Bixi Update 5/12/17

[Bixi]

Bixi is looking good and doing pretty well. She is almost exactly 3.5inches. I haven't posted any new pics. Her old album is here http://imgur.com/a/47ubH

She is still recieving 0.02ml of Ceftazidime every 3 days for her R.I. that showed up back on 3/22/17. They gave me a ton of syringes...

She is eating a lot of zoomed grassland tortoise food and Kaytee brand Timothy hay. She also has eaten about 1/2 to 3/5ths of a cuttlebone in the last 6 weeks. She gets a couple of pinches of romaine every other day.

Her cage is currently staying ~95 degrees F (~110-120 under the ceramic heat bulb). I open the lid and let her tank cool a bit when I turn her light off, and then let it warm back up over night.

She is active and pooping and eating and I haven't seen any urate excretions in a long time.

She is a digging FIEND, lol. She regularly digs spots down to (or near) the bottom of her ~4inch deep substrate. She is on a 50/50 mix of coconut coir and cypress mulch.

This morning I found her UPSIDE DOWN in her water bowl (shallow water), and she was obviously freaked out, but I put her under her heat lamp and let her warm up and she is ok. She has eaten since then.

I have one concern that I would like to address to the community for feedback: Her plastron scutes are not soft, but the growth rings between her plastron scutes are raised above the scutes (I will try to get pics of this, soon). If you press in the center of the growth rings (at the intersection of 4 scutes) there is some "give". It is not extremely soft, but there is some flexibility. She is currently 4.5 to 5 months old. Is this normal? I have read that is MAY be normal, but I want a consensus from you guys, if possible. She gets plenty of calcium via cuttlebone and zoo med reti-calcium (with D3) on her romaine. She gets UVB from a 15 watt t8 - bp tropical 25 tube bulb. I think it is just a cheap bulb that came with the "desert" fixture I bought on amazon. I know she would benefit from a better light, and I have that on my list of things to upgrade for her. She also has a large waterbowl (see pics) in which she soaks herself and poops every day. Her sleeping hide is currently pretty dry, and I've left it that way recently. She has very mild pyramiding on her back, but I am not too worried about that at this point.

Do you guys think the mild pyramiding and the plastron issues could be from her illness/antibiotics? Is it possible that my bulb is COMPLETE crap and she isn't getting enough D3? I gave her some carrot/sweet potato for a while to increase her vitamin B intake, but she wouldn't eat much of either of them. The zoomed grassland tortoise diet has some vitamin B in it.

So anyway, all input is appreciated. I feel like I'm doing all the things she needs, but she still has the mildly flexible plastron. I don't believe the pyramiding is a problem as it is quite small, however, she is also quite small...

Thanks!

Burke

 

[wellington]

Some/little give is normal. If it's a lot of give or mushy, that's something to worry about. Sounds like a better bulb is needed too. If you have any 80 temps outside, wouldn't do colder with her still getting over an RI, some sun would do her wonders. Just be sure there is shade and water available and only leave her out for 1/2 to 1 hour.

 

[Bixi]

http://imgur.com/gallery/Jw7d4

There is a new Gallery on Imgur. The quality is low on a few of those. Sorry for that.

She loves to climb up/over my keyboard for some reason... maybe the green lights?

There are pretty clear pictures of her plastron. You can also see her level of pyramiding in the last pic in that gallery.

@wellington I REALLY do need to get her outside more. We are currently living in an apartment complex and looking for a house. I worry that they may spray poison on the lawns outside, and I don't want her to potentially come into contact with anything like that. So I have limited her outside time. She has been out a couple of times, but she basically freaks out... I need to build a small pen with a hide that I can carry outside to let her get some real sunshine. That is also on my to-do list, currently! Temps are starting to be in the low 80's here on a regular basis.

 

[Bee62]

My little ones are 9 months old and their plastron has all a lttle "give" but they are healthy, eating and pooping well and their carapax is hard. So I think there is no issue.
Please be careful not to overdose calcium added with vitamin D3. If your tort has a good UVB lamp and is sometimes outdoors she or he needs no extra D3 vitamin. Too much is not good !

 

[Bixi]

My little ones are 9 months old and their plastron has all a lttle "give" but they are healthy, eating and pooping well and their carapax is hard. So I think there is no issue.
Please be careful not to overdose calcium added with vitamin D3. If your tort has a good UVB lamp and is sometimes outdoors she or he needs no extra D3 vitamin. Too much is not good !

Awesome, this is good to hear. I dont give a ton of the calcium supplement, but she does gnaw on her cuttlebone daily.

Anyone check the pics in my last post? Specifically, i am wondering if the raised growth between her plastron scutes is indicative of any issues.

 

[Bee62]

Hi Bixi`s mom or dad,

I don`t see any signs for issues, but mayby someone else also can have a look on your pics too and another opinion as mine.

 

[Bixi]

Hi Bixi`s mom or dad,

I don`t see any signs for issues, but mayby someone else also can have a look on your pics too and another opinion as mine.

Thank you Bee!
I have been looking at other young sulcata plastrons, and none of the pics I have seen have the raised growth areas in between the scutes, so I am still concerned. After a bit more reading I have begun increasing her humidity (mostly by keeping her substrate moist). Bixi did not show any signs of pyramiding until I lowered her humidity (at the vet's behest) in order to help with her R.I. This has been during a ~2 month period of growth. I guess pyramiding can show up pretty quickly! She seems to be doing well regarding the R.I., so I see no reason to continue letting her live in a dry environment. She has always been able to soak herself in her water dish, but those soaks were her only means of "humidity". In particular, I have increased the humidity inside her hide where she digs and spends a lot of time. Hopefully the plastron growth is a non-issue and the increased humidity in her enclosure will smooth out her shell.

Thanks again,

Burke

p.s. - I am her "dad"

 

[Bee62]

Hello Burke,

living in high humidity is very important for sulcata babies. You can make no mistake with high humidity but you have to control the warmth. When it is too cold in the enclosure they will get a RI very quick.
When it`s humid and warm day and night, your tort will stay healthy.
Do you soak her ?

Because your tort is young I think the new growth of the plastron will be normal when you take care of humidity and temps.

Regards

Sabine

 

[Bixi]

Hello Burke,

living in high humidity is very important for sulcata babies. You can make no mistake with high humidity but you have to control the warmth. When it is too cold in the enclosure they will get a RI very quick.
When it`s humid and warm day and night, your tort will stay healthy.
Do you soak her ?

Because your tort is young I think the new growth of the plastron will be normal when you take care of humidity and temps.

Regards

Sabine

You hit the nail on the head. Her R.I. was because she was getting too much "cold humidity". I increased her temps and lowered the humidity (as I said, the vet told me to lower it). While the humidity was lowered her last few growth plates came in with mild pyramiding.

Currently she has ~85-90 regular temps (~120 directly under the heat lamp) and much higher humidity overall. Since my last post, I have begun to lightly soak her substrate 1-2 times a day with a mist bottle. I don't have a humidity monitor so I can not quote exact humidity numbers, but it is far superior to what she was getting.

I have not been manually soaking her in a bowl, but I may begin doing that again. I did it at least twice a day when she was a hatchling. She has a large water dish that she crawls into every day now. She poops in her water dish... every day... so I know she is at least taking a dip! It is too soon to see any changes in her plastron, but if I don't see the growth smooth out then I will have to make changes. I will approach the community again soon if I do not see changes. Thank you for the response, Sabine!

Burke

 

[Bee62]

You hit the nail on the head. Her R.I. was because she was getting too much "cold humidity". I increased her temps and lowered the humidity (as I said, the vet told me to lower it). While the humidity was lowered her last few growth plates came in with mild pyramiding.

Currently she has ~85-90 regular temps (~120 directly under the heat lamp) and much higher humidity overall. Since my last post, I have begun to lightly soak her substrate 1-2 times a day with a mist bottle. I don't have a humidity monitor so I can not quote exact humidity numbers, but it is far superior to what she was getting.

I have not been manually soaking her in a bowl, but I may begin doing that again. I did it at least twice a day when she was a hatchling. She has a large water dish that she crawls into every day now. She poops in her water dish... every day... so I know she is at least taking a dip! It is too soon to see any changes in her plastron, but if I don't see the growth smooth out then I will have to make changes. I will approach the community again soon if I do not see changes. Thank you for the response, Sabine!

Burke

Hello Burke,

120 F under the basking lamp is too hot !
All temps about 103 F can really hurt a tortoise !

 

[Bixi]

I have plans to construct a tortoise table this week. Very excited! I will be able to regulate temps better and keep the humidity high with the setup i have planned. Tks for the advice on everything.

 

[cyclopunx]

I have plans to construct a tortoise table this week. Very excited! I will be able to regulate temps better and keep the humidity high with the setup i have planned. Tks for the advice on everything.

 

[Bee62]

I have plans to construct a tortoise table this week. Very excited! I will be able to regulate temps better and keep the humidity high with the setup i have planned. Tks for the advice on everything.

Sorry, but a tortoise table is not good for a sulcata baby like yours ! You can`t really control and keep the warmth and the humidity in an open tortoise table.
If you want to build something new for your tort, build a big closed chamber. In a closed chamber you can control warmth and humidity much better.

 

[Bixi]

Sorry, but a tortoise table is not good for a sulcata baby like yours ! You can`t really control and keep the warmth and the humidity in an open tortoise table.
If you want to build something new for your tort, build a big closed chamber. In a closed chamber you can control warmth and humidity much better.

I am currently building a fully water-tight tortoise table that will be enclosed on the top with Plexiglas (with the option of swapping to an open top later) that will give Bixi at least 4x the movement space of her current enclosure. She will also have more types of substrates, multiple hides, climbing rocks, ect. I have a new, large, under-tank-heater coming in and I will combine that with the ceramic bulb I already have to keep temps up. I should be able to give her more sub climate variation including both humidity/temp. I also have a new humidity/temp monitor ordered, so I will have multiple temp monitoring sites in the new enclosure (and I will finally have humidity monitoring). I have put a good bit of thought/work into it. I'm hoping the table will get her through 2yrs or more. My wife will even be doing decorative paint on the exterior! I should have pics this weekend. I think you guys will approve

 

[Bee62]

I am currently building a fully water-tight tortoise table that will be enclosed on the top with Plexiglas (with the option of swapping to an open top later) that will give Bixi at least 4x the movement space of her current enclosure. She will also have more types of substrates, multiple hides, climbing rocks, ect. I have a new, large, under-tank-heater coming in and I will combine that with the ceramic bulb I already have to keep temps up. I should be able to give her more sub climate variation including both humidity/temp. I also have a new humidity/temp monitor ordered, so I will have multiple temp monitoring sites in the new enclosure (and I will finally have humidity monitoring). I have put a good bit of thought/work into it. I'm hoping the table will get her through 2yrs or more. My wife will even be doing decorative paint on the exterior! I should have pics this weekend. I think you guys will approve

What you have planned and what you are working on sounds very good ! If your tortoise table will be closed with plexi glas you can create a perfect climate for your tort.
I am looking forward for your pictures.