Hello everyone this is my first time posting, and I just joined last night. I am feeling like a really crappy toroise parent right now and thought you guys would be able to help me faster than I can find it(although I've been reading most of the night and this morning through posts).
The reason for my post is that I "rescued" 3 baby toroises from a friend of a friend about 5 months ago and everything has been going great, but last night I discovered one of my bebes has a soft shell and I'm afraid it might be too late. They were all very very active up until about a month ago when the tempatures started dropping here so I figured they were going into hibernation. I have been waking them up to feed and sit in the water bowl and keep active since I had read it wasn't good to have them hibernate the first year since they don't have enough reserves. One of the 3 had not been eating as much as the others and was far less active but would still make his way to the hiding spot. When I picked him up last night I noticed that his shell was very soft and I was/am heartbroken thinking about him suffering. Some rescuer I turned out to be!
I have 3 beardies that I have had for about 3 years now and I thought it wouldn't be TOO big if a challenge to take on these 3 tortoises since the orignal owner had them in a 5 gallon tank with no lighting and the substrate was loose sand that was always wet.
I have a UVB 5.0 bulb, and a heat lamp that keeps the temp around 91, the tank is a square tank about 3x3 ft. Substrate is carpet from Lowes(normally used for outside patios etc) and isn't strandy. I added some broken pieces of slate tile for climbing and excersize and the floor space is pretty large(for thier size) for roaming. Thier diet has been consistent of mustard greens/turnip greens, yellow and green squash, and an occasional tomato(don't know why but they ravage that stuff).
I read that I should get the baby who's in trouble some UV to get the shell hard again but I live in AZ and although it is the desert as of late it has been cold here and not the ideal time to get the baby some sun. I will put him out there anyway if I have to get him to recover but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm sorry for my novel of a post but I'm just torn about this and feel terrible about my baby suffering right now!
Any and all help is much appreciate and thanks for listening if anything.
The reason for my post is that I "rescued" 3 baby toroises from a friend of a friend about 5 months ago and everything has been going great, but last night I discovered one of my bebes has a soft shell and I'm afraid it might be too late. They were all very very active up until about a month ago when the tempatures started dropping here so I figured they were going into hibernation. I have been waking them up to feed and sit in the water bowl and keep active since I had read it wasn't good to have them hibernate the first year since they don't have enough reserves. One of the 3 had not been eating as much as the others and was far less active but would still make his way to the hiding spot. When I picked him up last night I noticed that his shell was very soft and I was/am heartbroken thinking about him suffering. Some rescuer I turned out to be!
I have 3 beardies that I have had for about 3 years now and I thought it wouldn't be TOO big if a challenge to take on these 3 tortoises since the orignal owner had them in a 5 gallon tank with no lighting and the substrate was loose sand that was always wet. I have a UVB 5.0 bulb, and a heat lamp that keeps the temp around 91, the tank is a square tank about 3x3 ft. Substrate is carpet from Lowes(normally used for outside patios etc) and isn't strandy. I added some broken pieces of slate tile for climbing and excersize and the floor space is pretty large(for thier size) for roaming. Thier diet has been consistent of mustard greens/turnip greens, yellow and green squash, and an occasional tomato(don't know why but they ravage that stuff).
I read that I should get the baby who's in trouble some UV to get the shell hard again but I live in AZ and although it is the desert as of late it has been cold here and not the ideal time to get the baby some sun. I will put him out there anyway if I have to get him to recover but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm sorry for my novel of a post but I'm just torn about this and feel terrible about my baby suffering right now!
Any and all help is much appreciate and thanks for listening if anything.
