Hi, I'm new to this forum but i have a 7 week old sulcata hatchling and i need help.
My current hatchling is not the first sulcata i have had, i rescued a hatchling earlier this year who had been extremely poorly taken care of and was chronically dehydrated. The first sulcata, while in my care, never once ate on his own, i was syringe feeding him 2-3 times a day and taking him to the vet every couple days so that she too could monitor the poor little guy's health/improvement. After a couple weeks he seemed to be doing much better until one night his whole body swelled up due to renal system failure cause his organs were no longer producing any blood proteins. I rushed him to the vet (my reptile vet is also a 24-hour exotic animal emergency room) but he passed away shortly after we arrived and i was heartbroken.
Three weeks ago, I was given a 4 week old sulcata hatchling by the reptile society/rescue that i belong to. All i know about any previous care for him was that some mother bought him from a pet shop for her son not known anything about the species. After she did a little research (AFTER bring the tortoise home, might i add) she discovered the life expectancy and eventual adult size of sulcatas and quickly brought him over to the rescue. The next day I had him in my home and he seemed to be in great health...incredibly healthy appetite, pretty active and playful, liked (and still likes) to bob his head around while exploring something or someone. He stayed like this for about two weeks until a few days ago his activity level started to decline, along with his appetite. I have him in a three foot long enclosure, with a wet box on the cool end. He has a water dish that he is able to soak in, the substrate i was using was coco fiber, his hot spot was at about 90 degrees during the day and a little cooler at night. He also has UVB light on him 12+ hours a day and has always (in my care at least) recieved daily soakings in lukewarm-warm water. I was feeding him a diet of 60-70% grass that i grew inside my home to ensure there were no pesticides or fertilizers and 40-30% leafy greens.
At first, he was spending all of his time under the heat lamp and starting having trouble opening one of his eyes. His shell has always had some 'give' to it, and this seems to have increased. His shell doesnt seem mushy or anything but its definitely softer than it was. He also wasnt eating nearly as much and seemed lethargic. Recognizing those symptoms from my first sulcata, I began soaking him in unflavored pedialyte with a little warm water mixed in daily, syringe feeding him )the same critical care herbivore formula i had used with the first sulcata), I replaced his heat bulb with a higher wattage bulb ( so now his hot spot gets to between 99 and 101 degrees during the day), I added a few cellulose sponges to try and keep the humidity level of the enclosure higher, including one in his wet box, and i have been spraying the entire enclosure more times throughout the day as needed while monitoring humidity gauges on both ends. I also introduced a few new foods to try and entice him to eat including carrot, strawberries, different greens, and cactus.
After a couple days with slightly altered conditions, he no longer has trouble opening his eyes, and after being in his wet box for a bit or soaking for a while he'll start to move around a bit and will even eat some strawberry or a little greens on his own. I am still syringe feeding him and have been monitoring him closely but today he seemed even stranger. This morning when i woke up he was moving around a little and when he came out of his wet box he not only has had his eyes open all the way pretty much constantly all day in sort of a blank stare, but just continued to stretch his legs out as much as he can. when i took him out of his enclosure and set him down on a flat surface he wasnt able to stand because he continued to stretch his legs out as far as he could. I called the vet who told me that this was a normal behavior, he was just trying to expose as much skin as possible so he could absorb more heat and UV rays and that many tortoises do this in the morning after waking up. After the call i put him in his enclosure under both the heat and UV bulbs but as the day goes on hes been acting weirder and weirder. First, he was biting at his front legs (not hard enough to hurt himself but not gently either) and now hes not moving at all and his limbs seem limp. Also, his eyes have been completely open all day throughout all of his odd behaviors.
Please please please please if anyone has any idea as to what's going on, any advice on changing his enclosure or what to do at all I am so worried and my heart is breaking because i fear the worst. I have no idea how he went from seeming very healthy to the state he is in now, i have tried to be so careful and diligent about his health, especially after what the first hatchling went through, but somehow my little guy and i seem to be right back where i was earlier this year. please help!
My current hatchling is not the first sulcata i have had, i rescued a hatchling earlier this year who had been extremely poorly taken care of and was chronically dehydrated. The first sulcata, while in my care, never once ate on his own, i was syringe feeding him 2-3 times a day and taking him to the vet every couple days so that she too could monitor the poor little guy's health/improvement. After a couple weeks he seemed to be doing much better until one night his whole body swelled up due to renal system failure cause his organs were no longer producing any blood proteins. I rushed him to the vet (my reptile vet is also a 24-hour exotic animal emergency room) but he passed away shortly after we arrived and i was heartbroken.
Three weeks ago, I was given a 4 week old sulcata hatchling by the reptile society/rescue that i belong to. All i know about any previous care for him was that some mother bought him from a pet shop for her son not known anything about the species. After she did a little research (AFTER bring the tortoise home, might i add) she discovered the life expectancy and eventual adult size of sulcatas and quickly brought him over to the rescue. The next day I had him in my home and he seemed to be in great health...incredibly healthy appetite, pretty active and playful, liked (and still likes) to bob his head around while exploring something or someone. He stayed like this for about two weeks until a few days ago his activity level started to decline, along with his appetite. I have him in a three foot long enclosure, with a wet box on the cool end. He has a water dish that he is able to soak in, the substrate i was using was coco fiber, his hot spot was at about 90 degrees during the day and a little cooler at night. He also has UVB light on him 12+ hours a day and has always (in my care at least) recieved daily soakings in lukewarm-warm water. I was feeding him a diet of 60-70% grass that i grew inside my home to ensure there were no pesticides or fertilizers and 40-30% leafy greens.
At first, he was spending all of his time under the heat lamp and starting having trouble opening one of his eyes. His shell has always had some 'give' to it, and this seems to have increased. His shell doesnt seem mushy or anything but its definitely softer than it was. He also wasnt eating nearly as much and seemed lethargic. Recognizing those symptoms from my first sulcata, I began soaking him in unflavored pedialyte with a little warm water mixed in daily, syringe feeding him )the same critical care herbivore formula i had used with the first sulcata), I replaced his heat bulb with a higher wattage bulb ( so now his hot spot gets to between 99 and 101 degrees during the day), I added a few cellulose sponges to try and keep the humidity level of the enclosure higher, including one in his wet box, and i have been spraying the entire enclosure more times throughout the day as needed while monitoring humidity gauges on both ends. I also introduced a few new foods to try and entice him to eat including carrot, strawberries, different greens, and cactus.
After a couple days with slightly altered conditions, he no longer has trouble opening his eyes, and after being in his wet box for a bit or soaking for a while he'll start to move around a bit and will even eat some strawberry or a little greens on his own. I am still syringe feeding him and have been monitoring him closely but today he seemed even stranger. This morning when i woke up he was moving around a little and when he came out of his wet box he not only has had his eyes open all the way pretty much constantly all day in sort of a blank stare, but just continued to stretch his legs out as much as he can. when i took him out of his enclosure and set him down on a flat surface he wasnt able to stand because he continued to stretch his legs out as far as he could. I called the vet who told me that this was a normal behavior, he was just trying to expose as much skin as possible so he could absorb more heat and UV rays and that many tortoises do this in the morning after waking up. After the call i put him in his enclosure under both the heat and UV bulbs but as the day goes on hes been acting weirder and weirder. First, he was biting at his front legs (not hard enough to hurt himself but not gently either) and now hes not moving at all and his limbs seem limp. Also, his eyes have been completely open all day throughout all of his odd behaviors.
Please please please please if anyone has any idea as to what's going on, any advice on changing his enclosure or what to do at all I am so worried and my heart is breaking because i fear the worst. I have no idea how he went from seeming very healthy to the state he is in now, i have tried to be so careful and diligent about his health, especially after what the first hatchling went through, but somehow my little guy and i seem to be right back where i was earlier this year. please help!
. any idea what the biting would be about?
