Baby sulcata has bubbles

[Betsy]

Hi there! I'm a new sulcata owner and I've been combing these threads to learn how to properly care for my new baby that my parents got me for Christmas. He's been doing well but yesterday I noticed he had some small bubbles coming from his nose, just two and real quick with little chirps when we took him out of his cage. I immediately put him back in and he's seemed fine. I've seen a few tonight but it was after he came out of his water dish so I'm not sure if it was form his soak this time. His tank has a humid hide on one side with his basking spot on the other. His basking side is 95-day and 80-night with around 100 directly under the light. His humidity stays between 70-80 all day. I have zoo med loose coconut fiber substrate in his cage and feed him organic wheat grass, spring mix, and endive alternating. He gets calcium added 2-3 times a week and a little pumpkin purée every other week. He's still active and moving around but he also likes to sleep a lot. Like a lot. I can't tell how old he is or if there is something wrong from the bubbles. Could it be stress? His substrate bothering him? When I mist it it sticks to him and I see him trying to wipe it off a lot, or after he comes out of his soak.

P.s.--that's a temporary water dish that does not stay in his cage. I've attached pictures of him, his cage and temps.

 

[wellington]

Hello and Welcome. A couple things you need to change. The water dish should be in his enclosure 24/7 with fresh water daily. The humidity and temp gauges your using are not only too high, needs to be at tort level, but they are also very unreliable. Get digital read gauges and get the readings from his level. I would raise the over all day and night temp to 85 until you no longer see any bubbles. Make sure the humidith is actually 80% and I would bump the basking temp to 100.

 

[Markw84]

Betsy. From you post, I'm sure you have read the threads pinned to the top of the sulcata section. Please do study those and most of your questions will be answered there. Pay particular attention to "How to Raise a Healthy Sulcata or Leopard". You are doing a lot right and are on a good start.

It does sound like your little guy is showing the start of a respiratory infection. From you pictures, I cannot imagine your temperatures are high enough. With a screen top all the heat and humidity will escape and at tortoise level it will be pretty close to room temperature, especially all areas not directly under the light. Also, if you are trying to provide a UVB light, the screen will filter most of the UVB and you cannot provide adequate UVB THROUGH a screen. I also do not see any provision for night heat. I never let my hatchling sulcatas get below 80F in any part of their enclosure. You need to cover the tank and get a Ceramic Heat Emitter on a thermostat installed ASAP. Have the thermostat set at 81F and have the probe at the coolest part of the enclosure.

You need to fix the heat issue immediately. Don't let your tortoise get cooler than 80F. To fight a possible respiratory infection starting, I would keep it at 85F minimum.

Also, your tortoise needs a water dish permanently in the enclosure to drink and self soak when it wants.

Keep us updated, and ask any question you are unsure of.

 

[cmacusa3]

I don't think you actually have that high of humidity with an open top. That screen that the light sits on is filtering the UVB. What type of light and night heat are you using?

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

 

[Betsy]

Thank you everyone for replying! As far as the water dish goes, its in here 24/7 and I change it daily, sometimes more than once when he drags dirt in there with him. I just meant temporary as in I'm going to replace it with a shallow-er one that is easier for him to get in and out of. He does fine with this one but struggles sometimes.
The light I have is a 100 watt daylight bulb and a 75 nighttime. It' a dual lamp and its on a timer with daylight covering 9am-1035pm. Unfortunately, I don't have the income to go out and buy digital readers immediately but I will plant to get them as soon as I can. Until then, the suggestion was to move the thermometers lower? A couple inches above the substrate too low or will that work? I try my best to keep the humidity in, I have a double layer of towels over the screen all the way up to the light and a heating pad under his hide. Getting a different tank can be expensive too so it will take time to change, unless someone has a suggestion for a way to replace the top?

 

[cmacusa3]

The towels are good, foil will also work. Is the daytime bulb aUVB or just a basking bulb? You may need to cut a small hole in the screen to allow the UVB to pass through.

 

[Betsy]

It is UVA and basking. Do you think the towels are keeping enough humidity in? Or is the thermometer lying to me? I will move them lower. Also, can anyone tell how old the little guy might be?

 

[cmacusa3]

Those thermometers are known to be not real trustworthy. If it were me I would get rid of the towels because they could be a fire hazard with the hot lights and just wrap the screen with foil and cut holes for the lights and night heat. You need to keep as much heat in as possible especially while you see the bubbles. Low heat and high humidity are a bad combination. It's hard to say how old but my guess would be 6 months to a year.

Read those threads I linked and others that you will find in those sections

 

[Betsy]

Ok I will try that! Thank you! Do you have a suggestion on a brand for digital thermometer?

 

[cmacusa3]

Ok I will try that! Thank you! Do you have a suggestion on a brand for digital thermometer?

You can get a digital one at Walmart, lowes or any of those type places for around $10

Also if you hand pack that substrate it will help to keep it from being tracked into the water dish.

 

[Betsy]

Thank you

 

[Tom]

It is UVA and basking. Do you think the towels are keeping enough humidity in? Or is the thermometer lying to me? I will move them lower. Also, can anyone tell how old the little guy might be?

1. The stick-on type thermometers and hygrometers are notoriously inaccurate and unreliable. You need to know your four temperatures. Warm side, cool side, basking area and overnight low. I mention all this because the usual cause of of respiratory infection is cold temperatures. Especially at night and especially with humidity.

2. You need to get that enclosure warmer ASAP. You need a CHE set on a thermostat over the middle of that tank to keep up ambient temps day and night. They still need it dark at night, so that 75 watt light bulb is not a good idea unless its a "black" bulb, but even then, it is not warm enough.

3. Please read those threads that Craig posted ASAP. Your baby does not have time for you to figure this all out. It will be a lot more expensive to treat an RI than it will to buy the right equipment, and sometimes the treatment itself can either kill them, or just fail. Get that baby warmer right now. Tonight. Put the tank in a bathroom with a space heater if need be. Don't let the temperature drop below 85 anywhere in the enclosure day or night for at least two weeks AFTER symptoms stop. Daytime ambient should be climbing into the 90s and it should be 100 directly under the basking bulb.

4. You still need a UVB bulb. UVA doesn't help them make the necessary D3. They need UVB, provided the correct way, for that. The coil type cfl bulbs are the cheapest and this is what most pet stores will try to sell you, but they are potentially dangerous and should not be sold or used. You need a mercury vapor bulb or a florescent tube of the right type for your application. Your baby can go a couple of weeks without UVB, but you will need to work something out eventually. Where are you? In warmer areas, the best UV source is the sun and that is FREE!!!

Please ask for clarification on any of this and don't wait until tomorrow to deal with this.

 

[Betsy]

Ive cut a hole under his bulb and covered the entire screen with tinfoil, duct taped down. There is no foil or tape under the lamp, Ive cut around it, and that small area is venting. I can already see the condensation building up on the glass. I will order a digital thermometer and will hopefully have it by monday. Will the stability in his temps reverse his bubbles?

 

[Betsy]

Tom, the night bulb I have is the 75 night heat lamp, it's blue. If this is too low should I just leave his daylight lamp on 24/7 until I can get a replacement? I work weekends 9a-9p every saturday and sunday so getting to the store is going to be real hard for the next two days. The humidity in his tank is building more than I have ever seen it- its already appearing on the glass. And since Ive cut the hole in the screen for the light the temp has gone up at least 5 degrees, according to the current thermometer I have though. The new one will be here amazon prime (if you have a recommendation for a reliable brand i can still change my order). I will also add a mercury vapor bulb to that order, is there a bulb that offers UVA and UVB? I honestly tried to get all of this covered when he was handed to me but I'm still very much a newbie and don't want my tort to suffer for it.

Pictures of the bulbs I'm using are attached

 

[cmacusa3]

I will tag @Tom but here are the items he is talking about



https://www.google.com/search?q=ceramic+heat+emitter&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari

The heat emitter works great for night heat but you need a thermostat for it to regulate temps. All these items are on amazon

 

[Betsy]

Thank you! I'm ordering a 100w CHE bulb for the ambient/night temps. I will get another 100W (That enough for my size tank?) of that bulb you just posted for daytime, and I've ordered the Zilla Reptile Terrarium thermostat to maintain the temps. All will be here in 1-2 days max. Until they get here what do I do about his night temps?

 

[cmacusa3]

Thank you! I'm ordering a 100w CHE bulb for the ambient/night temps. I will get another 100W (That enough for my size tank?) of that bulb you just posted for daytime, and I've ordered the Zilla Reptile Terrarium thermostat to maintain the temps. All will be here in 1-2 days max. Until they get here what do I do about his night temps?

One will be enough for that size tank. If you haven't ordered that Zilla yet there is a good digital one that I use that's half the price.

For now sounds like temps are coming up but as Tom said put the tank in a warm room and if you have a space heater sit it close to the enclosure

 

[Betsy]

Only one bulb? I thought I needed the one for day time and the CHE for night temps? I'm definitely interested in the digital one if its cheaper

 

[cmacusa3]

Only one CHE for night and the Mercury bulb for day

 

[cmacusa3]

I have 4 of these and they've been working great

This will control the CHE at night, you will put the CHE over the middle and then put the temp probe in one of the corners. Set the temp to 85 for now until the bubbles clear up then you can drop it to 80-81