Too much soaking for babies/Green stuff in the water

[GingerRene]

Hello, I'm new. I have 2 one month old sulcata tortoises. I made them a cool enclosure until they are large out of a 20 gal snake tank. The water bowl I got them has steps that are too high for their little legs, so I built a ramp out of bedding to help them out. I put one of the hides too close to the water and went to take a nap. I was asleep a little over an hour when my kid woke me up to say they were both upside down in the water! I think they fell off the hide into the water. I don't know exactly how long they were in there, but it could have been as much as 1.5 hours.
I took them out, dried them off and now they are basking. They are both moving well and look alert.
Before this happened I had changed the water and it was all clean. After I got them out, I changed it again because there was a lot of green stuff, looked like algae, floating in the water.
Does anyone know what that stuff is? And most importantly, are they going to be ok? Is there more I should be doing?
Here is a picture of the tank now

 

[MenagerieGrl]

Hi, @GingerRene ,and welcome to TFO (Tortoise Forum).
You have come to the right place, lot's of good folks here dedicated to the care, love and advocacy for Tort's and Turtles.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Hi Ginger.

Too bad you found this Forum AFTER this calamity that almost caused your babies to drown.

You have a lot of things going on (incorrectly) here with your enclosure & young Sullys.

As far as what’s in the water….both torts probably released fecal matter, urine & urates all at once in their futile attempts to right themselves. They possibly inhaled water too…and are now smart enough to bask to warm up their respiratory tract.

Take a very close read here of how to raise a Sulcata. You have many things set up incorrectly including wrong type of water dish, too small of enclosure, keeping two together, no top to keep in humidity.

What are your temps? How are you maintaining day & night and ambient temps?

All of the info that you need is right here.
➡️ https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...se-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181497/

Hope your little guys make it. They could have breathed in a ton of water that might lead to an upper respiratory infection.

Good luck

 

[GingerRene]

Hi, @GingerRene ,and welcome to TFO (Tortoise Forum).
You have come to the right place, lot's of good folks here dedicated to the care, love and advocacy for Tort's and Turtles.

 

[GingerRene]

Hi Ginger.

Too bad you found this Forum AFTER this calamity that almost caused your babies to drown.

You have a lot of things going on (incorrectly) here with your enclosure & young Sullys.

As far as what’s in the water….both torts probably released fecal matter, urine & urates all at once in their futile attempts to right themselves. They possibly inhaled water too…and are now smart enough to bask to warm up their respiratory tract.

Take a very close read here of how to raise a Sulcata. You have many things set up incorrectly including wrong type of water dish, too small of enclosure, keeping two together, no top to keep in humidity.

What are your temps? How are you maintaining day & night and ambient temps?

All of the info that you need is right here.
➡️ https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...se-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181497/

Hope your little guys make it. They could have breathed in a ton of water that might lead to an upper respiratory infection.

Good luck

Thank you for your help! I am glad I found this forum. I bought these from a man at an expo and he told me how to set it up, but I guess I did it wrong. The basking side is at 90 degrees with a uva/uab light as well. The humidity is at 70 percent (I live in a swamp) and I have been turning the light off at night, following sun up/ sun down cycle.

 

[MenagerieGrl]

A couple of things about your enclosure as @Maro2Bear had mentioned. . . I would remove the waterbowls you have, the straight sides are NOT good for tort's, Go out and get some of the Clay Terra cotta Plant saucers for a water bowl, the sloped, rough sides makes it easier for tort's to navigate.

 

[GingerRene]

Thank you for your help! I am glad I found this forum. I bought these from a man at an expo and he told me how to set it up, but I guess I did it wrong. The basking side is at 90 degrees with a uva/uab light as well. The humidity is at 70 percent (I live in a swamp) and I have been turning the light off at night, following sun up/ sun down cycle.

I am reading the article next. I really appreciate your help. Do you know anything about the signs of a respiratory infection?

 

[GingerRene]

A couple of things about your enclosure as @Maro2Bear had mentioned. . . I would remove the waterbowls you have, the straight sides are NOT good for tort's, Go out and get some of the Clay Terra cotta Plant saucers for a water bowl, the sloped, rough sides makes it easier for tort's to navigate.

Got it! Thank you. I thought this water bowl was not right. :/

 

[MenagerieGrl]

Thank you for your help! I am glad I found this forum. I bought these from a man at an expo and he told me how to set it up, but I guess I did it wrong. The basking side is at 90 degrees with a uva/uab light as well. The humidity is at 70 percent (I live in a swamp) and I have been turning the light off at night, following sun up/ sun down cycle.

Nasal discharge would be one of them, and may take a day or two to show up.
And Not to be partial to TFO, but you have to be a bit skeptical of info taken from the web.
There is a lot of OLD outdated care info out there, that is STILL circulated.
Many folks here are Breaders that have devoted alot of time to the care and husbandry of tort's.

 

[GingerRene]

Nasal discharge would be one of them, and may take a day or two to show up.
And Not to be partial to TFO, but you have to be a bit skeptical of info taken from the web.
There is a lot of OLD outdated care info out there, that is STILL circulated.
Many folks here are Breaders that have devoted alot of time to the care and husbandry of tort's.

I have been reading all kinds of things and lots of them are contradictory. Now I don't even know if the collared greens are right! Thank you for your help. I obviously need it.

 

[MenagerieGrl]

Unfortunately some of us here came because of an ill Tort,
I did. and unfortunately my buddy Gigantor, a Hermann's Tort passed away shortly after I got here.
He died, but in effect gave better care of my two other tort's that I have.

 

[MenagerieGrl]

The collard Greens are fine, Just remember as with the universe . . moderation., a lil bit of everything is better than just one.
Mix up the foods. In the care sheet is a list of acceptable foods, of which Collard Greens are one.
Mix up the foods, and when introducing new foods, cut the greens up small so they have to eat a lil bit of all. . . their favorites, and the ones they are not used to.

 

[GingerRene]

Thank you for your help! I am glad I found this forum. I bought these from a man at an expo and he told me how to set it up, but I guess I did it wrong. The basking side is at 90 degrees with a uva/uab light as well. The humidity is at 70 percent (I live in a swamp) and I have been turning the light off at night, following sun up/ sun down cycle.

I just read the article and saw the proper enclosure. Everything I did was wrong! I kept reading that only one or two soaks a week was good, nothing but collared greens with some calcium, heat off at night, my gosh!
Can you please tell me, what do you think about a plastic tub with a lid? Would that work better than trying to close off the top of the tank? Also, I'm sorry to ask so much of you, but if you have the time, could you suggested a brand of light/heat that works best. I need more humidity and heat through the night, I guess?

 

[Gillian M]

Welcome to the forum, @GingerRene .

Your torts are adorable. God bless them.

 

[GingerRene]

The collard Greens are fine, Just remember as with the universe . . moderation., a lil bit of everything is better than just one.
Mix up the foods. In the care sheet is a list of acceptable foods, of which Collard Greens are one.
Mix up the foods, and when introducing new foods, cut the greens up small so they have to eat a lil bit of all. . . their favorites, and the ones they are not used to.

This is temporary, but what do you think? I took out a hide to give them more space, found a small water dish until I can get to the store for the kind you suggested, added a lot of water to the bedding for more humidity, and tried to ramp up the basking rock so they don't fall over. :/ I'm scared to go to the store because they tip so easily! I am going today though, I'm thinking a plexy glass top will be a good start? At least until I get paid and can get a bigger set up.

 

[MenagerieGrl]

I just read the article and saw the proper enclosure. Everything I did was wrong! I kept reading that only one or two soaks a week was good, nothing but collared greens with some calcium, heat off at night, my gosh!
Can you please tell me, what do you think about a plastic tub with a lid? Would that work better than trying to close off the top of the tank? Also, I'm sorry to ask so much of you, but if you have the time, could you suggested a brand of light/heat that works best. I need more humidity and heat through the night, I guess?

So, there are several things to consider, It is suggested that glass tanks are not advised, as they can see through the walls and continue to try to get to the other side, It is Nice though as it is able to be sealed up on top, but they will need a bigger Area in the near future. Tort's are typically solitary creatures except when mating, several females may be housed together But Males need to be separated as they will bully each other till one recedes, and their health will be affected.

 

[GingerRene]

The man I got them from said they would be ok together while still babies. :/ He also said I would not be able to tell if they are male or female until about 5 years old. He also said that I should take them outside until they are 15 lbs, keep them dry, and only give them collared greens. Smh I wonder if any of this was true now.

 

[GingerRene]

*should not take them out side

 

[MenagerieGrl]

Yes, that water dish is better, they can walk through it, and it is NOT deep enough if they were to overturn in it that they could drown.

 

[MenagerieGrl]

What is in the two Lamp shades?
Typically there is a CHE, a Ceramic Heating element to add warmth w/o light