sick baby leo please help

[timtamthetortoise]

we got our baby leopard tortoise 2 weeks ago, it's about 2.5 inches and 36g. we took it to a vet to see if everything was okay, the tortoise was active and was checked out to be healthy. we originally had it in a 3 ft x 2 ft tortoise table, but we were having difficulty maintaining proper heat and humidity. we then changed the enclosure to a rubbermaid 16in x 24in container with cypress mulch a reptifogger humidifier and a zoo med powersun lamp with UVA/UVB. temperatures stay within 85-95F, humidity around 80%.

timtam has stopped eating since sunday. it didn't eat much to begin with, but seemed to sleep a lot with bursts of energy. it has pooped every day, the last bowel movement was yesterday morning, nothing today. starting monday i noticed its right eye was a little swollen but would open up just fine after a soak. but today its eyes will not open at all unless it is in a warm soak, extremely lethargic, has not pooped, will not eat or drink.

since monday we have been giving it baby food carrot soaks every day in addition to warm water soaks several times a day.

we probably cannot get to a vet until tomorrow afternoon. what can we do to help our tortoise until then? thank you for your help

 

[Dizisdalife]

What maintains the temperatures when the PowerSun lamp is off? If the temps have been cooler than 80F at night then a URI might be under way. Until you get him to a Vet try keeping him at a constant 85F. Keep up the soakings too. I wouldn't let the Vet give him a vitamin injection. I have read many times that they can be very bad for a tortoise.

 

[wellington]

The temps with humidity should never go below 80. If you are using a coil bulb, get rid of it, they cause eye problems. At this point, raise the temps, day and night to 85 with the basking still being 95+. Also, be sure you have a good gauge for reading temps and humidity. The little disc things you usually buy from pet stores are not accurate. Not now, but when/if he pulls out of this and gets better, he needs a much bigger enclosure then a 16"x24". You can try adding some piedialyte to his warm water baby food soaks. Good luck, home all turns out well for the both of you.

 

[timtamthetortoise]

thank you both for your speedy replies. we took Tim tam to the vet this morning and the little guy has a RI we have been given Excede inj to give every day for a month. vet says the tort may have gotten it while being transported to us, but we are definitely reworking our enclosure to be safe. no coil bulb, but we do have a UV night time bulb that keeps temperatures about 80-85F at night. the Rubbermaid bin was meant to be temporary and Tim tam has only been in there for maybe 4 days. we're keeping our guy warm and giving warm soaks.

I did have a question though. has anyone had experience with pedialyte soaks? would you recommend it? we've tried carrot baby food and warm water soaks only. the vet suggested low sodium V8 soaks. thank you again for your help

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oh! & we're going out today to get a better temperature and humidity gauge, because we DO have the dinky little disc gauge right now whoops :/ thanks for the suggestion!

 

[wellington]

I have not had to use the piedialyte soaks, but is recommended in some cases and will not hurt. Flavorless. I would also pick up a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) for night time heat. They are cheap, last forever and do not give off light, only heat. It's also good to put it on a thermostat. The thermostat will maintain the CHE at a temp you set, 80.
Incase you haven't read it yet, check out Toms threads below for raising your leopard with proper temps and humidity.
Good luck, hope your baby recovers quickly.

 

[Laura]

get rid of the humidifier until he is better. you can still have humid areas, moist dirt etc.. but to much moisture and not warm enough.. not good.