Weight gain per month when babies

[silvs17007]

We got our baby Sulcata on Nov 14, 2024. We didn't weigh "her" until Jan, Feb, and March but she's been the same weight (63g). It's been cold so she hasn't been out much so my question is whether this is normal?
She is in an aquarium but the top has plexiglass, her temp is about 92 degrees and humidity 80. She eats all her food, spring mix, dandelion, some grass now that it's starting to grow outside, she doesn't really eat the pellets but we do add calcium to her greens 2-3 times a week. Thanks for any input

 

[Tom]

It's not normal for them to hold the same weight for three weeks at this age. Something is wrong. On the bright side, 68 grams is past the hatchling failure syndrome stuff, so that probably isn't your issue.

When you say she hasn't been out much because its cold, do you mean you haven't been taking her outside, or that she's not coming out and walking around much in the indoor enclosure?

Are you soaking daily?

Where and when is it 92? There are four temps to monitor and maintain. Warm side, cool side, basking area, and overnight low? What are these four temps?

What heating and lighting equipment are you using? UV?

 

[silvs17007]

I meant she wasn't coming outside in the yard. The basking area is 92-95, during the night it's no lower than 70, 82-84 around her food bowl and farthest in her enclosure is 78.8 but she doesn't go around that area. She's active in her enclosure and walks daily on her wheel and eats all her food. On nice days we take her out now that the weather is getting warmer, but only take her out 15 mins tops. We give her daily baths for about 15-20 mins and she poops daily during that time. Her shell feels firm. She has a uvb plus heat repti-zoo light and another a uvflourotube.

 

[Tom]

I meant she wasn't coming outside in the yard. The basking area is 92-95, during the night it's no lower than 70, 82-84 around her food bowl and farthest in her enclosure is 78.8 but she doesn't go around that area. She's active in her enclosure and walks daily on her wheel and eats all her food. On nice days we take her out now that the weather is getting warmer, but only take her out 15 mins tops. We give her daily baths for about 15-20 mins and she poops daily during that time. Her shell feels firm. She has a uvb plus heat repti-zoo light and another a uvflourotube.

The goal of this thread and my reason for replying to it is to help you figure out why the tortoise isn't growing. I'll point out some possibilities and some things you need to address.

1. There should be no part of the enclosure below 80 degrees day or night for a sulcata.
2. Outside time should be limited for babies, even in nice weather. No more than an hour per inch of tortoise a few times per week, so your 15 minute limit is good for now.
3. ReptiZoo products do not have a good reputation from what I have seen and I personally wouldn't use them.
4. The UVB plus heat is a mercury vapor bulb. Those are unreliable and shouldn't be used over tortoises, especially not growing babies because they cause pyramiding.
5. Having two UV sources is not recommended. Too much UV can be harmful. Do you have a Solarmeter 6.5 to check the UV levels under those bulbs?
6. Basking area needs to be 95-100.
7. If you are able to use the MVB, I'm going to guess you are not using a closed chamber. In most cases a MVB will over heat a closed chamber. Open topped enclosures do not work well for this species. They need closed chamber with all the heating and lighting contained inside.
8. I prefer to soak for 30-40 minutes a day, but 15-20 minutes is probably adequate to get the job done.

Sounds like you need:
1. A night heat source with a thermostat. A CHE in a ceramic based fixture would work.
2. A different basking bulb. You need a regular incandescent flood bulb.
3. Warmer temps over all.
4. More variety in the diet.
5. A large closed chamber enclosure.
6. I'd get some original Mazuri and introduce that into the diet a couple times per week. It ensures good neutron with no gaps, and it tends to put size and weight on growing tortoises.

All of this is explained more in these two threads and questions are welcome:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[silvs17007]

Thank you for the response
We'll make the adjustments.

 

[silvs17007]

This is a picture showing before and after in 6 months. So she's now, 10-12 mos.

 

[Tom]

What is the weight now?

 

[silvs17007]

What is the weight now?

89g

 

[Tom]

89g

So from 63 up to 89 now. That's a really good sign that all is going to be okay. The tortoise looks much better now, and not so dry.

You will need some high humidity round the clock and daily soaks for a long time to stop the pyramiding that has already happened, but if you do those things, you probably won't even be able to tell there was ever a problem when the tortoise is 3 or 4 years old and much larger.