Pheo

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Hey guys I've got a inidan star tortoise hatchling 6 days ago , he is currently showing signs of respiratory infection so I'm currently treating him by soaking him in low conc veterinary tetracycline hydrochloride

Ive also got a uvb bulb , I have noticed he seems to rub his eyes a lot , his substrate is coco peat
 

Tom

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Hey guys I've got a inidan star tortoise hatchling 6 days ago , he is currently showing signs of respiratory infection so I'm currently treating him by soaking him in low conc veterinary tetracycline hydrochloride

Ive also got a uvb bulb , I have noticed he seems to rub his eyes a lot , his substrate is coco peat
What type of UV bulb? At what distance from the tortoise?

Is the coco coir damp or dry?

Open topped enclosure or viv?

What are you using to generate and maintain ambient heat? RIs come from cold. The cure is heat. It should never drop below 30C in any part of the enclosure for a sick one, and they still need a basking area of 36-37C. Daytime ambient should get around 31-35. That's ambient, not basking temp. This species likes it hot.

Here is the care info:
 

KarenSoCal

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What signs of RI is he showing?

I don't know anything about soaking in an antibiotic solution for a RI. Where did you learn to do this? I think you should not do those soaks...we don't know if the solution will harm his skin, or if Tetracycline is recommended for him, or how much he is drinking of it.

What you need to do is keep the temp in the baby's enclosure at 30°-32°C at all times, day and night. No part of the enclosure should drop below this. How are you housing him? Is he in a closed chamber, or is it open? What are you using for heat...day and night?

What kind of UVB bulb are you using? That may be what is hurting his eyes. If the UVB bulb screws into a socket, turn it off and don't use it again. You need to use a T5 HO tube type UVB. It's like a fluorescent tube light, but is UVB.

Post some pictures of your setup, and your baby, along with the lights you're using. That will help us to help you.

Also, please read this care sheet carefully, then come back with questions.
 

Pheo

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What type of UV bulb? At what distance from the tortoise?

Is the coco coir damp or dry?

Open topped enclosure or viv?

What are you using to generate and maintain ambient heat? RIs come from cold. The cure is heat. It should never drop below 30C in any part of the enclosure for a sick one, and they still need a basking area of 36-37C. Daytime ambient should get around 31-35. That's ambient, not basking temp. This species likes it hot.

Here is the care info:
A 25 watt uvb approx 10 cm from surface open topped

Damp coconut coir sprayed with mist daily to maintain humidity

Room air temp dances around 33-28 throughout the 24hr day cycle
 

Pheo

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What signs of RI is he showing?

I don't know anything about soaking in an antibiotic solution for a RI. Where did you learn to do this? I think you should not do those soaks...we don't know if the solution will harm his skin, or if Tetracycline is recommended for him, or how much he is drinking of it.

What you need to do is keep the temp in the baby's enclosure at 30°-32°C at all times, day and night. No part of the enclosure should drop below this. How are you housing him? Is he in a closed chamber, or is it open? What are you using for heat...day and night?

What kind of UVB bulb are you using? That may be what is hurting his eyes. If the UVB bulb screws into a socket, turn it off and don't use it again. You need to use a T5 HO tube type UVB. It's like a fluorescent tube light, but is UVB.

Post some pictures of your setup, and your baby, along with the lights you're using. That will help us to help you.

Also, please read this care sheet carefully, then come back with questions.
I'm in India so there are no vets in my area who'd take the tort ,

Showing signs like
Making squeaks
Clear discharge from nose
Loss of appetite
Laying with head on ground

I got the tetracycline very low conc (1mg/ltr) soln treat ment from a relative who has kept a Indian star for about 2 years and had run into a similar problem. He seems to be responding positively to the soak is active again but still not eating much caught him eating the coconut coir so gonna try to feed him more fibre and see if he eats

It's the screw in bulb unfortunately I haven't found a uvb tube on Amazon and no shops near me carry them gonna check farther shops once lockdown lifts will send pics once I get home
His enclosure is a circular tub about 18 cm (about 250cm² area) radius gonna be buying a new enclosure asap when markets open
Will post pics once I get home from grocery

Is the uvb bulb really that harmful? he doesn't seem to mind it a lot actually spends a lot of time under it, today I kept him in normal sunlight and he was still rubbing his eyes
 
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Pheo

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What signs of RI is he showing?

I don't know anything about soaking in an antibiotic solution for a RI. Where did you learn to do this? I think you should not do those soaks...we don't know if the solution will harm his skin, or if Tetracycline is recommended for him, or how much he is drinking of it.

What you need to do is keep the temp in the baby's enclosure at 30°-32°C at all times, day and night. No part of the enclosure should drop below this. How are you housing him? Is he in a closed chamber, or is it open? What are you using for heat...day and night?

What kind of UVB bulb are you using? That may be what is hurting his eyes. If the UVB bulb screws into a socket, turn it off and don't use it again. You need to use a T5 HO tube type UVB. It's like a fluorescent tube light, but is UVB.

Post some pictures of your setup, and your baby, along with the lights you're using. That will help us to help you.

Also, please read this care sheet carefully, then come back with questions.
This is his nighttime enclosure where I'm keeping him rn so I can control temp and humidity more closely(gonna get a proper crate when possible) where he spends time after 5 and the temp starts to drop below 30 (at time of writing room temp/outside temp is 34°C) when in the balcony floor is covered with towels so he has proper grip has a food corner and a water bowl so eats whenever he wants


I was originally given him by my relative as her old turtle wasn't taking to kindly to him for some reason so wasn't totally ready to take him in and thus the subpar enclosure
 

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Tom

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A 25 watt uvb approx 10 cm from surface open topped

Damp coconut coir sprayed with mist daily to maintain humidity

Room air temp dances around 33-28 throughout the 24hr day cycle
That's the wrong type of UV bulb and you shouldn't need indoor UV in your country. Turn it off ASAP. 10cm is WAYYYY too close for any UV bulb.

This tortoise needs a closed chamber. Misting the substrate is ineffective.

It also needs a basking area where the temp gets up to 37C directly under the bulb. You won't need additional ambient heat with the temps you listed if it stays that way all year.
 

Pheo

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That's the wrong type of UV bulb and you shouldn't need indoor UV in your country. Turn it off ASAP. 10cm is WAYYYY too close for any UV bulb.

This tortoise needs a closed chamber. Misting the substrate is ineffective.

It also needs a basking area where the temp gets up to 37C directly under the bulb. You won't need additional ambient heat with the temps you listed if it stays that way all year.
Stays around the same temperature for summer in rainy and winter ie the last 3 and first 2 months it dips by a good margin,

What is your recommended distance from the substrate for the lamp I've tried to find the tube as another person mentioned but I can't find any on Amazon and my state is in lockdown so I can't go out, can you send an example of the lamp I should be using? I'll try to fine one similar as soon as I can

I'll close his current chamber and try to find a new bigger one soon

I've attached a screen shot of the bulb I'm usinf5
 

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KarenSoCal

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Stays around the same temperature for summer in rainy and winter ie the last 3 and first 2 months it dips by a good margin,

What is your recommended distance from the substrate for the lamp I've tried to find the tube as another person mentioned but I can't find any on Amazon and my state is in lockdown so I can't go out, can you send an example of the lamp I should be using? I'll try to fine one similar as soon as I can

I'll close his current chamber and try to find a new bigger one soon

I've attached a screen shot of the bulb I'm usinf5
Yes, UVB bulbs of the wrong type, like yours, are a big deal. They can burn babies' eyes so they can't open them up, and it takes days to heal them. However, because you live in such a sunny place, you don't need a UVB light inside. All you have to do is take your baby outside for an hour twice a week and he will get all the UVB he needs from the sun. Outside, he needs access to both sunshine and shade. Little babies can overheat and die very quickly, so he must have deep shade available to get into. Don't leave him out for more than an hour each day until he grows more...our rule-of-thumb is an hour of outside time per inch of tortoise. If you can take him out more frequently, maybe just 1/2 an hour daily will work well for you.

In fall, when the temps drop outside, if you need to add ambient heat to the enclosure, you can add another light during daytime to heat and brighten it up. At night, you will want to use a CHE (ceramic heating element) to give heat but no light. Torts need it dark at night, like we do. When using a CHE, you need to put it on a thermostat to control the temp. CHE's run very hot, and the t'stat turns it on only when needed.

You need a closed chamber type of enclosure so you have control of heat and humidity. As the least expensive way to do that quickly, I would suggest a grow tent from Amazon.

Like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PK7J1XZ/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

I don't know how to get Amazon in India, so maybe you can find this. It's 122cm x 61cm x 61cm. It gets turned on its side for tort use, so it is 122cm long, 61cm deep, and 61cm high. This is perfect for a hatchling. If you buy a really big one, you could use it until he is big enough to live outside full time.

For basking, the best bulb is an ordinary incandescent flood light bulb...flood, not spot. If you can find them at a hardware store, great. If needed, you can order them from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KKHU76/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Read that care sheet Tom linked...it goes into all of this in more detail.
 

ZEROPILOT

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A 25 watt uvb approx 10 cm from surface open topped

Damp coconut coir sprayed with mist daily to maintain humidity

Room air temp dances around 33-28 throughout the 24hr day cycle
No UVB for a while is better than using that one for another moment.
 

Yvonne G

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What signs of RI is he showing?

I don't know anything about soaking in an antibiotic solution for a RI. Where did you learn to do this? I think you should not do those soaks...we don't know if the solution will harm his skin, or if Tetracycline is recommended for him, or how much he is drinking of it.

What you need to do is keep the temp in the baby's enclosure at 30°-32°C at all times, day and night. No part of the enclosure should drop below this. How are you housing him? Is he in a closed chamber, or is it open? What are you using for heat...day and night?

What kind of UVB bulb are you using? That may be what is hurting his eyes. If the UVB bulb screws into a socket, turn it off and don't use it again. You need to use a T5 HO tube type UVB. It's like a fluorescent tube light, but is UVB.

Post some pictures of your setup, and your baby, along with the lights you're using. That will help us to help you.

Also, please read this care sheet carefully, then come back with questions.
I use Terramycin brand tetracycline for R.I. for soaking turtles and tortoises as needed. Have done so for years. Works great when coupled with smaller hospital tank and raised temperature day and night.
 

KarenSoCal

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I use Terramycin brand tetracycline for R.I. for soaking turtles and tortoises as needed. Have done so for years. Works great when coupled with smaller hospital tank and raised temperature day and night.
How interesting! Thank you for responding...I would have thought there are too many variables for safety.

Another tidbit of Yvonne wisdom in helping our sick babies! :)
 

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