Chantelle Introduction

[ChanTellytubbie]

Good day All

I am the proud owner of a little Leopard Tortoise, it is a little boy who I named Squirtle... he is very health and growing nicely.

I recently rescued his sibling from a friend as it was not being cared for correctly, she is very under nourished and she was dehydrated and eyes closed shut, I've had her for two days now, and her eyes are starting to open but she is still unable to see... I am hoping I will be able to save this little girl as she is half of squirtle's size and she shell is very soft, not to mention the eye problem....

in the image below it is the first day I had the rescued tortoise... they are the same age but note the size difference

 

[JoesMum]

Hi Chantelle

First things first. Keep these two entirely separately.

They must not come together as you don't want either to make the other sick.

They are also very territorial and the risk of bullying is high with one already being weak.

The sick tort needs warmth, UVB, the correct diet and a tiny pinch of calcium powder sprinkled on food 3 times a week (no more as you can overdo calcium) Yours will benefit from those too.

The sick tort needs soaking twice a day for at least 30 minutes in warm water. The water should be deep enough to come just up over the join between the shell and the plastron. Use a flat-bottomed bowl that your tort can't see over or through. A washing up bowl is ideal.

Your tort needs a daily 20 minute soak at this age. Be careful with hygiene when handling the two torts and keep everything used separate.

I recommend that you read these threads. They're written by species experts working hard to correct the outdated information widely available on the internet and from pet stores and, sadly, from some breeders and vets too.

Beginner Mistakes
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

How to raise a healthy Leopard Tortoise
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. Along with the great info JoesMum gave you, you also need to get those little white stones out of the enclosure, they can cause impaction and tortoises are drawn to white and red. Also you need to be raising these two in two separate closed chambers. You're already has pyramiding. Not sure how old yours actually is, but it's too small to sex unless it has flashed you. Flashing usually doesn't start until the age of two and that's not always a common thing they will do. Glad your trying to save the little one, but you do have some more reading, learning and tweaking to do.
Also you might want to try soaking the little one with puréed baby food carrots mixed into the warm soak water.
Good luck, keep us updated on the progress.

 

[Yvonne G]

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Hi

 

[Stuart S.]

Welcome to the forum!

Make sure you don't have coiled UV lights as that could have been an issue with the eyes from the previous owner. Coiled lights are not good for tortoises.