anything today for the reason I’ll explain below.
Can the climate outside affect her? It’s winter in Russia, but inside the flat it’s 80 F degrees (27C)..


@KarenSoCal thank you, too, Karen! I tried giving her some melon, and also I tried lettuce (at least she ate it more willingly than the weeds I had tried before), I also put lots of calcium and Arcadia earth pro on it so it wouldn’t be just lettuce.... but after it she got kinda swollen in the area between the knees an the carapace.. is it because of watery food..?

 

[Tom]

Thank you everyone for answering!

@Tom it’s a bit of relief to known that it can take up to 10-14 days.
Thank you for all the recommendations, I will adjust it all in the terrarium.

The Arcadia 12% is a T8 bulb hung 20cm above the tort. It’s not a very new one, it had been in use in another terrarium for 8 month prior to it.

I used vermiculite for the incubation media,and the tort was removed from there the moment I saw her hatching face. But she started hatching maybe half a centimetre below the substrate surface, so I think may be had eaten some vermiculite (?)

Yesterday she peed with a good amount of urate (not sure of the name for it, this white mass like toothpaste). So I guess that’s a good sign?

Also, could you please comment on the thing that she’s sleepy most of the time, and only when I touch her and interact with her, like bathing or offering her food, does she become active for some time.. is it normal for babies? She eats basically only when I offer her sth, so today she hasn’t eaten anything. She didn’t try to look for food and I decided not to give her anything today for the reason I’ll explain below.
Can the climate outside affect her? It’s winter in Russia, but inside the flat it’s 80 F degrees (27C)..


@KarenSoCal thank you, too, Karen! I tried giving her some melon, and also I tried lettuce (at least she ate it more willingly than the weeds I had tried before), I also put lots of calcium and Arcadia earth pro on it so it wouldn’t be just lettuce.... but after it she got kinda swollen in the area between the knees an the carapace.. is it because of watery food..?

The first thing that catches my eye is the 12% bulb at 20cm. It should be somewhere around 45-50cm for that type of bulb. 20cm is WAAAAYYYYY too close. Do you have a UV meter?

Vermiculite is an ideal incubation media, and they always ingest a little bit of it. It passes through and does no harm. All of my hatchlings of all species will have tiny little flecks of vermiculite in their first few bowel movements.

Its unusual for them to pass urates at such a small size and so soon after hatching. That you are soaking daily, which is perfect, makes it even more unexpected. Nothing to do about that but keep doing the daily soaks.

At 14-15 grams, the baby isn't going to eat all that much food. It might even be hard to tell any is missing.

You coco coir needs to be packed down, and I'd increase the basking temp a little. Raise up the HO bulb a bunch and then I'll bet the baby will be fine.

The climate outside does affect them, even when temps are warm. Light quality and light duration through the windows tells their bodies its time to hibernate. Adding some light from an LED in the 5000-6500K color range, and increasing light duration to 13-14 hours will sometimes help.

 

[victoria146]

@Tom thank you very much, Tom!
I’ve started making all the adjustments to the terrarium as you said.
I don’t have a UV metre but I will put it higher.
Thank you once again! I will keep you posted on the progress ?

 

[KarenSoCal]

@KarenSoCal thank you, too, Karen! I tried giving her some melon, and also I tried lettuce (at least she ate it more willingly than the weeds I had tried before), I also put lots of calcium and Arcadia earth pro on it so it wouldn’t be just lettuce.... but after it she got kinda swollen in the area between the knees an the carapace.. is it because of watery food..?

That sounds like she is retaining water, but you said she peed. Hopefully it is a temporary side effect of eating lots of water. Did the swelling go down? Keep an eye on that since fluid retention can indicate kidney failure. But that would be more than only her "thighs".

 

[victoria146]

@Tom , @KarenSoCal , thank you once again for everything you told me. She has POOPED today!
There was no vermiculite (at least nothing solid), only weeds (if it’s interesting to anybody ?)

I never thought I would be so happy to see excrements?

The swelling did go down a bit, I’ll keep an eye on that, thank you.

I boosted the temps up to 36-37 and I think that helped or maybe it was just the time ..

So she gained some energy and even went to her plate herself and for the first time ate without me!!

Thank you all once again from both of us! ?