Questions on hatchling sulcata

[MORTYtheTORTY]

Hi,
New to this site and newbie Sulcata owner. I bought a 4 month old Torty today and he keeps opening his mouth. I think he's doing this because he's scared of his new environment and has made a few noises, can't make out the noises because I've never heard them before but I can tell he's scared. He loves his new home and has circled the enclosure several times but has napped for most of the day. He looked VERY healthy in the petstore (reputable breeder) and was the biggest of the bunch! The only thing I'm worried about is that he has a dent on one side of the shell...IDK if he's growing, has MBD <--IDK much about that except the basics, and/or if he's not receiving proper UVA/UVB. I'm sure he has adequate calcium since I seen it sprinkled on the head of lettuce he was eating at the store. That's another thing, his diet! IDK what his diet is but he was chomping on the head of a lettuce today or at least I think it was?! It was chomped almost to the root so I can still see some color as it was close to lettuce or cabbage but looked more like lettuce. His dent was not noticeable until I took him home and really examined him. He was living on bark and looked like improper lighting. His new home has 50/50 coconut coir and playsand <--not too wet and not too dry...just right and he seems to LOVE it and he burrowed a little in his hideout and it's his fave spot so far...he keeps moving his back legs here and there when I check on him...kinda like snuggling with the substrate and looks happy, I almost thought he was humping but that's what it looked like from afar...has anyone dealt with this so far? BTW his dent is only on one side and it's not by his hips but more in the front lined up with his elbow somewhere...not noticeable until you touch him and look closely but his shell is nice and hard and he looks perfect, maybe even better after I soaked him in warm water as soon as I got home. Does anyone use carolinasupply.com? I ordered alot from their site...not fond of packaging but everything is great! I bought the TNT powder w/out probiotics if anyone can tell me anything about this...it says to sprinkle 3x a week...lmk otherwise. What's the difference between a hatchling and juvenile ( I mean age wise)? Is a clutch considered the batch of eggs? I leave broken pieces of cuttlebone everywhere w/out the backing of course. He doesn't know about cuttlebone as you can tell he was examining it today so hopefully he understands what to do with it. The enclosures set up properly as I have done my research thoroughly. If anyone can LMK any of my questions above then I'd greatly appreciate it! VERY HAPPY MOMMY AND IN LOVE WITH MY NEW TORTY =D

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Morty the Torty:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

What would you like us to call you?

...and may we know appx. where in the world you are?

Here's something for you to read:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies#axzz1oRg2LFDp

If you have questions after reading this, we'll be happy to answer them.

(Don't worry about the dent)

 

[Neal]

Hi,
New to this site and newbie Sulcata owner. I bought a 4 month old Torty today and he keeps opening his mouth.

This sounds like a respiratory infection, possibly pneumonia. When he opens his mouth, is he stretching his neck upwards?

Since you bought him yesterday, I would just bring him back because this does not sound good.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome.

The symptoms you describe sound like a respiratory infection. This is usually caused by temps being too low. Most often its the night temps since there is usually a heat lamp on during the day.

There is a LOT of disagreement about what constitutes "set up properly". If you ask 100 tortoise keepers to describe a "proper" set up for a baby sulcata, you will get all sorts of answers all over the spectrum. The link that Yvonne posted above has been working well for me and many others and it is different than what most sites and books recommend. Almost nothing is known about baby sulcatas in the wild, yet there are so many assumptions made on how to care for them based on the above ground conditions where they come from. Well, they don't live in those above ground conditions in the wild... They are hidden away somewhere, avoiding predation, and doing who knows what. My care sheet in not based on speculation about where the wild ones come from, it is based on observation of what works, AND what does not work, in CAPTIVITY, where we are all keeping them.

As I do more research and learn more, I am seeing that my care sheet is probably closer to what they get in the wild than anyone, including me, even thought. Babies in the wild hatch in the rainy season. Its very hot, wet and humid. The only babies that have ever been seen in the wild by my sulcata researching friend from Senegal, or his staff, were all seen in a marsh area during the hot rainy season.

I've also been watching the weather over there for a while. It simply does not get cold. There is an occasional night low in the 50's, but then the daytime high will be near 100 the next day. Even in winter. Based on my observation of my underground shelters during our 100 degree weather with nights in the 50's, I'm willing to speculate that it stays near 80 in the burrows where these tortoises spend the majority of their lives. Probably warmer than that when the night time lows don't dip so much and the daytime highs get even higher.

Good luck to you. I hope we are able to help.

 

[MORTYtheTORTY]

Thank you Tom and Neal...I don't think it's respiratory infection or pneumonia...he did it when I first put him in the enclosure and looked to me like he was just scared and maybe calling out for his sibling tortoises since he'd been with them all for 4 months and he's in a totally diff environment with proper lighting. He didn't do it again after that and I kept trying to post this while he was doing it but it wouldn't let me post for some reason. After he started exploring his new environment and he opened up pretty fast and seems to love the lighting and his new hideout and he ate a little bit and when I woke up this morning he was sleeping like a baby with his legs sprawled out and his head all the way out in his hideout and I touched him and he moved so he's doing GREAT! THANK YOU ALL!

emysemys <--I live in San Joaquin county here in CA =)

 

[MORTYtheTORTY]

emysemys <--OH YAH I forgot...I already read that link last night...GOOD LINK BTW!

 

[Jacqui]

Well glad that the breathing problem is starting to look more like a simple case of stress, but still keep a close eye on it. One thing I noticed is you say you have a 50/50 with the sand and coir. Can I make a suggestion? I would add more coir until the sand is a smaller percentage. More like an 80/20 mix. Welcome, too before I forget.

 

[MORTYtheTORTY]

Hi Jacqui,
The sand percentage to Coir is in fact 80/20 ;O) It just seemed like common sense to me while I made the substrate because if you think about it...visualize yourself on the beach...not pretty =/ LOL so I didn't want sand getting into his eyes and other stuff so I've tested it dry and wet and inbtwn to make sure it doesn't become uncomfy...HE LOVES IT! IDK why I didn't say 80/20 so I've just been saying 50/50 this whole time hahha I needa specify ^_^

 

[MORTYtheTORTY]

Tom: I didn't agree with using a Glass terrarium or set up so I've been using a deep sterlite Bin and it does keep moisture and heat in and also has a cool spot on the other end where his food and waterbowl and a burrow hideout is. He loves the warm end and his basking rock/hideout (2 story) =P That is a GREAT link that yvonne posted but I beg to differ with the glass set up...I'm sure it has worked for plenty of people but a bin is so much cheaper with the same qualities and wood works fantastic too! BTW I just checked on him and he's still doing the mouth thing so he might have a respiratory problem =( there's bubbles coming out of his nose...I figured it was because I accidentally filled the water too high when I soaked him as soon as we got him. The water wasn't too high but he was walking around in it perfectly fine until I checked him and startled him so he tucked back in his shell and I noticed that he started blowing bubbles when this happened so I dumped some water out...could it be that the water accidentally got stuck in his nose maybe? I've read somewhere where that has happened and they're perfectly fine?!? I will call the owner of the pet store in a few.

 

[MORTYtheTORTY]

NO WORRIES EVERYONE! He is healthy and just stressed out in his new environment...the bubbles is from drinking water or accidentally getting water in his nose. He's happy and walking around alot and eating..I made some changes to his environment by putting the water bowl near his hide and basking area and he loves it there as he didn't touch is yesterday but dove in it today and drank. I also moved his food closer to his hide and he likes it there as well. I started to think he has a RI and was really worried all morning but I'm not worried and I know he doesn't have one. Has anyone had problems with feeding a hatchling? He won't eat unless the food is near his hide and I'm afraid his food will spoil so I've been spraying it here and there with water and he has to have food in his enclosure at all times, so does anyone else have suggestions or problems with this?

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum...

 

[kibow]

Congrats on your new tort hope everything keeps going well

 

[MORTYtheTORTY]

Thank you Dmarcus and Kibow. I hope things go well too...I've been worked up

 

[Tom]

The nose bubbles, the open mouth and the neck stretching all indicate respiratory infection. This is not from water while soaking.

What are your four temps? Cool side, warm side, basking spot and night?

 

[Neal]

The nose bubbles, the open mouth and the neck stretching all indicate respiratory infection. This is not from water while soaking.

This is what I think as well.

Tortoises don't call to each other, they're really not social type animals. What you saw was him gasping for air because his nose (where they normally breath from) is or was plugged up.

We're not trying to pick on you or anything, and it does sound like he may be doing better if he has stopped gaping his mouth. I believe there is cause to be very attentive to his behavior, but for now keep him warm and well hydrated!

 

[MORTYtheTORTY]

The nose bubbles, the open mouth and the neck stretching all indicate respiratory infection. This is not from water while soaking.

What are your four temps? Cool side, warm side, basking spot and night?

Tom I sent you a private message!

---

The nose bubbles, the open mouth and the neck stretching all indicate respiratory infection. This is not from water while soaking.

This is what I think as well.

Tortoises don't call to each other, they're really not social type animals. What you saw was him gasping for air because his nose (where they normally breath from) is or was plugged up.

We're not trying to pick on you or anything, and it does sound like he may be doing better if he has stopped gaping his mouth. I believe there is cause to be very attentive to his behavior, but for now keep him warm and well hydrated!

Hi Neal,
I did feel the attack in the beginning of this morning only because I was freaking out and I've done alot of research on it today and spoke with many breeders and the actual breeder himself where I purchased from the pet store and am very sad and worried but with the numerous help of others I'm doing alot better and thank you all for the concern, don't get me wrong. I just got him yesterday and have been attacked by alot of people with snide remarks just because I'm a newbie doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing ya know but HEY, we all started at some point so sorry if I was pissy earlier hahaha but thank you and I do believe Tom is right and I messaged him for more info and alot of info on my end. He's been drinking on his own so that's a plus =D he even soaked on his own today and he's been grazing all day!

 

[Jacob]

Welcome,,

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Hello and welcome to the forum...

 

[MORTYtheTORTY]

Thank you all very much! I feel <3'd