darlingtiffy
Member
Hello all...again. I am feeling slightly crazy with my baby Tiny Tim. You can look back at my two previous threads and see what I've gone through since getting Timmy several weeks ago. Cliff notes version is: he was a surprise. We weren't set up for a tiny hatchling. He wasn't doing so hot while we were trying to get him set up. We thought we got everything under control. Then we found out his breeder was doing things wrong when Tim seemed to have leg and eye issues. Panicked. Finished purchasing all the things to ensure temps and humidity were where we thought they were. Thought we got everything under control. Now we're here. Sigh.
Timmy was pretty yellow when we got him and all the way up until two days ago. He is in a giant tote bin (around 4.5x2.5ish) with eco earth substrate. We keep it very moist and mist it 3-5 times a day just to be sure the humidity stays up. He has a big log hide and a plastic flower pot hide. The big log is halfway buried and covered with zoomed moss so he has an interesting place to climb and hide in. He likes to snuggle down in the moss and nap. He has a large slate tile and a water dish (I know they're bad, but until I get a terra cotta saucer it works) that I filled with rocks and natural colored fish tank gravel so it's not too deep. He never goes in it.
We live in sunny and humid Florida, so Tim stays on the back patio in his tote majority of the day. Half sun and half shade. He gets a morning spa with a soak and cuddle before we move him outside. We also take him out to forage 2-3 times a day. Temps out there range from high 80's to high 90's with humidity from 86-96 percent. We recently got a temp and humidity gauge so we know his enclosure humidity stays around 80 to 99 percent. When I get home at 4:30, he gets a soak if he looks like he might need it, or to wake him up, and some forage time, along with a food change since it wilts. He seemed to usually be hungry about then. At night he comes in and gets a che on a clamp lamp attached to a jumpstart thermostat. Temps stay constant at night between 82 and 87 with between 80-90 percent humidity. (I put the gauge by him to see what it's like where he is in the enclosure as I only have one. The thermostat probe stays in the middle at ground level as the che goes on one side.) The lid of the tote and some towels ensure the humidity stays in and only a 6" or so gap for the che is left open on that side.
The problem is 2 days ago Timmy was in his log and wouldn't come out. He missed his lunch forage, (Hubs works from home and cares for him during the day) but Dad just thought it was no big deal. It was pretty hot that day, hotter than normal, but no where over what he can handle. (think cooler than basking spot temps) This was before we had the gauge though so I'm not sure if the humidity got low.
When I came home, I took him out and he was dark brown on his head and neck and also some on his legs. I soaked him and did our afternoon routine, but he was not interested in eating and just went back to bed. The next morning same thing. He's pooping fine in his baths so he must be eating, but I don't see it. He was being a picky piglet previously and had quite a thing for the radicchio in the spring mix (no spinach) he insisted on eating. I always feed him salad style with fresh grass, clover, aster, and dandelion mixed in, but he started refusing so I went to just spring mix and ordered Mazuri Diet which came in today. He won't touch it. He doesn't even try to eat now. Before if I had my hand on his tile he'd come running, now he doesn't even want to be on his tile. He just sleeps, even when we take him out to forage. He'll walk some, take a few bites and then got to sleep.
I know from my searches on here that he could just be stained from the eco earth or he could just be becoming a darker guy, but I'm worried. I have tried so hard to do everything right. Every time I think I have it under control and we have a routine something seems to go wrong. What is going on with my tort and what else can I do to help him?
Timmy was pretty yellow when we got him and all the way up until two days ago. He is in a giant tote bin (around 4.5x2.5ish) with eco earth substrate. We keep it very moist and mist it 3-5 times a day just to be sure the humidity stays up. He has a big log hide and a plastic flower pot hide. The big log is halfway buried and covered with zoomed moss so he has an interesting place to climb and hide in. He likes to snuggle down in the moss and nap. He has a large slate tile and a water dish (I know they're bad, but until I get a terra cotta saucer it works) that I filled with rocks and natural colored fish tank gravel so it's not too deep. He never goes in it.
We live in sunny and humid Florida, so Tim stays on the back patio in his tote majority of the day. Half sun and half shade. He gets a morning spa with a soak and cuddle before we move him outside. We also take him out to forage 2-3 times a day. Temps out there range from high 80's to high 90's with humidity from 86-96 percent. We recently got a temp and humidity gauge so we know his enclosure humidity stays around 80 to 99 percent. When I get home at 4:30, he gets a soak if he looks like he might need it, or to wake him up, and some forage time, along with a food change since it wilts. He seemed to usually be hungry about then. At night he comes in and gets a che on a clamp lamp attached to a jumpstart thermostat. Temps stay constant at night between 82 and 87 with between 80-90 percent humidity. (I put the gauge by him to see what it's like where he is in the enclosure as I only have one. The thermostat probe stays in the middle at ground level as the che goes on one side.) The lid of the tote and some towels ensure the humidity stays in and only a 6" or so gap for the che is left open on that side.
The problem is 2 days ago Timmy was in his log and wouldn't come out. He missed his lunch forage, (Hubs works from home and cares for him during the day) but Dad just thought it was no big deal. It was pretty hot that day, hotter than normal, but no where over what he can handle. (think cooler than basking spot temps) This was before we had the gauge though so I'm not sure if the humidity got low.
When I came home, I took him out and he was dark brown on his head and neck and also some on his legs. I soaked him and did our afternoon routine, but he was not interested in eating and just went back to bed. The next morning same thing. He's pooping fine in his baths so he must be eating, but I don't see it. He was being a picky piglet previously and had quite a thing for the radicchio in the spring mix (no spinach) he insisted on eating. I always feed him salad style with fresh grass, clover, aster, and dandelion mixed in, but he started refusing so I went to just spring mix and ordered Mazuri Diet which came in today. He won't touch it. He doesn't even try to eat now. Before if I had my hand on his tile he'd come running, now he doesn't even want to be on his tile. He just sleeps, even when we take him out to forage. He'll walk some, take a few bites and then got to sleep.
I know from my searches on here that he could just be stained from the eco earth or he could just be becoming a darker guy, but I'm worried. I have tried so hard to do everything right. Every time I think I have it under control and we have a routine something seems to go wrong. What is going on with my tort and what else can I do to help him?