Freedomrider13
Member
Hey Guys! I’m new here to this forum.
I have a 5 year old sulcata his name his pirate. Recently I rescued a female sulcata Julia. Learned the hard way that this doesn’t work out and they are solitary animals. Separated em as soon he tried to fight her all the time. Last week Pirate got sick, I realized he doesn’t have the energy as usual. He lives outside here in Southern California, gets plenty of sun and he has a big outdoor enclosure with hiding spots, excess to fresh water all the time and I feed him a variety of grasses and dark leafy greens... 80% is grass (fescue) didn’t use any fertilizers or chemicals at all in his backyard. His house is like a natural borrow with ceramic heat lamp and it’s fully isolated, substrate is natural dirt and Timothy hay. I over him all different hiding spots so he can regulate his temperature as he Wants. His Main house were he sleeps is 80-90 Fahrenheit in the warmer spot, and the colder side is like 70-75 not any colder. Humidity is 60-70. Now it’s kinda dry here like 30-40 ish at the moment in Huntington Beach. Try to water his enclosure wants a day usually. So Pirate stopped eating last week and stopped moving around. He had good stool and urates have been tooth paste like so not clumpy. That day he stopped eating I decided to take him to the vet. Vet said he probably got sick from the other tortoise ( that’s the only thing I changed, was introducing him to Julia) the vet gave him a Vitamin a/d shot and Doxycycline as an Antibiotic... wish I would have never agreed to that... seems he is worse than before. His front left leg where he got the injection is swollen now and he doesn’t move it at all anymore. I have to figure out tomorrow which leg he injected what. Did some research and it says it does more harm than help. Super bummed I made this mistake. As soon I saw him not doing good I started soaking him everyday in warm water 10-15 mins. Have him inside the house now with ceramic heat lamp spot a basking spot, one colder area. Not sure if I should raise up his temperature. It’s a week now that he didn’t ate.
Any help is really appreciated! Thank you very much! Tommy
I have a 5 year old sulcata his name his pirate. Recently I rescued a female sulcata Julia. Learned the hard way that this doesn’t work out and they are solitary animals. Separated em as soon he tried to fight her all the time. Last week Pirate got sick, I realized he doesn’t have the energy as usual. He lives outside here in Southern California, gets plenty of sun and he has a big outdoor enclosure with hiding spots, excess to fresh water all the time and I feed him a variety of grasses and dark leafy greens... 80% is grass (fescue) didn’t use any fertilizers or chemicals at all in his backyard. His house is like a natural borrow with ceramic heat lamp and it’s fully isolated, substrate is natural dirt and Timothy hay. I over him all different hiding spots so he can regulate his temperature as he Wants. His Main house were he sleeps is 80-90 Fahrenheit in the warmer spot, and the colder side is like 70-75 not any colder. Humidity is 60-70. Now it’s kinda dry here like 30-40 ish at the moment in Huntington Beach. Try to water his enclosure wants a day usually. So Pirate stopped eating last week and stopped moving around. He had good stool and urates have been tooth paste like so not clumpy. That day he stopped eating I decided to take him to the vet. Vet said he probably got sick from the other tortoise ( that’s the only thing I changed, was introducing him to Julia) the vet gave him a Vitamin a/d shot and Doxycycline as an Antibiotic... wish I would have never agreed to that... seems he is worse than before. His front left leg where he got the injection is swollen now and he doesn’t move it at all anymore. I have to figure out tomorrow which leg he injected what. Did some research and it says it does more harm than help. Super bummed I made this mistake. As soon I saw him not doing good I started soaking him everyday in warm water 10-15 mins. Have him inside the house now with ceramic heat lamp spot a basking spot, one colder area. Not sure if I should raise up his temperature. It’s a week now that he didn’t ate.
Any help is really appreciated! Thank you very much! Tommy