Poorly Started Hatchling on the Mend

[KhairulTort]

Its now been a little over two months and my little Sulcata is now properly recovering from any of the visible issues of his upbringing, and I’ve figured out how to house him happily. (Ignore the humidity gauge. It’s a 80% sauna in there)

Never again shall I buy an animal from an improper source. All of this could have been avoided if I had just done my research and made a more ethical choice.

A whole bunch of hard urates from the poor diet and lack of moisture cleared out of his system, and he now produces Colgate. He was able to shed his skin in a moist environment for probably the first time ever, and an upper respiratory infection which led to lethargy, sneezing and a loss of appetite for a week cleared up with an increase in his basking temperatures.




He’d been fed a diet of 100% bokchoy and kept without light, heat or water at the pet store. Really deep pyramiding beginning to form between his scutes.
Barely responsive when I first got him.



I had to hang the CHE bulb lower, add the rock and increase substrate height. to create a better basking temperature. He was too cold and got a respiratory infection.
I feed him a mix of romaine, grass, Timothy hay, Bears Breeches (does anyone have any experience with this as a staple?) and repashy grassland grazer with occasional kale and other veggies as snacks.

Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.

 

[Blackdog1714]

People stuck in their ways that refuse to learn how to do it better are very annoying. I wish you the best as you do this great thing! Don’t forget photos as your tort grows!

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Certainly looks like a happy little guy. Kudos!

 

[JLMDVM]

Adorable, glad things are getting better for you!

 

[Yvonne G]

You've done a good job with him. So glad to see all your hard work paying off.

 

[Nsdkcp]

View attachment 279252 Its now been a little over two months and my little Sulcata is now properly recovering from any of the visible issues of his upbringing, and I’ve figured out how to house him happily. (Ignore the humidity gauge. It’s a 80% sauna in there)

Never again shall I buy an animal from an improper source. All of this could have been avoided if I had just done my research and made a more ethical choice. View attachment 279253

A whole bunch of hard urates from the poor diet and lack of moisture cleared out of his system, and he now produces Colgate. He was able to shed his skin in a moist environment for probably the first time ever, and an upper respiratory infection which led to lethargy, sneezing and a loss of appetite for a week cleared up with an increase in his basking temperatures.

View attachment 279254


He’d been fed a diet of 100% bokchoy and kept without light, heat or water at the pet store. Really deep pyramiding beginning to form between his scutes.
Barely responsive when I first got him.



I had to hang the CHE bulb lower, add the rock and increase substrate height. to create a better basking temperature. He was too cold and got a respiratory infection.
I feed him a mix of romaine, grass, Timothy hay, Bears Breeches (does anyone have any experience with this as a staple?) and repashy grassland grazer with occasional kale and other veggies as snacks.

Any constructive criticism would be appreciated.

What is that little stone?

 

[KhairulTort]

It’s a hard urate which he passed. (Tortoise pee) Most likely due to being dehydrated and being fed an improper diet high in ‘oxalates’ which bind minerals in the body of your tortoises. Kind of like a kidney stone.
With proper diet and regular soaks he passed at least 5 of these stones which were probably stuck in his system.
Normal urates should be watery or like toothpaste in consistency.
They’re a good indicator of whether or not your tortoise is dehydrated.

 

[Nsdkcp]

Beek, my baby girl has passed this white stuff. I thought it was some sort of poop tho. Do you think that is the same thing? Does it mean dehydration if it's not hard? It was thick, kinda water-like mixed together.

 

[KhairulTort]

What is that little stone?

Beek, my baby girl has passed this white stuff. I thought it was some sort of poop tho. Do you think that is the same thing? Does it mean dehydration if it's not hard? It was thick, kinda water-like mixed together.

No not at all, they’re supposed to be soft. In my case it was a good thing that he managed to pass those hard stones because they’d already built up inside his system and needed to come out. In extreme cases people have to resort to operations to remove larger stones in tortoise because they can’t be passed. I’m hoping that there’s nothing left in his system.

Under normal conditions, as a general rule you want soft, watery or pastey white urates. So your guy is fine. Please don’t stress.
I posted this because they’re a very bad sign in such a small tortoise, and I worked hard on correcting my hatchlings conditions because he was started poorly by his breeder, and almost died at the store where I bought him because of improper care. Just happy he got them all out. Fingers crossed.

 

[Nsdkcp]

My fingers are crossed for you and yours. I just worry because I too purchased mine from a crappy breeder. I thought she wasnt going to make it. I just hope theres no permanent damage done to her little body.