My spielberg passed away

[Spielberg]

My sister had four Sulcatas and she gave me one about a month ago. She thought the Sulcata would love our Arizona backyard. We made a 4x8 foot large box and we also let it roam our back yard with supervision.(We still had some plants that were questionable). I went outside and found spielberg covered in slime, which I have read is a cooling mechanism. The temp was about 100 degrees outside. I picked him up and decided to give him a soak. He was fine when I put him in the water but died shortly after (while he was soaking). Our family, four boys, have had a really hard time with his death. My sister said she would give us another one but I am worried.
My question is, do you think he died of heatstroke (which I am now aware of and can prevent) or do you think it could have been something else.
Tammy

 

[Missy]

So sorry for your loss. Could be the heat, was he in the shade? did he have a hide to get out of the heat? Welcome to TFO you will find good advise here if you decide to try it again.

 

[spikethebest]

sometimes when a tortoise is overheated, then you put him into a cool bath, it can actually shock the tortoise. things need to happen slowly over time. lots of shade needs to be provided, as well as a place to soak and drink water. but make sure the water doesnt get too hot either. you should maybe bring him inside during the really hot days.

 

[hali]

im so sorry

 

[spikethebest]

I welcome you to the forum, and i hope you get another tortoise and just learn from your mistakes like we all have.

 

[Spielberg]

sometimes when a tortoise is overheated, then you put him into a cool bath, it can actually shock the tortoise. things need to happen slowly over time. lots of shade needs to be provided, as well as a place to soak and drink water. but make sure the water doesnt get too hot either. you should maybe bring him inside during the really hot days.

I wish I could take that day back. I have thought about what might of happen if I cooled him down slowly.

 

[JourneyTort]

I went outside and found spielberg covered in slime, which I have read is a cooling mechanism.

Never heard of this before? Where does the slime come from? How is it produced? Are you sure about this?

 

[spikethebest]

trust me. bad times like this happen to all of us. dont beat yourself up for it. just learn from this experience. share with others. and try again.

 

[Spielberg]

So sorry for your loss. Could be the heat, was he in the shade? did he have a hide to get out of the heat? Welcome to TFO you will find good advise here if you decide to try it again.

Thanks Missy
Yes, there was a covered area on the box but I am afraid it was just to hot. I was trying to be so careful about what it ate, soaking, calcium, avoiding posionios plants but I just didn't think about the heat. I thought he loved the heat. I feel so guilty. I really want to get another one but I do not know what I would do if I made another stupid mistake.
Tammy

 

[kfb]

So sorry to hear about your loss. We also live in Arizona. Our Sulcata roams the backyard freely. She made her home between 2 large bushes. We changed the sprinkler timer to come on 3 times a day in her bushes so that helps to keep her home wet and cool her off. Also when I see her out I turn on the sprinkler on the grass and she loves to graze under it. Don't give up on your Dream of having a Sulcata, this forum will offer you expert advice on keeping it healthy and happy.

 

[Spielberg]

I went outside and found spielberg covered in slime, which I have read is a cooling mechanism.

Never heard of this before? Where does the slime come from? How is it produced? Are you sure about this?

It is saliva. I read it on
http://www.anapsid.org/sulcata.html
in the behavior section
Sulcatas like to move around and are very strong -- they must have a large area in which to freely and widely roam. Sulcatas also need to burrow away from the heat and do so by retreating to their pallets or into muddy wallows where they will stay for hours, flipping cool mud up onto their backs. When temperatures exceed 104 F (40 C), they will begin to salivate heavily, smearing the saliva on their forearms to help cool themselves down.

 

[Missy]

So sorry for your loss. Could be the heat, was he in the shade? did he have a hide to get out of the heat? Welcome to TFO you will find good advise here if you decide to try it again.

Thanks Missy
Yes, there was a covered area on the box but I am afraid it was just to hot. I was trying to be so careful about what it ate, soaking, calcium, avoiding posionios plants but I just didn't think about the heat. I thought he loved the heat. I feel so guilty. I really want to get another one but I do not know what I would do if I made another stupid mistake.
Tammy

I know you feel bad, but it sounds like you did everything that you new to do. In the wild Sulcata dig a deep borrow to keep cool. We try to do what we can to simulate. How old was your Tortoise? Young torts need more care. I hope you try again because Sulcatas are great creatures and a joy to behold. If you get another from your sister how old will it be? If under a year, you can read threads on how to care for babies.

 

[Spielberg]

So sorry for your loss. Could be the heat, was he in the shade? did he have a hide to get out of the heat? Welcome to TFO you will find good advise here if you decide to try it again.

Thanks Missy
Yes, there was a covered area on the box but I am afraid it was just to hot. I was trying to be so careful about what it ate, soaking, calcium, avoiding posionios plants but I just didn't think about the heat. I thought he loved the heat. I feel so guilty. I really want to get another one but I do not know what I would do if I made another stupid mistake.
Tammy

I know you feel bad, but it sounds like you did everything that you new to do. In the wild Sulcata dig a deep borrow to keep cool. We try to do what we can to simulate. How old was your Tortoise? Young torts need more care. I hope you try again because Sulcatas are great creatures and a joy to behold. If you get another from your sister how old will it be? If under a year, you can read threads on how to care for babies.

I am not sure about his age, he was 9 inches long. He was her youngest. Her oldest is about 15 inches long. My sister owns a petstore (with no pets, just rescure animals) in Califonia. She got the sulcata from someone that no longer could care for them.
My sister said she thought he was about 5 years old.
Tammy

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Tammy:

Welcome to the forum!!!

Yes, your pen was too hot for the tortoise. If he was covered with "slime" that means he was trying to cool himself down. I doubt your putting him into water did the harm. It was the heat that did him in. I lost one to heat exhaustion too. Its not a pretty picture. I'm so sorry for your loss. When you get another one, just be sure to provide him plenty of places to get out of the sun. Lots of bushes and hiding places. I have a misting system set up over my tortoise pens and when it gets over 100 degrees I'll turn it on and it sends a gentle mist of water out into the air, cooling it down quite a bit in the pens.

 

[dmmj]

Sorry to hear anout it, I lost a box turtle about 4 years back to heat also, she was on her back and in the sun, to this day I don't know how she got on her back, since she was in the middle of the pen, the best thing to do is learn from your mistakes.

 

[RV's mom]

Welcome to the forum, and I'm very sorry for your loss. We live in south phoenix, our house faces north, so the backyard faces south and bears the brunt of the heat. RV is over 10 years old, has dug a burrow where she stays most of the day time high heat. When she was younger she stayed in the west side yard and had ample shade and a wallow where the AC unit drips its overflow. She had plenty of shade and moisture/mud/water (we did give her fresh for drinking). Like the previous posts, with your next tort, offer plenty of places to shade, and water. Again, I'm sorry for your loss, but don't let it put you off ownership. We all learn as we go, and do the best we can.

teri

 

[Yvonne G]

And don't forget: any hiding place you have that's out in the sun soon turns into an oven. Your hiding places need to be in the shade...all day long!!

 

[Spielberg]

Everyone has been so nice. I was worried about what peolpe would say. I think I was the only one beating myself up. Thank you all for your help and kindness. I think I am going to try again. I am going to pull out all the bad plants (lantana) first so I dont have to use the box in the summer. My husban is building a box right now for spielberg so we can have a small funeral for the kids. Thanks again.
Tammy