Rehabbing Baby Tortoise

[Jaalbertson1012]

Yesterday I received a Sulcata Tortoise for rehabilitation- she is about 3 months old. She doesnt seem to be doing good at all. The previous owner said she was only giving ger ice burg lettuce ane she will not open her eyes. I explained iceburg didnt have enough vitamins! They also didn't have enough heat/humidity on her. So I've warmed up her tank, got humidity up. But she is just lethargic and Now I can't get her to eat a lot. Ive been doing warm soaks. Ive never had a sulcata this small. Not sure what to do. Please help!

 

[jsheffield]

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

www.tortoiseforum.org

Others with more experience will chime in, I'm sure, but keeping the environmental settings in the preferred range, coupled with lengthy warm water soaks (possibly adulterated with babyfood, carrot or carrot/mango/sweet-potato/banana) have worked in the past for me with tortoises in tough shape... don't expect an instant turnaround, but gradual improvement should be counted as a win.

Jamie

 

[Jaalbertson1012]

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

www.tortoiseforum.org

Others with more experience will chime in, I'm sure, but keeping the environmental settings in the preferred range, coupled with lengthy warm water soaks (possibly adulterated with babyfood, carrot or carrot/mango/sweet-potato/banana) have worked in the past for me with tortoises in tough shape... don't expect an instant turnaround, but gradual improvement should be counted as a win.

Jamie

Thank you so much!! I will definitely do all of this!!!

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings. Good luck with this little guy.

Try to upload a pix or two of your tortoise, enclosure, lighting, etc. we all can see then what arrangement you have set up. Temps are critical as is hydration. This might be a good candidate fir the baby carrot juice soaks….

 

[Jaalbertson1012]

I really appreciate all of your help!! Im just stuck and worried about her, I know I'm missing something

 

[Jaalbertson1012]

Greetings. Good luck with this little guy.

Try to upload a pix or two of your tortoise, enclosure, lighting, etc. we all can see then what arrangement you have set up. Temps are critical as is hydration. This might be a good candidate fir the baby carrot juice soaks….

 

[Maro2Bear]

What kind of lights and what are you using to maintain the ambient temperatures?

ps - that screen top prevents any “good” light from penetrating & at the same time lets all the heat & humidity easily escape up through that chimney. So, glass or plexiglass or foil or something to cover up the open ceiling.

 

[Jaalbertson1012]

What kind of lights and what are you using to maintain the ambient temperatures?

ps - that screen top prevents any “good” light from penetrating & at the same time lets all the heat & humidity easily escape up through that chimney. So, glass or plexiglass or foil or something to cover up the open ceiling.

 

[Jaalbertson1012]

I have UVB and UVA on her. So should be doing something different on top of cage?

 

[Maro2Bear]

I have UVB and UVA on her. So should be doing something different on top of cage?

The screen blocks the lights from getting through….Most folks will tell you to discard that dual lighting hood. They really don’t help the situation.

Now, how are you keeping the enclosure warm (day & night)? At this stage and enclosure size a small 100 watt CHE on a thermostat set to 80-84 or so will maintain ambient temps. You should also have a warmer “basking” light that brings temps up underneath. So…you can see that your current enclosure really isnt large enough to create these optimum zones.

The link above on How to Raise a Baby Sulcata has a ton of good info. Tom explains a ton of info in there…

Ps - CHE = ceramic heat emitter. No visible light but acts like a radiator, emanating heat outwards into your enclosure. Needs a thermostat to easily control the temps throughout.

 

[Tom]

I have UVB and UVA on her. So should be doing something different on top of cage?

Read that care sheet and follow it. Forgive me for being blunt, but time is of the essence.

Here are some problems I see:
1. The enclosure is much too small.
2. There is no way to maintain the correct temps and humidity with an open top.
3. They must have night heat, but still dark at night. You need a CHE and a thermostat to maintain ambient temp above 80 day and night.
4. The type of UV bulb you are using is ineffective and possibly damaging. I would turn that off ASAP.
5. Replace the water bowl with a 4 or 6 inch terra cotta saucer sunk into the substrate. Use a second one for food. There won't be room for this in the tiny enclosure you have now.

This will help too:
There are four elements to heating and lighting:

1. Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
2. Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night.
3. Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
4. UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.

Your questions are welcome. I hope we can help save this one, but realize that sometimes they are too far gone before we even get them. Try, but don't take it personally if the baby doesn't make it. None of what is happening is your fault. You are trying to help.