Lady Ashthorn

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Feb 26, 2021
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Hey all,

Baby Ez and I have made it a week! Or we will at 5:30pm.
I just want to make sure my tort-keeping skills are up to snuff.
My temperatures are looking good now at an ambient of 75-82F and 95+F directly under the lamp (but he rarely is right underneath).

He digs into his coco coir or hides in one of his... hides most of the day. I have yet to see him poop or pass urates despite soaking him several times in the past week. I'm working on getting an enclosed tortoise table for him as opposed to the open air setup I have now (I know I was naive).

His new table will have outdoor-grade plastic around 3 sides with a flap on the 4th. He will have a ceramic heat emitter and a uva/uvb light stick... sorry can't remember that their called.

Just today I was searching through his enclosure for poop, weird I know, and I found this:20210305_181012.jpgdid it come out of him?

Also I was checking Ez over today before his bath and saw that his egg sac is starting to peel off, I was wiping sphagnum moss off him and made it worse. Is he going to get an infection or rot bc of me? Also I know he doesn't look pleased to be picked up.

I'm kinda worried that I haven't found any poop yet, people on here are always talking about how much tortoises poop. Thank you for your tips.
 

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ZEROPILOT

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Hey all,

Baby Ez and I have made it a week! Or we will at 5:30pm.
I just want to make sure my tort-keeping skills are up to snuff.
My temperatures are looking good now at an ambient of 75-82F and 95+F directly under the lamp (but he rarely is right underneath).

He digs into his coco coir or hides in one of his... hides most of the day. I have yet to see him poop or pass urates despite soaking him several times in the past week. I'm working on getting an enclosed tortoise table for him as opposed to the open air setup I have now (I know I was naive).

His new table will have outdoor-grade plastic around 3 sides with a flap on the 4th. He will have a ceramic heat emitter and a uva/uvb light stick... sorry can't remember that their called.

Just today I was searching through his enclosure for poop, weird I know, and I found this:View attachment 320049did it come out of him?

Also I was checking Ez over today before his bath and saw that his egg sac is starting to peel off, I was wiping sphagnum moss off him and made it worse. Is he going to get an infection or rot bc of me? Also I know he doesn't look pleased to be picked up.

I'm kinda worried that I haven't found any poop yet, people on here are always talking about how much tortoises poop. Thank you for your tips.
Are you providing high humidity?
How?
That looks like partially digested greens in the poop. Correct digestion can't happen below 80•.
Also "95•+"is about 10• too hot for a Redfoot. In fact, if he flips over near that spot, he'd be dead very soon.
80 to 86 ambient is great.
You can provide a basking spot if you wish. But it's not necessarily and will likely drop the humidity.
 

KarenSoCal

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Also I was checking Ez over today before his bath and saw that his egg sac is starting to peel off, I was wiping sphagnum moss off him and made it worse. Is he going to get an infection or rot bc of me?

That looks like a lot of egg sac to still be on him! That should have been completely healed before you got him. I'll tag someone to see if you need to do something to it.

You really should not have sphagnum moss in his enclosure. Many babies try eating it, and it's an impaction risk. You need to remove it.

What looks like undigested food in the pic...are you cutting his greens up for him into small pieces? If so, I'm wondering if that is moss. You said you were looking for poop, but have only found this? Maybe you need to get some opuntia cactus and cucumber for him.

Let's see what others say about this.

@ZEROPILOT
@Toddrickfl1
 
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Lady Ashthorn

New Member
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Feb 26, 2021
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21
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Ontario
Oh my gosh, that's a lot of things that need fixing!
I'm taking the moss out now. I got the idea from Kamp Kennan. I'll give him cucumber in the morning, he didn't end.up eating much/at all today but that's because we had people over and they wanted to meet him, plus we had a late start. On the egg sac, my pet store just kept mentioning that it was "healing nicley". They are guesstimating that he hatched around Dec 1 2020, does that track? I'll chop up his food in the morning.

Thank you!
 

KarenSoCal

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Oh my gosh, that's a lot of things that need fixing!
I'm taking the moss out now. I got the idea from Kamp Kennan. I'll give him cucumber in the morning, he didn't end.up eating much/at all today but that's because we had people over and they wanted to meet him, plus we had a late start. On the egg sac, my pet store just kept mentioning that it was "healing nicley". They are guesstimating that he hatched around Dec 1 2020, does that track? I'll chop up his food in the morning.

Thank you!

I know I sound like TFO is the only place for good info, but for sure Kamp Kenan is NOT the place to get it, nor is Facebook.

Lots of people use moss, but it's just not worth the risk.

I'll tag another member re' the yolk sac.
@Tom
 

Lady Ashthorn

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Thank you for caring so deeply!

This afternoon I gave Ez a bath infused with unflavored Pedialyte. He dunked his head in several times and he was in there for at least 20 minutes, the key to keeping the "bath water" warm enough for him was to have his tub partially under his CHE. And guess what?! He pooped! I have never been this excited for an animal of mine to poop since one of the puppies I was rearing years ago. I will post a pick of his plastron, he is eating right now and he didn't yesterday so I don't want to disturb him. On the note of his egg sac, the pet store I got him from guesstimated he was hatched sometime between the last week of November and the first week of December 2020. I have been trying to find more information on how long an egg sac is supposed to last and I am worried he may be younger than I was told. It may explain why he wasn't eating for the first couple of days (compounded with my inexperience with maintaining temperatures for reptiles) as he may not of known HOW? My main concern is that he rubs at his eyes quite a bit when I pull him out of his hiding place to eat or have a bath. Is eye-rubbing normal? Could it be because of the substrate I am using (Coco Coir)? Or the fact that it dries out quickly? I have invested in a CHE as mentioned above and a fluorescent light for the top of his table. Timers for his lamps, lights, and heat will better monitor his habitat and he is now in an enclosed tortoise table which my dad has built me. I will post pics when it is fully assembled (its at about 85% now).

Thank you again to everyone on here who has given advice, I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have your support.
 

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KarenSoCal

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You've made my day! :)
I'm overjoyed to hear he's eating and pooping!

I think your tort was probably only a few days old when you got him. That umbilical area should have been completely absorbed and healed...I think it usually takes about 7-10 days to be gone. Don't hold me exactly to that time frame...I'm not sure about it. But when they 1st hatch, if the sac is torn they usually die from infection. Ezra should not have been sent to you so young.

The main point is, is it healing over now? Hopefully there is no open area even if the scar is still visible. It will always be there, just like our bellybuttons.

Your enclosure is great! Thank your dad for me! :)

Remind me...is there any UVB light in there now? If yes, and it is not a tube fluorescent, turn it off and leave it off.

If there is a really bright light in there, like a basking light, turn it off. Lights are a big reason for sore eyes. If it is not the lights, then maybe substrate. Is there any dirt or sand in the substrate?

I just need to be reminded so I don't get mixed up. ?
 
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