Something catastrophic beyong belief happened

[yoshitofu]

*Dear reader before you go any further you should know this is ends in a casualty I need an answer to...*

Last night I finally had the guts to pick up my 7 month old Sulcata, Tofu who bunks with my one year old sulcata, Yoshi. I have had Tofu since the beginning of september and now the school year is over he didn't grow like Yoshi did and he shut his eyes, not eating for months on end. So he's in the corner of the tortoise table with his head in his shell for quite sometime, I pick him up... And he is like JELLO. His whole entire shell and self, he was still alive but he had dark circles and the under side of him had a red streak through his thin shell. So my mom promised she would take him to the vet tomorrow but that never happened because when I so happened to turn on their UVB light this morning, I found-... I found Tofu CRACKED like an egg. A creature who simply... Left like that. Was it my other tortoise? What did Tofu have that made him this way?

 

[mctlong]

Since there was a size disparity between the tortoises, I suspect that Tofu became ill though bullying. Larger torts will often bully smaller torts away from food, basking spots, hides, and other essentials. The smaller tort, as a result, will not get what it needs and becomes sick and malnourished over time.

I'm sorry to hear about yout little tort.

---

How is Yoshi doing? Does he appear sick at all?

 

[yoshitofu]

Since there was a size disparity between the tortoises, I suspect that Tofu became ill though bullying. Larger torts will often bully smaller torts away from food, basking spots, hides, and other essentials. The smaller tort, as a result, will not get what it needs and becomes sick and malnourished over time.

I'm sorry to hear about yout little tort.

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How is Yoshi doing? Does he appear sick at all?

---

That completely makes sense! He seemed discrete through out the time I had him but thank you so much for your word. Yoshi seems like a normal tortoise, hard shell and alert however do you think I should check him?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Mariah:

If your smaller tortoise stayed in the corner for a long time with his eyes shut, that means he wasn't eating. When they don't eat, they don't get the necessary vitamins and minerals to grow healthy and strong bones and shell. Your tortoise was suffering from a very acute case of Metabolic Bone disease brought on by a lack of calcium/vitamin d3. Even if your mom had taken him to the vet right away, he would not have been saved. He was already almost dead when you picked him up.

I'm so very sorry this happened to your little tortoise. Now is the time to take a good hard look at your tortoise-keeping practices and make adjustments to the way you care for Yoshi.

He needs vitamin d3, either from the sun (best) or from a UVB light. He needs calcium, either from his calcium-rich food, or from a supplement.

He needs exercise - a large habitat that gives him room to walk around.

He needs water, clean water every day, with a soak in an escape-proof tub three or four times a week.

Tofu was "like jello" because there was no calcium in his shell to keep it hard. I doubt he was cracked like an egg because of the other tortoise. His body was just too weak to stay together.

 

[yoshitofu]

Hi Mariah:

If your smaller tortoise stayed in the corner for a long time with his eyes shut, that means he wasn't eating. When they don't eat, they don't get the necessary vitamins and minerals to grow healthy and strong bones and shell. Your tortoise was suffering from a very acute case of Metabolic Bone disease brought on by a lack of calcium/vitamin d3. Even if your mom had taken him to the vet right away, he would not have been saved. He was already almost dead when you picked him up.

I'm so very sorry this happened to your little tortoise. Now is the time to take a good hard look at your tortoise-keeping practices and make adjustments to the way you care for Yoshi.

He needs vitamin d3, either from the sun (best) or from a UVB light. He needs calcium, either from his calcium-rich food, or from a supplement.

He needs exercise - a large habitat that gives him room to walk around.

He needs water, clean water every day, with a soak in an escape-proof tub three or four times a week.

Tofu was "like jello" because there was no calcium in his shell to keep it hard. I doubt he was cracked like an egg because of the other tortoise. His body was just too weak to stay together.

Gosh it just hits me in the heart chambers how that could be. I thought I could have another because of Yoshi but it turns out it wasn't the best of ideas....

 

[GeoTerraTestudo]

Gosh it just hits me in the heart chambers how that could be. I thought I could have another because of Yoshi but it turns out it wasn't the best of ideas....

Don't get another tortoise. The one you still have definitely wants to be alone, and sooner or later, directly or indirectly, he's going to injure or kill any other tortoise in his pen (as you have now seen, unfortunately). Remember, in the wild most tortoises spend the vast majority of their time alone, coming together only to mate. With few exceptions, tortoises do not want or need roommates. I would only get another tortoise if you have lots and lots of space outdoors, enough to give each one his or her own territory. You could also get a whole bunch of tortoises, so that no one individual can bully any other (aggression dilution). Either way, and especially with sulcatas, that takes a lot of room, and preferably outside.

 

[yoshitofu]

Don't get another tortoise. The one you still have definitely wants to be alone, and sooner or later, directly or indirectly, he's going to injure or kill any other tortoise in his pen (as you have now seen, unfortunately). Remember, in the wild most tortoises spend the vast majority of their time alone, coming together only to mate. With few exceptions, tortoises do not want or need roommates. I would only get another tortoise if you have lots and lots of space outdoors, enough to give each one his or her own territory. You could also get a whole bunch of tortoises, so that no one individual can bully any other (aggression dilution). Either way, and especially with sulcatas, that takes a lot of room, and preferably outside.

Oh yeah I so agree. As much as I love Yoshi and tortoises all around I think it's safe to say I could let him go to a proper owner with time for their maintenance.

 

[Tom]

Many of the tortoises who are started dry as new hatchlings end up exactly as you described too. No way for us to really know, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that Tofu was started on rabbit pellets, with no hide, no water bowl, and infrequent soaks.

 

[cemmons12]

*Dear reader before you go any further you should know this is ends in a casualty I need an answer to...*

Last night I finally had the guts to pick up my 7 month old Sulcata, Tofu who bunks with my one year old sulcata, Yoshi. I have had Tofu since the beginning of september and now the school year is over he didn't grow like Yoshi did and he shut his eyes, not eating for months on end. So he's in the corner of the tortoise table with his head in his shell for quite sometime, I pick him up... And he is like JELLO. His whole entire shell and self, he was still alive but he had dark circles and the under side of him had a red streak through his thin shell. So my mom promised she would take him to the vet tomorrow but that never happened because when I so happened to turn on their UVB light this morning, I found-... I found Tofu CRACKED like an egg. A creature who simply... Left like that. Was it my other tortoise? What did Tofu have that made him this way?

this is heart breaking to me. Did he ever see a vet?

 

[Jlant85]

My heart dropped when I reading this... How is she now? Hope all goes well... Keep us posted on what's happening...

 

[Laura]

what do you mean you finally got the guts to pick him up? are you afraid of them? afraid of what you would find because it didn't look well?

 

[elpatron_jrz]

Omg i have one that has a soft shell :'(

 

[Jlant85]

My heart dropped when I reading this... How is she now? Hope all goes well... Keep us posted on what's happening...

>.< Casualty! DIDNT READ THAT PART... I JUST JUMP THE GUN AND READ THE OTHER PART! >.< NOW SAD!

 

[yagyujubei]

Is the surviving one considerably larger? Did you ever see it bashing into the smaller one? I find it difficult to believe that MDB or any illness caused the acute injury you describe. I have never heard of this.