Sudden tortoise death

[TonyTheTortLover3107]

My 8 month old sulcata tortoise suddenly died this morning. His temperature was always 85 or higher and his humidity was also always above 50.
I feed him everyday and refilled his water everyday. This morning I saw him walking around fine and then when I misted his enclosure I noticed he didn’t react. I then picked him up and he was just dead. I dont know what I did wrong. He did seem a little lethargic these past 2 weeks. Can someone help me find out why he just died?

 

[wellington]

Humidity should have been 80% and what was the basking temp? Basking should have been 95-100. Without proper basking, he can't digest his food and insides won't work properly
Sorry for your loss.
If you decide to get another tortoise, please read our carsheets. I'm thinking you got some bad info.

 

[TonyTheTortLover3107]

Humidity should have been 80% and what was the basking temp? Basking should have been 95-100. Without proper basking, he can't digest his food and insides won't work properly
Sorry for your loss.
If you decide to get another tortoise, please read our carsheets. I'm thinking you got some bad info.

Basking was 100 the other side of his enclosure was 85

 

[Tom]

Basking was 100 the other side of his enclosure was 85

How much did he weigh?
Where did you get him?
What substrate was he on?

 

[TonyTheTortLover3107]

How much did he weigh?
Where did you get him?
What substrate was he on?

I didnt ever weigh him, however I got him in march and he was on a mix of cypress mulch and coconut coir with some spagnum moss here and there.

 

[Tom]

I didnt ever weigh him, however I got him in march and he was on a mix of cypress mulch and coconut coir with some spagnum moss here and there.

Just trying to help you figure out what went wrong.

Almost no one starts them correctly, so where did you get it?

Can you give an approximate size? One inch, four inches, etc...

Was it a dry open topped enclosure, of a warm humid closed chamber?

How often did you soak the tortoise?

Sphagnum moss will be eaten over time and it can cause intestinal impaction and slowly kill them. It should not be used in tortoise enclosures.

 

[TonyTheTortLover3107]

Just trying to help you figure out what went wrong.

Almost no one starts them correctly, so where did you get it?

Can you give an approximate size? One inch, four inches, etc...

Was it a dry open topped enclosure, of a warm humid closed chamber?

How often did you soak the tortoise?

Sphagnum moss will be eaten over time and it can cause intestinal impaction and slowly kill them. It should not be used in tortoise enclosures.

Oh man I got it at LLLreptile store and I bought him moss because they said it would help keep the humidity. He was like 5 inches, and it was opened enclosure, I soaked him once every 2 days. I always made sure he had water too.

 

[TammyJ]

I am very sorry your little tortoise didn't make it. There may be many reasons for this. He may have been started wrong, been sickly or had a disease from before you got him and would probably have died anyway, even if you had come here first and gotten the correct care information and had been keeping him properly. He may have been severely dehydrated, or he may have eaten something toxic, or he may have been exposed to harmful extremes of temperature or toxic fumes or spray...or any combination of all those. Really, people teach new owners a lot of very wrong and sometimes deadly information about tortoise care. It's very unfortunate, and on this forum we try to help owners understand and follow the most up to date, tested and proven ways to keep them so that their tortoises grow healthy and thrive as they should.

 

[Sarah2020]

Sorry for your loss, tortoise may of had internal underlying issues that were not visible. I suggest you read the care sheet https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/info-for-new-people-please-read-this-first.202363/post-2036954
I can not find the specific sulcata one but this is a good one.

Then decide if you want a other there are breeders on this forum.
Deep clean the enc and accessories before introducing a new tortoise. FYI.. They grow into tanks are you ready for a bull dozer tortoise?