T0rts
New Member
Hello,
My first post on here, so I'm hoping someone can help me.
In Nov 2017 I bought 2 baby radiated tortoises from a reptile show (CB 2016). A month later I noticed the shells on both the babies were bouncy when lightly pressed, rather than hard as I would expect. I must admit I hadn't checked this before then, so may well have been an ongoing issue.
I initially kept them in an open-topped table with soil/sand substrate (sprayed daily); with humid hide; arcadia 80w uvb bulb on 12 hours a day; basking temps 30-32c; background heat: 22c night & 24-26c day; diet weeds 90% grass 10%. To help humidity I added leaves (sprayed daily). Supplements: calcium 3x pw & nutrobal 3x pw.
When I noticed shell problem I moved them to closed chamber (so I could maintain humidity at higher levels - 70%) & changed calcium to 4x pw & nutrobal 2x pw...
I did contact the breeder, the moment I noticed the problem & after lengthy discussion on my setup/care etc he said everything OK & suggested it could be their shells hadn't "calcified" properly & to give calcium carbonate instead of calcium powder. Everything in my setup he approved of. He also checked shells of other babies he still had from same group & none had this problem. He dismissed the idea it could be parasites.
4 weeks later & no change in bouncy shells. Both are eating well & putting on weight.
Should I be concerned? Is this normal? If not, any suggestions how I can fix the problem? Does my setup seem OK?
I really hope someone will be able to help me!....
My first post on here, so I'm hoping someone can help me.
In Nov 2017 I bought 2 baby radiated tortoises from a reptile show (CB 2016). A month later I noticed the shells on both the babies were bouncy when lightly pressed, rather than hard as I would expect. I must admit I hadn't checked this before then, so may well have been an ongoing issue.
I initially kept them in an open-topped table with soil/sand substrate (sprayed daily); with humid hide; arcadia 80w uvb bulb on 12 hours a day; basking temps 30-32c; background heat: 22c night & 24-26c day; diet weeds 90% grass 10%. To help humidity I added leaves (sprayed daily). Supplements: calcium 3x pw & nutrobal 3x pw.
When I noticed shell problem I moved them to closed chamber (so I could maintain humidity at higher levels - 70%) & changed calcium to 4x pw & nutrobal 2x pw...
I did contact the breeder, the moment I noticed the problem & after lengthy discussion on my setup/care etc he said everything OK & suggested it could be their shells hadn't "calcified" properly & to give calcium carbonate instead of calcium powder. Everything in my setup he approved of. He also checked shells of other babies he still had from same group & none had this problem. He dismissed the idea it could be parasites.
4 weeks later & no change in bouncy shells. Both are eating well & putting on weight.
Should I be concerned? Is this normal? If not, any suggestions how I can fix the problem? Does my setup seem OK?
I really hope someone will be able to help me!....