Has anyone ever tried protein to treat hatchlings failure to thrive?

[Kvmommy]

Sprinkles, my 2 mo old sulcata, is fading fast.i have tried everything I have read and that has been suggested. Higher temps, more humidity, carrot soaks, vitamin soaks, high moisture food, cuttle bone, calcium on food, separating from sibling...everything! Her sibling is still doing so well, he's 55 g and a beast!! Sprinkles weighs 36 g (gained 1 gram from 4 days ago). More and more lethargic and plastron is almost mushy in comparison to Storm who is flexible but firm.

So I have read 100's of threads and articles and it appears that almost every time the hatchling dies and nothing can be done. But the one thing I haven't read is high protein. I know it's bad for them in the long run, but wouldn't it be ok to get them through this? I used to raise chicks and they would hatch weak or deformed or have neurological symptoms and we feed them boiled egg yolk and very high amount of vitamins. It works most of the time and saves them. So...I am desperate and I feel sure she isn't going to make it unless I do something drastic. So...what do you guys think? And if I did try, best form of protein? Thanks for putting up with me...I just am a wreck worrying about her. Oh and some photos of both. Storm is the dark one and Sprinkles has a funny belly button.

 

[Yvonne G]

You mean animal protein, right? Because plants have protein too. I wouldn't put the additional stress on a sick baby's system by feeding it something its body is not used to digesting.

Have you tried the carrot baby food soaks?

 

[Kvmommy]

Yes I have been doing carrot food soaks and bird vitamin soaks every day now. Yes I was talking about animal protein. Something like boiled eggs. I know normally I wouldn't but she's very weak and it seems that normal treatments don't work for these sick hatchlings which is why I wanted to try something else. Is there any kind of plant protein that I can try to feed that is high in protein and that she will eat? I can barely get her to eat now. A few bites and she falls asleep. I even tried watermelon and a berry, just to try to get food and fluids in her and she isn't interested. But she was very interested in my dogs poop which is why I thought of this.

 

[Jodie]

I didn't try it, and lost 2 to hatchling fail syndrome. The theory, as I understand it is that their organs are damaged by dehydration, so I don't know how it could help. So sorry you and your sweet baby are going through this.

 

[Kvmommy]

I have been trying so hard to keep her hydrated but I am thinking their shells get soft and they get weak is more than not enough calcium. So maybe protein to boost their energy and strength while long term can be bad but a little during this time might be worth it. But then again if it stresses their already stressed kidneys could be bad.

Here is Sprinkles and Storm. Sorinkles is clear. Storm is solid all the way through. There's no meat/ fluid in her.

 

[Bogie=babyDINO]

What happened to her?

 

[dmmj]

at this stage you probably need liquid calciumliquid calcium and hope

 

[Bogie=babyDINO]

Yeah it sounds like he/she was in bad shape. This thread was from a couple months ago so a wanna know what happen.

 

[Tom]

If the kidneys were damaged due to chronic dehydration as a hatchling, there is really nothing you can do. Adding animal protein to the diet of a tortoise with non-functioning kidneys, or partially-functioning kidneys does not sound like a good idea to me.

On the other hand, at this stage, can it really make things worse? If the tortoise is dying anyway, maybe your experiment will teach us all something new.

 

[ascott]

View attachment 138468 View attachment 138469 View attachment 138470 View attachment 138468 View attachment 138469 View attachment 138470 View attachment 138468 View attachment 138469 View attachment 138470 Sprinkles, my 2 mo old sulcata, is fading fast.i have tried everything I have read and that has been suggested. Higher temps, more humidity, carrot soaks, vitamin soaks, high moisture food, cuttle bone, calcium on food, separating from sibling...everything! Her sibling is still doing so well, he's 55 g and a beast!! Sprinkles weighs 36 g (gained 1 gram from 4 days ago). More and more lethargic and plastron is almost mushy in comparison to Storm who is flexible but firm.

So I have read 100's of threads and articles and it appears that almost every time the hatchling dies and nothing can be done. But the one thing I haven't read is high protein. I know it's bad for them in the long run, but wouldn't it be ok to get them through this? I used to raise chicks and they would hatch weak or deformed or have neurological symptoms and we feed them boiled egg yolk and very high amount of vitamins. It works most of the time and saves them. So...I am desperate and I feel sure she isn't going to make it unless I do something drastic. So...what do you guys think? And if I did try, best form of protein? Thanks for putting up with me...I just am a wreck worrying about her. Oh and some photos of both. Storm is the dark one and Sprinkles has a funny belly button.

if the two were housed together as a pair..you likely are seeing the outcome of a more dominating tortoise with a much more passive one...more over than supoosed hatchling failure syndrome...no way for anyone to be certain ..but many can speculate a variety of reasons....I hope you offered the temp up in protein and it helped...