Sulcata Hatchling Sick

Cassidy Dixon

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I will try to be as detailed as possible but here is step by step the turn of events since Friday when my sulcata hatchling arrived.

Tuesday- ordered it. Ask breeder if 30 degree night temps here in Kansas will be a problem shipping. "Sure no problem I have heat packs for this. It will be just fine" I put in notes on purchase order that night temps have been 30 here.


Friday- It arrives. He shipped it Fed ex overnight. It showed up about 1:30 in the after noon. Box had one sticker on it that was hard to read saying "live animal inside keep away from hot or cold" The box was 55 degrees inside when I opened it. Tortoise had all legs and arms stuck out and was not moving much. His shell was 55 degrees and he felt cold. I put him in 1/4" of room temperature water. After 5 minutes he was moving around and walking in the little dish. I then soaked him in water that was 88 degrees for about 10 minutes. He was very alive then and seemed fine.
I then put him in his enclosure. Under heat lamp the rock surface temperature is 95-100. On the cold side it is 70. He was walking around fine and ate some Romain lettuce. He was then sitting there breathing hard and had snot bubbles coming from his nose. Eyes look fine no signs of problems there yet.
I then put a 250 watt red heat lamp bulb about the enclosure on one side to boost the temps. Now surface temps are 100 on left side on rock, 78 in the middle (85 in his house) and 85 under the red heat lamp. He usually sits where its about 80 and goes in his house 50% of the time.
At night I only run one heat lamp with a night time bulb in it. This is in corner over grass. surface temps are 85. Then the cold side it is 68. He always stays under the heat lamp at night.
Friday- put him in dish and set him in the sun on my shop floor. I opened the window and removed the screen so it was unfiltered sun light. He sat in the sun for a total of 40 minutes 20 being in water 1/4 deep. His shell temp was 87 while sitting in the sun.
Saturday he ate chopped up grass clippings with Mazuri crushed up sprinkled on it. He ate like a champ. I moved his entire enclosure into the sun and opened the door. surface temps were 85 or so and his shell was 87. He got about 2 hours of sunlight before he then went in his house. I then put it all back under the heat lamps and am still using the large red light for extra heat.
My wife picked up some Aureomycin powder from the local Valley vet supply. Our local vet said she does not have time to mess with a tortoise. I mixed it according to instructions with his drinking and soaking water. I soaked him for 20 minutes in the medicated water. I am pretty sure he was also drinking it while he soaked.
Sunday- still has slight runny nose. no snotty bubbles though. He is very active and is in his house now. I fed grass and mazuri again but he only ate a small amount and walked away.

hope all the details help. I am open to suggestions. All info I have is google research. Here is a picture of him right now.tucker1.jpg
 

wellington

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Raise the over all temps to 85 and don't let them drop at night and soak daily in warm water, keeping the tortoise warm. The substrate you are using is not good for holding humidity that you didn't mention which is very important.
Below in my post are important threads on cars for your tort. Read them and adjust everything. Except, until the snorting nose goes away, keep the temos at 85 not 80 but still giving a basking area. Also, w ceramic heat emitter is best for night time temos that should not ever drop below 80 with the proper humidity.
 

Jodie

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Welcome to the forum. The care guides in the Sulcata section will guve you the best information for your little one. I agree with the above on bumping the temps and daily soaks. Best of luck getting him healthy. Ask any questions you have.
 

Cassidy Dixon

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Ok I read that article. Why would my dirt and grass grown naturally not work for humidity? the dirt is damp all the time for the grass. I read one article that said grass and dirt can almost be to humid
 

Yvonne G

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I feel your substrate is ok, but you need to keep the overall temp inside the habitat at least 80 all the time. You may have to cover or partially cover the enclosure to keep the warm, moist air inside. I, too, use the yellow antibiotic powder for my tortoises that I suspect of having a R.I. It's a much less invasive way to get antibiotics into them than injections.

You may have to feed different stuff. Go out in the yard and look for edible weeds and leaves...mulberry leaves, grape leaves, dandelion, prickly lettuce, sow thistle, filaree, clover, dichondra, hollyhock, etc. And in a pinch, you can buy packaged lettuces from the store. Buy the ones that have a nice variety, like spring mix or Santa Barbara mix, but pick out a lot of the spinach (spinach binds calcium and it is excreted instead of going towards making strong bones and shells).
 

Cassidy Dixon

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I feel your substrate is ok, but you need to keep the overall temp inside the habitat at least 80 all the time. You may have to cover or partially cover the enclosure to keep the warm, moist air inside. I, too, use the yellow antibiotic powder for my tortoises that I suspect of having a R.I. It's a much less invasive way to get antibiotics into them than injections.

You may have to feed different stuff. Go out in the yard and look for edible weeds and leaves...mulberry leaves, grape leaves, dandelion, prickly lettuce, sow thistle, filaree, clover, dichondra, hollyhock, etc. And in a pinch, you can buy packaged lettuces from the store. Buy the ones that have a nice variety, like spring mix or Santa Barbara mix, but pick out a lot of the spinach (spinach binds calcium and it is excreted instead of going towards making strong bones and shells).

Can you tell me what ratio you mixed it? I only put a pinch in a quart jar and it turned very faint pee colored. That sound about right??
 

Cassidy Dixon

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I use a quarter teaspoon per quart of warm water.


How big was your tortoise? just don't want to overdose. He is doing amazing. He is eating, sleeping, pooping, peeing and acting very happy. He got 30 minutes of sunlight yesterday and 30 or so today. He doesn't seem to have a runny nose as of right now. lowest temp in the enclosure is 86. I have kept the red light running all the time and use night bulb at night and regular bulb during day. I gave him some calcium powder on his food sunday night. been eating about 75% grass clippings soaked in water. we give him romain lettuce as a snack while playing in the sun.
 

Yvonne G

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I use that same dose for any turtle or tortoise that I feel needs an antibiotic. If it's a very small animal and I'm using a smallish tub, I ratio it back accordingly.
 

Cassidy Dixon

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Tucker is doing amazing. Still holding 85 and higher in his enclosure. Today he has no signs of runny nose. How long do you think I should keep up with the mediated water?
 
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