Hi. We have had our baby sulcata for 4 weeks. Out of nowhere he stopped eating and his eyes became white and now wont open. We took him in yesterday and he was given a diagnosis of respirtory infection. Basically due to labored breathing and his eyes. He is only 31 grams. We have baytril and fortaz injections to give him every third day for 9 doses. He won't eat or drink. I'm concerned about how long it will take to get him to drink. He had his first injections at 6pm last night. Next round Saturday. Any advice? Anyone e had such a young baby pull through?
Sulcata with respirtory inf
- Thread starter Dan peet
- Start date
We changed his substrate when he got sick thinking he was too hot and dry. We were on natural cypress. Hot spot of 105 ambient around 85. Hides available. Humidity was just from spraying down mulch. We changed to coconut fiber/plays and and lowered temps when he showed signs of what we thought were dehydration and overheating. His hot spot dropped to 95 and ambient 85 with humidity about 33%. He has a drier end around 15%. Hide area is saturated before bed and red light used at night. He is in about 24x40 open air with lights and reptisand 10.0 uv lamp.
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48 artist pull through it basically comes down to catching it early enough and getting the right medications. I would soak in warm water mixed with baby carrot food everyday.
Hi, and welcome to the Forum!
That's a pretty strong antibiotic cocktail for such a small tortoise. Be sure to soak him daily for at least 30 minutes. Antibiotics are hard on tortoise's kidneys.
Let's take a look at your husbandry. First of all, sulcatas hatch out during the monsoon season. That means the earth is wet and green and the air is hot and humid. You can't achieve that in such an open habitat.
For the duration of your baby's medication, set him up in a smaller hospital tank. I like to use a 10 gallon aquarium, and I cover it. Have it so the overall temperature inside the tank is 80-85F degrees. Give him a hiding place so he can get away from the light. You many need to run a ceramic heat emitter at night because you don't want the temperature to drop when you turn off the light.
Good luck with getting your baby well. While he's recuperating, be sure to read:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
That's a pretty strong antibiotic cocktail for such a small tortoise. Be sure to soak him daily for at least 30 minutes. Antibiotics are hard on tortoise's kidneys.
Let's take a look at your husbandry. First of all, sulcatas hatch out during the monsoon season. That means the earth is wet and green and the air is hot and humid. You can't achieve that in such an open habitat.
For the duration of your baby's medication, set him up in a smaller hospital tank. I like to use a 10 gallon aquarium, and I cover it. Have it so the overall temperature inside the tank is 80-85F degrees. Give him a hiding place so he can get away from the light. You many need to run a ceramic heat emitter at night because you don't want the temperature to drop when you turn off the light.
Good luck with getting your baby well. While he's recuperating, be sure to read:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
I use a container with a small footprint but tall sides. Then I put about a half jar of Gerber strained carrots in the bowl and add enough water to come up to the middle of the baby's sides.
