I've heard this term for many years and I don't like it. Its a way to excuse our ignorance and failure. I will agree that an occasional hatchling is born that is just not going to make it no matter what anybody does, but MOST of them, if they make it full term and hatch, SHOULD survive and thrive, IF they are cared for PROPERLY. Lots of key words in that last sentence. The few hatchlings that just aren't going to make it are never quite "right". These are usually recognizable right off the bat. This post is mostly about "desert" species. Sulcatas, Leopards, CA Desert Torts, etc... Most other species are housed more correctly as hatchlings and so avoid this problem.
Here are the symptoms: Everything seems fine for weeks or months with your newly acquired hatchling and then their appetite drops a little and they hide or sleep a little more. Then the shell starts feeling a little softer than you remember. Then the eyes don't want to open and the lethargy really sets in. Eating stops or is greatly reduced. Usually the hatchling has barely grown even when they make it through this period for several months. The shell ends up feeling "squishy" and sometimes changes color a little. Within a week or two of this, they usually die. No amount of time or money spent seems to stop this process once it gets to a certain point.
In the past, this has been explained with the term "Hatchling Failure Syndrome". The implication being that its nobodies fault and this just happens sometimes. *This is where the fireworks start.* Most people want to blame the death on the newbie who went out and impulse bought the cute little baby sulcata without knowing what they were doing. This MIGHT be part of the explanation SOME of the time. In my experience this accounts for a very small number of hatchling deaths. Usually with an ignorant impulse buyer, you see poor diet, no UV and temps are too cold. I think this accounts for a very small percentage of first time owners. Most of the time they are doing things pretty well. The minor errors that a newbie might make would NOT cause the above symptoms in most cases. This is especially true of all the great newbies that have found us here at TFO. They are almost always doing it "right".
So what does cause it? IN MY OPINION, based on all of my professional experience with "desert" species of tortoises over the last 20 some odd years, this is caused by the person who hatches them out and then puts them into a "beef jerky maker" style set up. You know what I'm talking about. Rabbit pellets. No water bowl. No hides. Certainly no humid hides. Hot, desiccating basking bulb. They claim to soak them "a couple of times a week". I doubt that most of them do. Tiny hatchlings are very susceptible to dehydration in a very short time. Even overnight. This chronic dehydration permanently damages their internal organs including their kidneys and liver. Part of the confusion over all of this is due to the fact thats its impossible to tell (without necropsy) just how dry an individual baby tortoise has been or just how damaged his internal organs are. Some of them just barely make it through and then as NEW liver and kidney cells begin to slowly grow they start to grow and thrive. My Daisy is an example of one of these. She hardly grew at all for the first two and a half years and now she's sprouting. She made it "over the hump". Most of them survive and seem fine for a while. Sometimes months. They eat, drink, bask, explore, and act completely normal. They show no external signs that their organs are nearly dead inside and they are a ticking time bomb. Slowly the symptoms described in the second paragraph above begin to surface. The new owner recognizes there is a problem and asks for help, but tragically, it was too late before they even brought their baby home. EVERY single time I have seen the above symptoms, EVERY TIME, the tortoise came from a dry set up with no water bowl and no humidity.
From the breeders point of view, he or she has been doing it this way for years. Sometimes decades. They think if an occasional baby dies months after the sale because some noob didn't do things right, that its not their fault. After all, the babies were all fine at their place. Not a single one died or showed any sign of sickness. Surely something that happens weeks or months later has nothing to do with them. WRONG!!! "Hatchling Failure Syndrome" should be called " Breeder Failed To Keep Them Hydrated Syndrome" or "Beef Jerky Maker Syndrome". One way or another, we HAVE to get the word out to the breeders of the world. If they won't listen then we need to put them out of business by not buying their product. The reptile market is very customer driven. Customers have all the power to change this. If you are in the market for a new baby tortoise, ask the breeder how they are housed and cared for. DON'T buy one from the "keep them dry" folks AND tell them why you are not buying from them. They WILL change and consider their errors when it starts hurting their bottom line. There are lots of us out there doing it right. Find one of us. Help your friends and family find one of us. Now I'm not advocating that babies all be kept in a super humid, covered swamp. I'm simply saying to throw down some damp mulch, a water bowl and a humid hide. That's all. So simple. Mulch is cheaper than rabbit pellets anyway!
I expect this to be controversial and that's why its in the debatable section. Please understand that I do not make these bold assertions lightly. I did not just make this up and call it fact. I was in the retail pet market for eight years. I did one year of wholesale. I've been a reptile pet owner continually since 1979. Animal husbandry has been my passion since I was a little boy and my career since 1986. I have seen and experienced a lot "stuff" over all those years. It was, and still is, MY JOB to help customers overcome health, behavior and husbandry issues with their animals. I'm NOT saying I know everything. Far from it. In fact, I'm very well aware of how much I DON'T know, and it frustrates me daily. I want the blame placed where it ought to be so that we can solve this easily solvable problem.
Here are the symptoms: Everything seems fine for weeks or months with your newly acquired hatchling and then their appetite drops a little and they hide or sleep a little more. Then the shell starts feeling a little softer than you remember. Then the eyes don't want to open and the lethargy really sets in. Eating stops or is greatly reduced. Usually the hatchling has barely grown even when they make it through this period for several months. The shell ends up feeling "squishy" and sometimes changes color a little. Within a week or two of this, they usually die. No amount of time or money spent seems to stop this process once it gets to a certain point.
In the past, this has been explained with the term "Hatchling Failure Syndrome". The implication being that its nobodies fault and this just happens sometimes. *This is where the fireworks start.* Most people want to blame the death on the newbie who went out and impulse bought the cute little baby sulcata without knowing what they were doing. This MIGHT be part of the explanation SOME of the time. In my experience this accounts for a very small number of hatchling deaths. Usually with an ignorant impulse buyer, you see poor diet, no UV and temps are too cold. I think this accounts for a very small percentage of first time owners. Most of the time they are doing things pretty well. The minor errors that a newbie might make would NOT cause the above symptoms in most cases. This is especially true of all the great newbies that have found us here at TFO. They are almost always doing it "right".
So what does cause it? IN MY OPINION, based on all of my professional experience with "desert" species of tortoises over the last 20 some odd years, this is caused by the person who hatches them out and then puts them into a "beef jerky maker" style set up. You know what I'm talking about. Rabbit pellets. No water bowl. No hides. Certainly no humid hides. Hot, desiccating basking bulb. They claim to soak them "a couple of times a week". I doubt that most of them do. Tiny hatchlings are very susceptible to dehydration in a very short time. Even overnight. This chronic dehydration permanently damages their internal organs including their kidneys and liver. Part of the confusion over all of this is due to the fact thats its impossible to tell (without necropsy) just how dry an individual baby tortoise has been or just how damaged his internal organs are. Some of them just barely make it through and then as NEW liver and kidney cells begin to slowly grow they start to grow and thrive. My Daisy is an example of one of these. She hardly grew at all for the first two and a half years and now she's sprouting. She made it "over the hump". Most of them survive and seem fine for a while. Sometimes months. They eat, drink, bask, explore, and act completely normal. They show no external signs that their organs are nearly dead inside and they are a ticking time bomb. Slowly the symptoms described in the second paragraph above begin to surface. The new owner recognizes there is a problem and asks for help, but tragically, it was too late before they even brought their baby home. EVERY single time I have seen the above symptoms, EVERY TIME, the tortoise came from a dry set up with no water bowl and no humidity.
From the breeders point of view, he or she has been doing it this way for years. Sometimes decades. They think if an occasional baby dies months after the sale because some noob didn't do things right, that its not their fault. After all, the babies were all fine at their place. Not a single one died or showed any sign of sickness. Surely something that happens weeks or months later has nothing to do with them. WRONG!!! "Hatchling Failure Syndrome" should be called " Breeder Failed To Keep Them Hydrated Syndrome" or "Beef Jerky Maker Syndrome". One way or another, we HAVE to get the word out to the breeders of the world. If they won't listen then we need to put them out of business by not buying their product. The reptile market is very customer driven. Customers have all the power to change this. If you are in the market for a new baby tortoise, ask the breeder how they are housed and cared for. DON'T buy one from the "keep them dry" folks AND tell them why you are not buying from them. They WILL change and consider their errors when it starts hurting their bottom line. There are lots of us out there doing it right. Find one of us. Help your friends and family find one of us. Now I'm not advocating that babies all be kept in a super humid, covered swamp. I'm simply saying to throw down some damp mulch, a water bowl and a humid hide. That's all. So simple. Mulch is cheaper than rabbit pellets anyway!
I expect this to be controversial and that's why its in the debatable section. Please understand that I do not make these bold assertions lightly. I did not just make this up and call it fact. I was in the retail pet market for eight years. I did one year of wholesale. I've been a reptile pet owner continually since 1979. Animal husbandry has been my passion since I was a little boy and my career since 1986. I have seen and experienced a lot "stuff" over all those years. It was, and still is, MY JOB to help customers overcome health, behavior and husbandry issues with their animals. I'm NOT saying I know everything. Far from it. In fact, I'm very well aware of how much I DON'T know, and it frustrates me daily. I want the blame placed where it ought to be so that we can solve this easily solvable problem.