Nephelle
Well-Known Member
To start, I am really sorry for such a long post. I wanted to list everything out as much as possible to try and give the clearest picture I can. Thank you to everyone and anyone for taking the time to read through it all.
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BASICS:
FOOD:
At first she ate and stomped around her enclosure without issue. We were able to give her a bit of kale and dandelion and it seemed like she ate a good bit the first day of her arrival. (she had been delayed by UPS and in shipment for 2 days instead of the planned overnight)
Since then, her appetite has been steadily decreasing until taking nothing today. She has still been incredibly active, so I was trying to stay calm and thought perhaps she was just taking a few days to settle in.
We have tried her on dandelion, kale, turnip greens, chicory and chard. I also offered mashed Zoomed Grassland Tortoise Food one day. She ignored everything but the dandelion, chicory and kale, and mostly went for the kale.
Today my shipment from Tortoise Supply arrived containing cactus pads and herbal hay. I offered this but no go.
EYES:
Since the day she arrived, Millie has been slow to open her eyes in her morning bath. It takes about 10 minutes of soaking before she finally opens them. Once she is "awake", however, she becomes very active and resumes said stomping--though her food intake was low.
I read in the forums that this could be from dehydration, and today I will say that with the fogger running overnight, her eyes were open for the first time when I went to get her this morning.
I also took a suggestion this morning that her basking area sit around 100 degrees to help encourage her to eat (it had been somewhere between 90-95). The only way I could get the temps up was to lower the light. I measured a bit ago and I'd lowered it to 9.5" from the substrate, instead of the recommended 12".
Today, however, after being normal for most of the day, her eyes suddenly closed and wouldn't open again. Her activity level didn't change, so basically she was stomping around her enclosure blind. I freaked out and ran to get carrot baby food and immediately soaked her. Her eyes opened to slits a few times but that's it. She didn't really dig down like she has been to go to sleep, so I covered her some.
Then, about an hour ago, we saw she was up and moving about her enclosure again. All other days, she's put herself to bed around 4pm and stayed there. When I checked, her eyes were still closed. Another baby food soak, and I dug her a burrow and covered her up, and she's stayed there so far.
***
I found an old thread where both @Tom and @Yvonne G said the eyes were the first sign of a problem in the enclosure.
I did purchase Terramycin to have on hand, but I don't feel like this is an infection. I think I am messing something up. I just don't know what.
Again, so sorry for the long post. I have scoured past threads for days but I am at a loss. If her eyes are still closed in the morning, I will post a pic just to make sure there isn't anything else going on, but in the meantime here is my current enclosure set up:
****
BASICS:
- Millie is a 3 month old RT I bought from Tortoise Supply. She came on Wednesday 9/23.
- I am using a set up as close as I can get it to the RT baby care sheet, except I am still working on making a tank topper and at the moment still have plastic wrap over the open areas to try and hold in my humidity. (I bought the plexiglass for the top, I have just never used it before, so have been watching youtube tutorials for the past couple days trying to figure it out)
- Basking end is running somewhere between 90 - 100 with a Zoomed Powersun 100w, I am constantly trying to get this right but it is fluctuating quite a bit. The light is on for 12 hours a day.
- Middle area is heated with a CHE plugged into a Hydrofarm Thermostat set to 80, and sits pretty consistently in the lower-to-mid 80's. There is a hide provided but she doesn't use it (I bought the one TS recommended but I think it might be too small, I ordered a bigger one that will be here Wednesday)
- Cool area sits in the lower-to-mid 70's.
- Humidity is ranging anywhere from 70 - 95%. I'm hoping this will stabilize once I finish the top. I bought a ReptiFogger 2 days ago to help with the humidity in the meantime.
- Night-time temps have been somewhere in the 70's, it's been varying a bit but not dropping below 70.
- Millie is getting 2 soaks a day at about 20 minutes each. I've compared the look of her shell to other example pics on the forums and she seems well hydrated.
FOOD:
At first she ate and stomped around her enclosure without issue. We were able to give her a bit of kale and dandelion and it seemed like she ate a good bit the first day of her arrival. (she had been delayed by UPS and in shipment for 2 days instead of the planned overnight)
Since then, her appetite has been steadily decreasing until taking nothing today. She has still been incredibly active, so I was trying to stay calm and thought perhaps she was just taking a few days to settle in.
We have tried her on dandelion, kale, turnip greens, chicory and chard. I also offered mashed Zoomed Grassland Tortoise Food one day. She ignored everything but the dandelion, chicory and kale, and mostly went for the kale.
Today my shipment from Tortoise Supply arrived containing cactus pads and herbal hay. I offered this but no go.
EYES:
Since the day she arrived, Millie has been slow to open her eyes in her morning bath. It takes about 10 minutes of soaking before she finally opens them. Once she is "awake", however, she becomes very active and resumes said stomping--though her food intake was low.
I read in the forums that this could be from dehydration, and today I will say that with the fogger running overnight, her eyes were open for the first time when I went to get her this morning.
I also took a suggestion this morning that her basking area sit around 100 degrees to help encourage her to eat (it had been somewhere between 90-95). The only way I could get the temps up was to lower the light. I measured a bit ago and I'd lowered it to 9.5" from the substrate, instead of the recommended 12".
Today, however, after being normal for most of the day, her eyes suddenly closed and wouldn't open again. Her activity level didn't change, so basically she was stomping around her enclosure blind. I freaked out and ran to get carrot baby food and immediately soaked her. Her eyes opened to slits a few times but that's it. She didn't really dig down like she has been to go to sleep, so I covered her some.
Then, about an hour ago, we saw she was up and moving about her enclosure again. All other days, she's put herself to bed around 4pm and stayed there. When I checked, her eyes were still closed. Another baby food soak, and I dug her a burrow and covered her up, and she's stayed there so far.
***
I found an old thread where both @Tom and @Yvonne G said the eyes were the first sign of a problem in the enclosure.
I did purchase Terramycin to have on hand, but I don't feel like this is an infection. I think I am messing something up. I just don't know what.
Again, so sorry for the long post. I have scoured past threads for days but I am at a loss. If her eyes are still closed in the morning, I will post a pic just to make sure there isn't anything else going on, but in the meantime here is my current enclosure set up: