Hello!
I have had this baby for about 1.5 weeks now, and since we've received him, hes shown very little interest in food. At first, we had him in an open air setup and realized over a few days that we weren't able to keep his humidity up to acceptable levels. Also, the care sheets that I had read said to create a heat gradient with a basking spot which I did. We had a basking spot of ~90F, however the cold side would get to room temperature of about ~71F. We housed him in a kiddie pool with coconut coir and sphagnum moss for the substrate with several hides scattered throughout, all with moss in them. After 4 or 5 days, we noticed he wouldn't really open his eyes unless we soaked him. While soaking, he would open them all though they did look irritated, then eventually after his soak he would close them again. We started doing more research and noted that there were several things wrong with his set up and corrected them immediately. Also worth noting, we had a coil UVB bulb which we have replaced with an 80W powersun mercury vapor lamp. We replaced the coil UVB bulb when we noticed he started having eye issues.
Now, his current setup hes been in for about 3 days and his eyes have improved significantly, however still no interest in food. He does open his eyes like normal without soaking, and seems to get around just fine. I was actually surprised at how fast he can stomp around. His current setup is a large tumble ware container with 2 inches of coconut coir on the bottom and sphagnum moss on top. He has a small water dish, a few hides, and some fake plants in there. We have 2 lights, a 80W powersun mercury vapor lamp which runs ~12 hours a day paired with a 60W red heat bulb for nighttime. I read that a ceramic heat emitter is better then the red bulb for nighttime, and have such ordered one and expecting it any day now. His day temperature reads 88 degrees on the hot side and 84 on the "colder" side. At night time, it falls to around 84 degrees on the hot side, 82 degrees on the cold. I check these temperatures with a heat gun a few times a day. We also have a heat prob which is in his main hide he likes to stay in which reads ~85 degrees during the day, ~83 at night. Humidity has since been above 75 percent all time, typically above 80. I spray the sides of the habitat heavily a few times a day. To maintain the humidity and heat, about half of the container has a makeshift lid, the other half is open air which has the lights above it.
For feeding, we've been offering a mix mustard greens, dandelion pieces from the yard (washed first - we do not treat our yard with any pesticides), kale, watermelon, banana, Mazuri tortoise diet pellets, and thrive dried fruit and veggie mix. When we first received him, he was eating very small amounts if we offered in by hand, which he seemed to enjoy banana. I would mash a little bit of banana into some greens and offer them to him. Then over the week he stopped eating or taking anything from me with the exception of small pieces of fruit every once in awhile. Now, since I have moved him to his new habitat I have not seen him eat anything. All water is treated with Reptisafe. We have been soaking him daily, or sometimes twice a day. The other day, I did soak him in half water/half carrot baby food for about 20 minutes.
He weighs about 25g, and his shell is about 2 inches long. He does have his egg tooth still. Please see some pictures below.
Any advice would be fantastic! Thank you so much for reading.
Sam
I have had this baby for about 1.5 weeks now, and since we've received him, hes shown very little interest in food. At first, we had him in an open air setup and realized over a few days that we weren't able to keep his humidity up to acceptable levels. Also, the care sheets that I had read said to create a heat gradient with a basking spot which I did. We had a basking spot of ~90F, however the cold side would get to room temperature of about ~71F. We housed him in a kiddie pool with coconut coir and sphagnum moss for the substrate with several hides scattered throughout, all with moss in them. After 4 or 5 days, we noticed he wouldn't really open his eyes unless we soaked him. While soaking, he would open them all though they did look irritated, then eventually after his soak he would close them again. We started doing more research and noted that there were several things wrong with his set up and corrected them immediately. Also worth noting, we had a coil UVB bulb which we have replaced with an 80W powersun mercury vapor lamp. We replaced the coil UVB bulb when we noticed he started having eye issues.
Now, his current setup hes been in for about 3 days and his eyes have improved significantly, however still no interest in food. He does open his eyes like normal without soaking, and seems to get around just fine. I was actually surprised at how fast he can stomp around. His current setup is a large tumble ware container with 2 inches of coconut coir on the bottom and sphagnum moss on top. He has a small water dish, a few hides, and some fake plants in there. We have 2 lights, a 80W powersun mercury vapor lamp which runs ~12 hours a day paired with a 60W red heat bulb for nighttime. I read that a ceramic heat emitter is better then the red bulb for nighttime, and have such ordered one and expecting it any day now. His day temperature reads 88 degrees on the hot side and 84 on the "colder" side. At night time, it falls to around 84 degrees on the hot side, 82 degrees on the cold. I check these temperatures with a heat gun a few times a day. We also have a heat prob which is in his main hide he likes to stay in which reads ~85 degrees during the day, ~83 at night. Humidity has since been above 75 percent all time, typically above 80. I spray the sides of the habitat heavily a few times a day. To maintain the humidity and heat, about half of the container has a makeshift lid, the other half is open air which has the lights above it.
For feeding, we've been offering a mix mustard greens, dandelion pieces from the yard (washed first - we do not treat our yard with any pesticides), kale, watermelon, banana, Mazuri tortoise diet pellets, and thrive dried fruit and veggie mix. When we first received him, he was eating very small amounts if we offered in by hand, which he seemed to enjoy banana. I would mash a little bit of banana into some greens and offer them to him. Then over the week he stopped eating or taking anything from me with the exception of small pieces of fruit every once in awhile. Now, since I have moved him to his new habitat I have not seen him eat anything. All water is treated with Reptisafe. We have been soaking him daily, or sometimes twice a day. The other day, I did soak him in half water/half carrot baby food for about 20 minutes.
He weighs about 25g, and his shell is about 2 inches long. He does have his egg tooth still. Please see some pictures below.
Any advice would be fantastic! Thank you so much for reading.
Sam