Baby Sulcata Sick, Help!

[Candy.j04]

I'm not sure if my baby sulcata (Diva) is sick or not. She isn't roaming around as she use to and she spends most of her day just sleeping under the basking lamp. I checked the temperatures in her enclosure and its usually 85 - 90 degrees depending on how warm my apartment is. About a week ago I notice she has one eye closed and i made nothing of it but then I noticed it was always closed to tried to wash it out as best as I could with warm water and it helped just a bit. Then I went to the pet store to get her some eye drops and they seem to have helped a bit but not as well as I hoped. Is this something to be worried about? Lately I also noticed she's making a loud hissing/sneezing noise, and that freaked me out completely because I lost her sister Dori less than a month ago to a Respiratory Infection. I honestly hope nothing is wrong please help I cant lose my little Diva too!

 

[Zeko]

Hello

Can you do the following for us:

1) Photos of her enclosure.
2) Photos of the lights and heat (the bulbs please).
3) Temperatures of Cool side, Warm side and her basking location.
4) Pictures of her!

Once we have these, we should be able to give you some advice!

 

[Candy.j04]

This is her full enclosure. I know its a bit small but its what I have for now while I get a bigger one...(hopefully soon) but for the mean time I let her roam around my living room so she gets some exercise but today she just popped into he shell and wouldn't move like she usually does.
The warm side of her enclosure is usually to the left under the lamp (90-96 degrees) the rest is 80 degrees and the far right corner gets less than 80 degrees. Right now I moved the tub to have the light in the center so it would be warmed and its about 87 degrees all throughout. Her normal basking spot is under the light just how she is now but she would occasionally move to cool down, but lately all she does is lay under it.


This is her bad eye. The one she mostly keeps closed. I have rinsed it out a couple of time and also added eye drops and it seems to have gotten better.

This is the other side. This eye doesn't seem to have anything wrong with it.

This is the night bulb I have for her right now.. I don't have a box to sow for the daytime bulb but it is a 75 watt Zoo Med basking light.

 

[Zeko]

Eeek. Okay, we got a few things we need to do.

First off, read:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/

Now what I would recommend:

1) While waiting for a new setup, go to Wallmart or Home Depot and buy a large Tupperware container. You can often find 3 feet wide ones or bigger for $20.

2) You need to keep the lid on and use it as a closed chamber and increases the humidity. Cut a hole in the top for your bulb and such.

3) I'm going to assume your daytime bulb is a spiral bulb. These cause eye damage to tortoises, and may be why she is keeping her eye shut. You need to grab either a UVB Florescent Tube, or a Mercury Vapour Bulb (large tear drop shape).

4) Tortoises need dark for night, I'd recommend grabbing a Ceramic Heat Emitter and set it to 80-85 on a thermostat. This is all you should use for night.

5) Do daily soaks for 20 minutes in 80-90*F water.

Does she have a water dish? I'd use a terra cotta saucer, like they use for under plants in a pot.

What do you feed her?

I'll have another look in a bit and give more advice, but I think this will be a good start.

 

[Candy.j04]

This is my daytime bulb. I'm waiting on a mercury vapor bulb I purchased from online, it should be here by Monday.

I usually soak her for about 15 minutes in a small container, and she usually pees in there's. Although today when I soaked her there was a larger amount of urates compared to other days.

She did have a water bowl but she wouldn't go near it so I took it out. Should I put it back in?

I feed her wheat grass, carrots and romaine lettuce (both occasionally), Timothy grass hay, and some tortoise calcium gummies.

 

[Zeko]

View attachment 105942 This is my daytime bulb. I'm waiting on a mercury vapor bulb I purchased from online, it should be here by Monday.

I usually soak her for about 15 minutes in a small container, and she usually pees in there's. Although today when I soaked her there was a larger amount of urates compared to other days.

She did have a water bowl but she wouldn't go near it so I took it out. Should I put it back in?

I feed her wheat grass, carrots and romaine lettuce (both occasionally), Timothy grass hay, and some tortoise calcium gummies.

Hey again.

That bulb doesn't produce any UVB from what I can tell (not good) but it also doesn't cause eye troubles. Perhaps bring her outside for some supervises sunshine if you get a warm day before the new bulb arrives. It's amazing what some sunshine will do for a tortoise.

Next idea on her eye issue. What is her ground/substrate? Hard to tell from the photo. If it is sand or anything dusty, try switching it out to soil or any of the recommendations in the link I posted.

Urates are typically a good indicator that the tortoise is not hydrated enough. I would definitely leave water in a saucer in there. Also, without being in a sealed, warm, high humidity enclosure (which you need to get ASAP, or she will become pyrmided quickly) I would bath her twice a day for 30 minutes each time. Keep the temperature of the water between 80-90F. Look for the Sprawl, and you know you got the right temperature Also, waiting for a bowl movement is also a good idea.

As for food, most of its outlined in that link I gave you. But... What are tortoise calcium gummies?

 

[halo]

Hi. I had a similar issue with my sulky hatching. Not eating, not opening eyes, lethargic. I tried everything & spent a lot of money on bulbs, foods, etc. (there's no tortoise vets around here). After a few weeks of this, I was soaking him one day, and I picked him up and looked at his bottom. There was what looked like a little Pooh trying to come out that was stuck. I pulled on it, and it was long. Apparently, he was impacted and couldn't get it out. After I pulled out that hard piece, a bunch more came out. He immediately perked up and started eating and walking around and drinking his water. It was gross, but I think it saved his life. Hope this helps…

I'm not sure if my baby sulcata (Diva) is sick or not. She isn't roaming around as she use to and she spends most of her day just sleeping under the basking lamp. I checked the temperatures in her enclosure and its usually 85 - 90 degrees depending on how warm my apartment is. About a week ago I notice she has one eye closed and i made nothing of it but then I noticed it was always closed to tried to wash it out as best as I could with warm water and it helped just a bit. Then I went to the pet store to get her some eye drops and they seem to have helped a bit but not as well as I hoped. Is this something to be worried about? Lately I also noticed she's making a loud hissing/sneezing noise, and that freaked me out completely because I lost her sister Dori less than a month ago to a Respiratory Infection. I honestly hope nothing is wrong please help I cant lose my little Diva too!

I'm not sure if my baby sulcata (Diva) is sick or not. She isn't roaming around as she use to and she spends most of her day just sleeping under the basking lamp. I checked the temperatures in her enclosure and its usually 85 - 90 degrees depending on how warm my apartment is. About a week ago I notice she has one eye closed and i made nothing of it but then I noticed it was always closed to tried to wash it out as best as I could with warm water and it helped just a bit. Then I went to the pet store to get her some eye drops and they seem to have helped a bit but not as well as I hoped. Is this something to be worried about? Lately I also noticed she's making a loud hissing/sneezing noise, and that freaked me out completely because I lost her sister Dori less than a month ago to a Respiratory Infection. I honestly hope nothing is wrong please help I cant lose my little Diva too!

 

[Bee62]

Hello @halo and welcome to the forum.
Please do not be suprised if Candy.j04 doesn`t answer you, but you wrote in an old thread from the year 2014.
But the experience that you`ve made with your ( impacted ) tortoise could be interesting to other tortoise owners.
How old is your tortoise ? Is it a sulcata ?
We all love to see pictures. Do you have some pics of your tort ?

 

[halo]

Hello @halo and welcome to the forum.
Please do not be suprised if Candy.j04 doesn`t answer you, but you wrote in an old thread from the year 2014.
But the experience that you`ve made with your ( impacted ) tortoise could be interesting to other tortoise owners.
How old is your tortoise ? Is it a sulcata ?
We all love to see pictures. Do you have some pics of your tort ?

Hello @halo and welcome to the forum.
Please do not be suprised if Candy.j04 doesn`t answer you, but you wrote in an old thread from the year 2014.
But the experience that you`ve made with your ( impacted ) tortoise could be interesting to other tortoise owners.
How old is your tortoise ? Is it a sulcata ?
We all love to see pictures. Do you have some pics of your tort ?

Mine is a hatchling that's just a little bigger than a half dollar. We have a leopard & a sulcatta. Both are really little babies. I've noticed on a lot of threads that there's a lot of hatchling failure so I thought that might be helpful to some people. I tried everything from soaking it in carrot juice to vitamins to all kinds of bulbs & even a new aquarium. The poop thing was the last resort & he seems to be doing great now.

 

[halo]

Hello @halo and welcome to the forum.
Please do not be suprised if Candy.j04 doesn`t answer you, but you wrote in an old thread from the year 2014.
But the experience that you`ve made with your ( impacted ) tortoise could be interesting to other tortoise owners.
How old is your tortoise ? Is it a sulcata ?
We all love to see pictures. Do you have some pics of your tort ?

Trying to figure out how to upload photos now...

 

[halo]

 

[Tom]

Trying to figure out how to upload photos now...

Welcome to the forum Halo. You are posting on another member's 3 year old thread here.

If you go to the sulcata section, you will find a little green tab in the upper right corner that says "Start a new thread". If you click on that you'll be able to start your own new thread to address your questions and concerns.

 

[Bee62]

Hi Halo,

can I give you some advices ? The water bowl of your baby torts is a trap. It`s difficult for a tort to climb in and out and they can flip over.
If you use a flat terracotta flowercoaster it is easy for a baby tort to get in and out.
The enclosure of your torts looks dry. How high is the humidity ? Baby torts need high humidity against pyramiding together with high warmth. Can you tell us the temps in your enclosure ?
By the way, your torts are cute and beautiful !

 

[Taylor T.]

@halo Are you keeping two tortoises of different species together? If so, that is not a good idea. Your Sulcata can grow to be over 200 pounds, and will soon be extremely territorial to your Leopard that will probably not reach 30 pounds.

 

[halo]

Hi Halo,

can I give you some advices ? The water bowl of your baby torts is a trap. It`s difficult for a tort to climb in and out and they can flip over.
If you use a flat terracotta flowercoaster it is easy for a baby tort to get in and out.
The enclosure of your torts looks dry. How high is the humidity ? Baby torts need high humidity against pyramiding together with high warmth. Can you tell us the temps in your enclosure ?
By the way, your torts are cute and beautiful !

Hi! Thanks for the advice. I do spray water from a squirt bottle over their bedding a couple times a day & I additionally take them outside often, (I live in Al where we have lots of humidity). Do you think that's enough or should I do something else? The temps stay btw 80-90 during the day with the uvb/uva bulbs & the 100w basking bulb. I turn on just the night bulbs at night to keep it around 70-75 at night.

 

[halo]

Hi! Thanks for the advice. I do spray water from a squirt bottle over their bedding a couple times a day & I additionally take them outside often, (I live in Al where we have lots of humidity). Do you think that's enough or should I do something else? The temps stay btw 80-90 during the day with the uvb/uva bulbs & the 100w basking bulb. I turn on just the night bulbs at night to keep it around 70-75 at night.

I own a garden shop so I can get the flower pots easily. I haven't had any trouble with the water bowls, but I can fix that.

 

[halo]

@halo Are you keeping two tortoises of different species together? If so, that is not a good idea. Your Sulcata can grow to be over 200 pounds, and will soon be extremely territorial to your Leopard that will probably not reach 30 pounds.

When I bought them, I didn't know it was bad. I thought they'd enjoy having a friend. Later, my sulky wasn't eating well & I read that they aren't social, so I bought another tank & separated them. They've been doing very well since I separated them.

 

[Eduardo Hernandez]

Hi! Thanks for the advice. I do spray water from a squirt bottle over their bedding a couple times a day & I additionally take them outside often, (I live in Al where we have lots of humidity). Do you think that's enough or should I do something else? The temps stay btw 80-90 during the day with the uvb/uva bulbs & the 100w basking bulb. I turn on just the night bulbs at night to keep it around 70-75 at night.

That's too cold for babies. I'm not too sure with the basking temp as I don't have a sulcata, but the night temps shouldn't drop under 80 degrees.

 

[halo]

That's too cold for babies. I'm not too sure with the basking temp as I don't have a sulcata, but the night temps shouldn't drop under 80 degrees.

Ok, I'll up the temps. I worry about it being too hot, though. They seem more active at this temp. They slept more when it was hot & wouldn't leave their hide outs. But, ok.

 

[Tom]

Ok, I'll up the temps. I worry about it being too hot, though. They seem more active at this temp. They slept more when it was hot & wouldn't leave their hide outs. But, ok.

Please give these a read:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/