One of my Sulcata's died

[jujuh]

I had 2 Sulcatas, one 24-year-old, Lilly, a boy, one 15 years old. Tomsina a girl, they've been together for 8 years. We called him Lilly, as he was supposed to be a girl, and we thought of Lilly Savage, but that's another story. Yesterday I went to check on them and the Tomsina was dead. She had blood on her nose. There was quite a lot of blood, she was definitely dead, no doubt at all.

They were kept in a large outbuilding with a UV bulb, it's at 20-21 during the night and 22.5 during the day. It's also insulated with 5 layers of heat insulation, so it's a controlled temperature. There's also a humidifier to keep the humidity at the correct level. There's a water source and of course food. Yes, it cost a lot to set up.

I've thoroughly cleaned and disinfected their "house", and cleaned it again so there's no disinfectant left, it's now spotless. LIlly is currently in a spare room downstairs in our house, and going back tomorrow, once I'm certain it's perfect for him.

I know he, Lilly, liked tomsina, as I often had to clean the result of his amorous intentions off her shell. I know I'll never find out what happened, and that worries me, but my concern is Lilly.

My wife thinks we should get another sulcate, as she thinks he'll be lonely, but he's a big chap, 24 years old, I can only just lift him, and just lift him. I'm concerned he'll attack whoever we put in with him.

I don't know what to do.

Can you advise me?

Thanks

 

[wellington]

So very sorry. Tortoises do everything slow. You keeping two of them together was a very stressful life for both of them and one was constantly getting bullied, obviously the one that died.
Do not get another one! They are loners and that's the way they like it. They only get together to breed or fight then go about their way by themselves.
Temps also should never go below 80F day and night. They also need to heat up under a basking temp of 95-100F to properly digest their food and keep inners working properly.
I see a lot that has not been done properly.

 

[Megatron's Mom]

I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I'm sorry that your tortoise died. But tortoises are best kept alone or in groups. Not in pairs.
Lilly will be much happier by himself

 

[Ink]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Tom]

I had 2 Sulcatas, one 24-year-old, Lilly, a boy, one 15 years old. Tomsina a girl, they've been together for 8 years. We called him Lilly, as he was supposed to be a girl, and we thought of Lilly Savage, but that's another story. Yesterday I went to check on them and the Tomsina was dead. She had blood on her nose. There was quite a lot of blood, she was definitely dead, no doubt at all.

They were kept in a large outbuilding with a UV bulb, it's at 20-21 during the night and 22.5 during the day. It's also insulated with 5 layers of heat insulation, so it's a controlled temperature. There's also a humidifier to keep the humidity at the correct level. There's a water source and of course food. Yes, it cost a lot to set up.

I've thoroughly cleaned and disinfected their "house", and cleaned it again so there's no disinfectant left, it's now spotless. LIlly is currently in a spare room downstairs in our house, and going back tomorrow, once I'm certain it's perfect for him.

I know he, Lilly, liked tomsina, as I often had to clean the result of his amorous intentions off her shell. I know I'll never find out what happened, and that worries me, but my concern is Lilly.

My wife thinks we should get another sulcate, as she thinks he'll be lonely, but he's a big chap, 24 years old, I can only just lift him, and just lift him. I'm concerned he'll attack whoever we put in with him.

I don't know what to do.

Can you advise me?

Thanks

Tortoises should never be kept in pairs. Now you know why.

Also, those temperature are MUCH too cold for this species. Where they come from, they live in burrows deep in the ground. Ground temps year round in the part of the world range from 27-29C. It should never be cooler than this for them. Each day gets up to around 37 at the surface, and often up to 46-47C. They sleep underground at 27C and each morning move to the mouth of their burrow and warm their body up to around 35-36C before going back underground so that they don't cook in the sun.

Letting them cool to 20C is a good way to make them sick. It is surprising that you have not have any problem prior to this. You need to make things significantly warmer.

If they have been together for 8 years without any recent contact with other tortoises, I would not be worried about contagious disease at all. It is very obvious that the constant chronic stress caused by living as a pair and being constantly harassed by the male, along with cold temperatures that can hamper the immune system are what killed the female.

Also, what size is the outbuilding? Sulcatas need a tremendous amount of room to roam. Small spaces can cause all sorts of problems for them.

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[TammyJ]

I second everything already said. I am sorry that your female tortoise suffered so much and died.