HELP (won't eat)

[Mimzy2225]

I have a baby Sulcata that is about a month old now and I can’t get her to eat anything and she wants to sleep a lot, I have soaked her and her hot area is 90 and at night the heat is around 78 I have tried all the foods that were on the list to feed her and she just doesn’t move around much anymore, I have her on coconut husk and cypress mulch can anyone please help me

 

[Lokkje]

Please post a picture of your enclosure, describe your lights, and a picture of your tortoise and welcome to the forum.

 

[Mimzy2225]

I’m using a 26 watt uvb bulb and a ceramic heat emitter and a 100 watt day heat also at night I use a 100 watt moon light but nothing else

 

[Mimzy2225]

Please post a picture of your enclosure, describe your lights, and a picture of your tortoise and welcome to the forum.

I posted the pictures

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings.

Take a look through @Tom ’s Care Sheet. Need to get the right lighting, heating via a thermostat, humidity levels. Sink your water and food bowls down level in the substrate. How & where are you measuring the temps? Your substrate looks dry, need to make it much more wet.

ps - terra cotta plant saucers make much better food & watering bowls.

Sully Care Sheet - https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threa...se-a-sulcata-leopard-or-star-tortoise.181497/

Is your top covered at all?

 

[Mimzy2225]

Please post a picture of your enclosure, describe your lights, and a picture of your tortoise and welcome to the forum.

Can you help me?

 

[Lokkje]

Read Tom’s care sheet. Get a water dish that your baby will be safer using like a terra cotta saucer as above. You need an enclosure that holds the heat and humidity and this should be a closed enclosure. My leopard started eating better when fed on a flat stone rather than a bowel but I don’t think this is a major issue. Is your baby getting enough UV light and getting enough calcium? Do you have a temperature gun to take temperatures in various places in the enclosure? Other people have more expertise than I do on raising sulcata tortoises and will be stepping in to give you advice. Start with Tom’s excellent care sheet.

 

[Yvonne G]

Your enclosure is very open, and quite scary to a tiny prey animal.

 

[Mimzy2225]

Your enclosure is very open, and quite scary to a tiny prey animal.

I thought I was supposed to get a huge tank for her that’s what the people told me that I bought her from and to not let her substrate get wet that she would get sick so I have been taking her out everyday to soak her in warm water for 10 minutes

 

[Mimzy2225]

It’s a 50 gallon breeder tank

 

[Lokkje]

Soak in warm water for 30 minutes daily.

 

[Tom]

I thought I was supposed to get a huge tank for her that’s what the people told me that I bought her from and to not let her substrate get wet that she would get sick so I have been taking her out everyday to soak her in warm water for 10 minutes

You are getting a lot of mixed info from too many sources. Everything said here on this thread is right on, but let me explain a bit more.

50 is not huge. That is the minimum. What Yvonne means is that there is hardly any cover or hiding places. In the wild, babies wouldn't be out in the open like that. Its stressful. They hide in bushes and tufts of grass.

The substrate needs to be damp and your night temps need to be a little warmer, but it also needs to be dark. You need a ceramic heating element instead of the moon bulb.

Your basking temp should be closer to 100, and over all ambient temp near 90 in the day time.

All of this is explained in the care sheet, but here is the main problem. Few breeders start this species correctly and most of them live and seem fine for weeks or months, and then die as a result of what the breeder did or didn't do. Where did you get your baby?

 

[Mimzy2225]

You are getting a lot of mixed info from too many sources. Everything said here on this thread is right on, but let me explain a bit more.

50 is not huge. That is the minimum. What Yvonne means is that there is hardly any cover or hiding places. In the wild, babies wouldn't be out in the open like that. Its stressful. They hide in bushes and tufts of grass.

The substrate needs to be damp and your night temps need to be a little warmer, but it also needs to be dark. You need a ceramic heating element instead of the moon bulb.

Your basking temp should be closer to 100, and over all ambient temp near 90 in the day time.

All of this is explained in the care sheet, but here is the main problem. Few breeders start this species correctly and most of them live and seem fine for weeks or months, and then die as a result of what the breeder did or didn't do. Where did you get your baby?

I got her from Underground Reptiles I’m running a 26 watt UVB light 12 hours a day and now im misting the tank when it goes dry, and I will start doing the soak longer I will send a better close up picture of her tank

 

[Mimzy2225]

You are getting a lot of mixed info from too many sources. Everything said here on this thread is right on, but let me explain a bit more.

50 is not huge. That is the minimum. What Yvonne means is that there is hardly any cover or hiding places. In the wild, babies wouldn't be out in the open like that. Its stressful. They hide in bushes and tufts of grass.

The substrate needs to be damp and your night temps need to be a little warmer, but it also needs to be dark. You need a ceramic heating element instead of the moon bulb.

Your basking temp should be closer to 100, and over all ambient temp near 90 in the day time.

All of this is explained in the care sheet, but here is the main problem. Few breeders start this species correctly and most of them live and seem fine for weeks or months, and then die as a result of what the breeder did or didn't do. Where did you get your baby?

 

[Tom]

I got her from Underground Reptiles I’m running a 26 watt UVB light 12 hours a day and now im misting the tank when it goes dry, and I will start doing the soak longer I will send a better close up picture of her tank

I'm sorry to tell you that underground doesn't not have good vendor reviews here. Take a look and read for yourself.

Is the 26 watt bulb a cfl type that you screw in? If yes, that is the kind you should not be using.

What about a basking bulb?

 

[Lokkje]

Tom there are pics of her bulbs near the beginning of the thread. She has a ceramic heater, a 26 watt uvb and a 100 watt day heat plus moon light. She has clips on the tank.
Clips aren’t a great idea as they can fail. Tom is the best to help you with your baby. Your baby is very sweet and I’m sure with some changes you will have a healthy, happy tortoise. I’m sorry that you got your pet from a less than reliable source but Tom and others on the forum can help you get on track. Tom, Yvonne, Mark, Will and many others helped me get my leopard on track and he is happy, healthy, and is turning out beautifully after a bad start. You are in the right place. As soon as you make some tweaks you’ll enjoy the fun of watching your tortoise grow and develop whatever personality he/she is going to develop.

 

[Mimzy2225]

I changed the spiral uvb out and replaced it with a power sun bulb then out a top on my tank I also soaked her several times in carrot baby food but she still want eat and doesn’t open her eyes very much I’m soo scared she’s gonna die does anyone else on here have any ideas for what I should do

 

[Mimzy2225]

I also have a ceramic heat emitter on the top of my tank too

 

[Mimzy2225]

You are getting a lot of mixed info from too many sources. Everything said here on this thread is right on, but let me explain a bit more.

50 is not huge. That is the minimum. What Yvonne means is that there is hardly any cover or hiding places. In the wild, babies wouldn't be out in the open like that. Its stressful. They hide in bushes and tufts of grass.

The substrate needs to be damp and your night temps need to be a little warmer, but it also needs to be dark. You need a ceramic heating element instead of the moon bulb.

Your basking temp should be closer to 100, and over all ambient temp near 90 in the day time.

All of this is explained in the care sheet, but here is the main problem. Few breeders start this species correctly and most of them live and seem fine for weeks or months, and then die as a result of what the breeder did or didn't do. Where did you get your baby?

So I took off the spiral uvb and replaced it with a power sun bulb that puts off uvb and uva and heat and now the whole tank is about 93 I keep spraying it for humidity but I can’t figure out how to keep the humidity up I covered the top and today I seen her go and eat I was soo happy but I need to know is that temperature ok for the whole tank she has a hide to get in and I’m using coconut husk and fiber for the substrate should I just keep the substrate wet?

 

[Mimzy2225]

Is it safe for me to use one of those foggers for her tank or is that too much mist for her