Goodbye my little Louie..

dsgncore

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
80
Location (City and/or State)
Jakarta
I am so shocked and my heart is broken..my baby star just died today at 6 pm. I was not home and my wife found him dead. louie was still walking around at 4 pm and when my wife came back to see him, he was as stiff as stone. We just had Louie for almost 2 months now..my son cried so hard when i was wrapping Louie with a cloth and buried him.
I'm so confused, its like a sudden death?
There were no symptoms like bubble or R.I, however guys i want to point out some of my star behaviour for the past 2 months:

- Louie eats only a little
- He sleeps alot, like 20 hours or so
- lately he refused greens, but he eats a little of cucumber and papaya
- he scratches his right eye ( there is nothing on his eye, no puffy, both eyes can open wide )
- he opens his mouth often, even when he sleeps

This is a pic that we took at xmas day [emoji24], the second pic is today..

IMG_20181224_201613_749.jpeg20190115_185827.jpeg
 

RickyGoldsmith

Active Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2013
Messages
147
Location (City and/or State)
Uranus
So sorry about your loss. He looks too little. Was he getting enough sun light ?
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,390
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
That's such a shame. I'm so sorry.
 

dsgncore

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
80
Location (City and/or State)
Jakarta
He is very little, about 3.5 cm length and weigh 25 grams. He didnt even gain weight from december 2018. Lately weather hasnt been very kind, but i do give them sun bath every morning except when it rains. For that i just give them uvb + uva light and warm water. Honestly i really dont know what went wrong here, but thank you
 

Pure Tortoise Power

Active Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2019
Messages
499
Location (City and/or State)
Hong Kong
He is very little, about 3.5 cm length and weigh 25 grams. He didnt even gain weight from december 2018. Lately weather hasnt been very kind, but i do give them sun bath every morning except when it rains. For that i just give them uvb + uva light and warm water. Honestly i really dont know what went wrong here, but thank you
Mind telling what temp, humidity, enclosure substrate you used? Also, can you post a pic of your enclosure, if you are still keeping it that is.
 

dsgncore

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
80
Location (City and/or State)
Jakarta
Mind telling what temp, humidity, enclosure substrate you used? Also, can you post a pic of your enclosure, if you are still keeping it that is.
I'm using coco husk substrate. Humidity is around 70-80%. Uva + uvb light on for almost 15 hours a day. I dont have a pic of louie's enclosure but i have my rf enclosure. It's exactly the same. No pebbles, i removed them a long time ago.20181016_141146.jpeg
 

dsgncore

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
80
Location (City and/or State)
Jakarta
For temp, indoors around 28- 30°C, at night will drop to 26°C. The area around basking light is 32- 34°C
 

Pure Tortoise Power

Active Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2019
Messages
499
Location (City and/or State)
Hong Kong
So you turn off both lights at night and there is no source of heat for your star during that time? Though you saw the temp only dropped to 26, it could've dropped more in the midnight, and it is recommended to not allow the enclosure dropping below 24. I think being too cold at night may be a reason.
 

Pure Tortoise Power

Active Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2019
Messages
499
Location (City and/or State)
Hong Kong
You also mentioned that he kept his mouth open even during sleep? If I'm not wrong, your star may have had some kind of respiratory disease?

Another thing could be the annoying pesky parasites. Your star may have its food absorbed by parasites, causing it getting inadequate nutrition. Maybe that's why your star looked small. These are just my guesses though. I believe there could be more possibility contributing to Louise's tragic death.

And lastly, may the little Louise rest in peace.
 

dsgncore

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
80
Location (City and/or State)
Jakarta
So you turn off both lights at night and there is no source of heat for your star during that time? Though you saw the temp only dropped to 26, it could've dropped more in the midnight, and it is recommended to not allow the enclosure dropping below 24. I think being too cold at night may be a reason.
No, so what i do is turn on lights at 6 pm until aroun 7 a.m or 8 am then in the morning i take em outside. And the rest of the day i just sit them next to window for heat. This is my routine everyday.
 

dsgncore

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
80
Location (City and/or State)
Jakarta
You also mentioned that he kept his mouth open even during sleep? If I'm not wrong, your star may have had some kind of respiratory disease?

Another thing could be the annoying pesky parasites. Your star may have its food absorbed by parasites, causing it getting inadequate nutrition. Maybe that's why your star looked small. These are just my guesses though. I believe there could be more possibility contributing to Louise's tragic death.

And lastly, may the little Louise rest in peace.
Yes he does, maybe you right about this..anyway i should have taken him to a vet for general check when i got him jut for a peace of mind. Thank you
 

seanang168

Active Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
196
Sorry to hear that. None of the people I know who bought baby tortoises two decades ago managed to keep them alive. I think it is not easy, especially during that era without information
 

dsgncore

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
80
Location (City and/or State)
Jakarta
Sorry to hear that. None of the people I know who bought baby tortoises two decades ago managed to keep them alive. I think it is not easy, especially during that era without information
Thank you and yes, i think star is kinda difficult to raise specially from hatchling but that's just my opinion. I have read somewhere that says stars are more likely to experience sudden death but i forgot where.
 

dsgncore

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2018
Messages
80
Location (City and/or State)
Jakarta
So i decided to dig up Louie's grave because i wanted to keep his carapace but damn, it was gone. I couldn't find a thing, i thought tortoise's carapace should be intact when it dies?
 
Top