Weight gain

I think you are doing everything correct. Maybe post a picture of your set up now to see if anyone can find anything to make it better. But I think you are doing well. Just keep truckin along. Your little one is following the same path as my baby. Bowser would sleep most of the day, and at times skip meals; growth was super slow in the beginning. It caused me to fuss over him a lot. Keep in mind that tortoises don’t NEED to eat every day. Just keep providing what he needs and he should perk up. From what I see your temps are good, your diet is right, humidity is up. Babies of any species are going to need more sleep as their bodies are trying to grow and develop at a rapid pace. Maybe try to cluster his care a bit and leave him alone more. Maybe he is waking up too much and isn’t getting the quality of sleep he needs. I noticed that every time I fuss with the tank or heat lamps or food it wakes up by tort so I started only messing with things twice a day. When he wakes up he gets his walkabout outside, followed by his soak and then breakfast. After that, I leave him alone until the evening when I clean out his tank and adjust heat lamps as needed. I am just trying to throw out ideas.

sullygirl85 said:

UPDATE:

Idk what is going with this little one. I haven't noticed anymore of the snot bubbles coming from her nose anymore, I am still keeping the temps in the tank up. I got the plexiglass installed as stated, but now she is not eating anything. Yesterday was Mazuri day and she did eat some of that, but she is sleeping I am going to 80% of the day and today she didn't touch any of her food. AT ALL. Idk what is going on. I am leaving it in the tank but I know her and she will not eat it throughout the day. I will see if she will tonight but I don't think she will. Even yesterday when I took her out, she is always so adventurous during our outside times, and she just laid there and fell asleep, didn't even make a move for the clovers like she normally does. Ugh Idk what to do...

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Where did you get the tortoise and do you know how the breeder started it right after hatching?

Tom said:

Where did you get the tortoise and do you know how the breeder started it right after hatching?

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I got the tortoise from Underground Reptiles, I remember before I even got her you told me about fatal hatchling syndrome and I am TERRIFIED of it. She is up and moving around but her not eating a lot and weight staying at 40 grams for a week and a half is what is scaring me. I dont know if they started her out right because I don't even think they hatched her. I asked them when her hatch date was and they said that they could not provide me with that information, only that she was about two months old. After doing research, I believe that was wrong simply because she just lost her egg beak or is in the process of losing her egg beak now.

AzAngel said:

I think you are doing everything correct. Maybe post a picture of your set up now to see if anyone can find anything to make it better. But I think you are doing well. Just keep truckin along. Your little one is following the same path as my baby. Bowser would sleep most of the day, and at times skip meals; growth was super slow in the beginning. It caused me to fuss over him a lot. Keep in mind that tortoises don’t NEED to eat every day. Just keep providing what he needs and he should perk up. From what I see your temps are good, your diet is right, humidity is up. Babies of any species are going to need more sleep as their bodies are trying to grow and develop at a rapid pace. Maybe try to cluster his care a bit and leave him alone more. Maybe he is waking up too much and isn’t getting the quality of sleep he needs. I noticed that every time I fuss with the tank or heat lamps or food it wakes up by tort so I started only messing with things twice a day. When he wakes up he gets his walkabout outside, followed by his soak and then breakfast. After that, I leave him alone until the evening when I clean out his tank and adjust heat lamps as needed. I am just trying to throw out ideas.

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I think I am going to start doing her walking around in the morning before her soak too now. Usually what I do is wake up with the kiddos and i get the food ready and feed her, then I soak her, then at the end of the day I take her out. I do spray the tank three times a day and that might wake her up. Im not sure. The eating is what is getting to me. She use to chow down, now, not so much. She bites at things and if she doesnt get a bite the first time she just gives up and walks away and then goes back to sleep....So I dont know

If she had bubbles, she may just have an upper respiratory infection. I understand the bubbles are gone, and that is good, but she still may not have recovered yet. It will take some time. Keep doing what you are doing, as it sounds right. Some people add organic pumpkin or squash (babyfood) to the soak to get something in them when they drink. You could also take her to the vet and get antibiotics, but that is hit or miss from what I read. It may be best to just keep her isolated with the high temps, like Tom suggests. Weigh her once a week, in the morning after a soak (so she poops and pees), so you get the most accurate weight. Good luck and keep us posted.

Chantel said:

If she had bubbles, she may just have an upper respiratory infection. I understand the bubbles are gone, and that is good, but she still may not have recovered yet. It will take some time. Keep doing what you are doing, as it sounds right. Some people add organic pumpkin or squash (babyfood) to the soak to get something in them when they drink. You could also take her to the vet and get antibiotics, but that is hit or miss from what I read. It may be best to just keep her isolated with the high temps, like Tom suggests. Weigh her once a week, in the morning after a soak (so she poops and pees), so you get the most accurate weight. Good luck and keep us posted.

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Thank you! She is eating a little bit more and she gain a gram since her last weigh in. She is being a tad bit more active. Last night during her soak, she did sneeze once or cough not sure which lol but again that could be normal as we all do on occasion too. She still presents no more snot bubbles which is awesome but I'm worried about the lack of weight gain in the weeks. I wish I would have know that where I got her from wasn't a reputable source . My sons red foot on the other hand is going fabulous. He came to us weighing way less than her about two days later and since he has gotten here he has gained 13 grams and about a half and inch! So at least I know that it's not the care they are receiving. I think it maybe what the breeder did previous to me getting her .

I'm glad she is doing better. Just be sure her temps stay up day and night!

Chantel said:

I'm glad she is doing better. Just be sure her temps stay up day and night!

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So she is doing much better!! She's more active during the day and things are going great but still not a lot of weight gain. I am wondering if it is her diet. She usually eats some spring mix (minus the spinach) I add grassland tortoise mix (she doesn't touch it really) cactus pads diced up (doesn't really touch it) some grass from outside but she eats that sparingly and some radicchio which is her favorite. I alter between grassland tortoise and mazuri food every other day. I'm wondering if I'm feeding her right. I see people stray away from the lettuce brands. I soak her daily she peed a lot today but no urates this was clear and her stool is good usually. Not runny.

Also can I feed her hay at this age? She's a bit small so I am trying to feed her what I can but with t cooling down I want to make sure I am feeding her right

Hey everyone,

Here is any update. I am like REALLY worried about her. Here is her diet. I start off with spring mix, I pick out the spinach because its a no no. I add some kale and some collard greens every other day. I feed grassland tortoise diet to her every other day and in between the grassland I feed mazuri. I ordered the testudo grass mix (I think thats what it is called) from tortoise supply and also the sculcata grazing food from sulcatafood.com. I mixed both those together to make a sort of grazing container and i grew them outside into two tubs. I alter the tubs weekly in her enclosure with a little ramp so she can climb and graze and then eat the greens and mazuri if she wants. The enclosure is the same, i have it on a temperature control that gets no lower than 87 degrees on the cooler side because I STILL see snot bubbles. They left and then they returned. I soak her every single day in what starts off as 95 degree water on a heat pad (on from my back) set on medium and i close the soaking container almost completely so there is a little room left for ventilation. It still gets all clouded on the sides and everything. I have the lights set up to a 65 watt flood lamp on the hotter end and then a desert UVB/UVA strip light that is 24 inches long. This is all set up in a 75 gallon tank. Her substrate is cocoa coir and some cocoa husk on top for variation. She has two hides. One in the warmer end and one in the cooler end. I also have a couple of spider plants in the enclosure for decor by the cooler end hide. She has a shallow (terra cotta planter bottom) water dish that she goes in daily. She is still weighing 41-42 grams and i have had her for over a month. The bottom of her shell is a little soft I guess. Im not sure what is classified as soft. So if anyone has any suggestions as to what on earth i am doing wrong....I would love to know. She also pees and poops just fine. She use to do it in the water, but her soaks have been later in the day and that is due t my busy schedule so hopefully they will be back in the morning. She is really picky with eating too. I feel like if there is not radicchio in the mix she doesnt want anything to do with it. So I have no idea what on earth is going on. but I would really love some help as I know this is not normal. She should have gained something. My red foot I got a couple of days after her, weighed in at 31 grams and he now weighs in at 60 grams!!! So. Im not sure if its her, or whats going on.

It sounds like you are doing EVERYTHING right. I don't have one mistake to point out, and that is unusual.

The problem has to be the source. If the kidneys were damaged from chronic dehydration, which is sadly so common with this species, there is nothing you can do about it. You will just have to wait and see. Some pull through with good care, and others don't. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that is the harsh reality.

We all sincerely hope she pulls through, but if she doesn't, then make sure you find the right source next time. Few people start sulcatas the right way even though many people are breeding them.

Tom said:

It sounds like you are doing EVERYTHING right. I don't have one mistake to point out, and that is unusual.

The problem has to be the source. If the kidneys were damaged from chronic dehydration, which is sadly so common with this species, there is nothing you can do about it. You will just have to wait and see. Some pull through with good care, and others don't. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that is the harsh reality.

We all sincerely hope she pulls through, but if she doesn't, then make sure you find the right source next time. Few people start sulcatas the right way even though many people are breeding them.

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Thank you so much for your response. I really hope that she gains weight soon, I love her so much and I am so worried about her. I was wondering if perhaps I added a little bit more mazuri into her diet if that would be helpful. The only downfall of that is that I do not want to instill what already seems to be picky eating habits. If there is radicchio in the mix, she will pick that out and eat nothing else. So I have been picking it out and not offering it as much. It is more of a treat at this time just so I can try to get her to eat a variety of things. If I notice that she isn't eating anything all day, then I will put a piece in there. It is just worrying me to death at this point. I know that kidney problems, and hatchling failure syndrome could definitely be a possibility, but she is active, she is eating (for the most part), I just am so stumped as to why she isn't eating. I even went as far as using a bunch of different things including cactus pads and chopping it in the ninja. It's just frustrating and I'm just worried

Just a quick question, you probably described this somewhere in this thread, but I missed. What are you using as your night time/overall heat source? I see mention of a thermostat and 87 F, but don't see any reference to a CHE to provide overall heat.

Maro2Bear said:

Just a quick question, you probably described this somewhere in this thread, but I missed. What are you using as your night time/overall heat source? I see mention of a thermostat and 87 F, but don't see any reference to a CHE to provide overall heat.

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I Use a CHE a 100 watt one

sullygirl85 said:

I Use a CHE a 100 watt one

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Ok, just trying to figure out why your lil guy isnt gaining weight faster.

Maro2Bear said:

Ok, just trying to figure out why your lil guy isnt gaining weight faster.

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It's ok me too. I'm so confused as to why she isn't gaining weight. I have had her for a month and a half now and she has stayed the same the entire time.... She gained three grams in the first two days I have had her and from there it's nothing. We got a red foot at the same time and that sucker has doubled in size... I'm just worried about her

So I think I figured something out. At least maybe the root of the issue. In the event anyone stumbles across this ever again. I had a wood hut wood log and little wooden fence in her enclosure along with a ramp I made leading up to the grass pad. This is a huge no one. Upon inspection of the tank there was mold spores under the ramp. Then I started looking at everything else, her hut on the inside because it's a humid hide was covered it in (not to a horror movie level but enough to make you gasp oh no) and the same for everything wooden. I figured this out yesterday morning and since then I have taken all the wood out and replaced it with plastic things or made the ramp of just dirt and she seems to be loving it. She's more active and eating more. She has a vet appointment with a sulcata specialist (presumably) on Monday still so I guess we will see what happens! Snot bubbles are still there but perhaps now we know the cause of the infection