Sick Habits of a Sulcata?

[MaggieofNarnia]

Hey guys! I posted a reply to my original thread, but got no response. I was wondering if anyone could explain what my little guy is doing.
What he does is he goes out and basks/sleeps for extended periods of time. It pretty much has gotten to the point of being all he does. Sometimes he'll also curl up in a corner and sleep there.
He's currently being fed spring mix from the store. When I go back to Kentucky I'll be going to the organic plant store and getting some approved stuff for him to eat there. I recently switched him away from impatiens leaves, because I wasn't totally sure of their nutritional value.
His temperatures are around normal, aside from the non-light side being a little cool (This house is absolutely horrible. The dorms are much more sealed from the outside elements) His lighting is currently a 150 watt UVB bulb and a 75 watt flood light. I will be adjusting this later to the 150 watt UVB and a 60 watt CHE when it arrives in the mail.
I did say earlier that he hasn't been the eating machine I was told he should be, but honestly, after thinking about it he has been eating okay. Anything he leaves behind is usually pretty wilted by the time he gets to it. He's been drinking healthily as well. He's been getting his daily soaks for around 30 minutes and usually wakes up then.

I question whether he is sick or not because his other habits seem to be on the normal side. Drinking, eating, going to the bathroom just fine. I'm trying to figure out if there is some kind of outside stress that may be causing this behavior.

 

[wellington]

What are the normal temps you are talking about? What is the humidity? A bigger variety in is diet would be good also. Mustard greens, kale, endive, collard. Mazuri tortoise food also would be a good addition. What supplements are you giving him and how often? How old is he? My best bet without any of the above answered would be his enclosure is too cold.

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I also just seen this thread earlier today. You might want to try it. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-41739.html

 

[MaggieofNarnia]

What are the normal temps you are talking about? What is the humidity? A bigger variety in is diet would be good also. Mustard greens, kale, endive, collard. Mazuri tortoise food also would be a good addition. What supplements are you giving him and how often? How old is he? My best bet without any of the above answered would be his enclosure is too cold.

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I also just seen this thread earlier today. You might want to try it. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-41739.html

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I've basically been going by the standards of Toms thread about raising sulcata hatchlings. His rock registers at 105 F, around it is 80-90 F, and his hide is at about 75 F. The non-light side is about 70 F, which as I stated is probably because of this house.
He's been getting a pet store brand of pet food, but it was packaged up at the pet store so I'm unsure of the brand. The store owner recommended it to me and I do really trust her opinion. She is a pretty well educated local store owner and even when chains have tried moving into the area people still go to her store. Better prices and it's not just a bunch of teenagers giving you guestimations. We have some snow on the ground which has made it hard to get any plantain or dandelions and I don't think evergreen needles would be very good for him I just picked up some calcium supplement. I realize that any imbalance nutrient-wise could really mess him up behaviorally.

He is just a couple of months old and weighed in a 42.5 grams yesterday.

Thank you for the thread! I read it over and will be using any tips the next time I soak him!

 

[wellington]

If you have the humdity at 80 like Tom suggests, then your heat should not go below 80 at any time or any place in the enclosure. A humid cold tort will be a sick tort. Get the heat bumped up to 80, day and night. Your basking sounds good.

 

[MaggieofNarnia]

If you have the humdity at 80 like Tom suggests, then your heat should not go below 80 at any time or any place in the enclosure. A humid cold tort will be a sick tort. Get the heat bumped up to 80, day and night. Your basking sounds good.

For now I moved one of the lights over to the other side. I'll probably end up have to go for a heating pad and placing a piece of plexi-glass under it (I have a plastic enclosure) First I want to see how living in the dorm makes a difference. I also have a warm mist humidifier on it's way to my house, which should help.

 

[mainey34]

First off why is there a heat rock in there? I never get that one...if you keep. Your enclosure basking @ 105, warm @ 95 and cool @ 80 with your humidity at 80% you should be fine. This is for sulcatas under 2. Also force soakes 1 to 2 times a day in 90* water. If your sulcata is older thats a different story...

 

[MaggieofNarnia]

He really utilizes it a lot when he basks. Yeah, the enclosure I guess is still too cold in some spots. The thing is is that there was a period of time where he was very active from the time the lights came on in the morning till I shut them off at night. That is what has me worried, the sudden change in behavior.

 

[wellington]

I didn't see that you had a heat rock. They should not be used, personally they should be taken off the market all together. A lot of reptiles have been burnt by them over the years. As the winter temps outside gets colder, and the house gets colder, adjustments with heat sometimes needs to be done. Covering 1/2 to 3/4 of the enclosure will help keep heat and humidity up. How does his eyes and nose look? Is there any discharge? Is there any noise when he breaths? If you get the temp and humidity where they are suppose to be, then he might just be slowing a little because of the time of year. My Leo doesn't eat as much or wonder as much in the winter indoor enclosure.

 

[MaggieofNarnia]

I didn't see that you had a heat rock. They should not be used, personally they should be taken off the market all together. A lot of reptiles have been burnt by them over the years. As the winter temps outside gets colder, and the house gets colder, adjustments with heat sometimes needs to be done. Covering 1/2 to 3/4 of the enclosure will help keep heat and humidity up. How does his eyes and nose look? Is there any discharge? Is there any noise when he breaths? If you get the temp and humidity where they are suppose to be, then he might just be slowing a little because of the time of year. My Leo doesn't eat as much or wonder as much in the winter indoor enclosure.

It could possibly be that. Recently it just got REALLY cold and the snow started building up quite a bit. Also, I might have used an incorrect term. The heat rock is nothing I bought, I went outside and picked one up off of the ground that I thought would be good. It absorbs heat instead of emitting it and I can control how hot it is with the location of my lights.

There is no noticeable discharge from his nose and his breathing doesn't sound labored in any way. I am beginning to think that he may just be slow and a bit chilly still. I just find it so weird because I'd always hear people talking about how they kept up the temperature with much lower wattage bulbs and I can't with collectively 225 watts. Oh well, I must look at every variable and adjust accordingly for the same results.

 

[Dizisdalife]

Is the top of your enclosure covered? For me, covering the top really help to keep the heat in with very low wattages. At most I had two - 60 watt CHE's to heat my baby's enclosure.

 

[mainey34]

Ok, now i understand. You made it sound like you had one of those heat rocks...anyways...as a sulcata owner myself. Here is what needs to happen. Until you get your CHE, move the middle bulb closer to his hide to get that temp up. Get something to cover the top of the enclosure atleast 1/2 of the way this should bring your temps up. What s our hous temp at night? I can turn y CHE off at night when i cover my enclosure 3/4 of the way, but mine is 2 years old now..let me know if that works...how old is your sulcata?

 

[MaggieofNarnia]

Ok, now i understand. You made it sound like you had one of those heat rocks...anyways...as a sulcata owner myself. Here is what needs to happen. Until you get your CHE, move the middle bulb closer to his hide to get that temp up. Get something to cover the top of the enclosure atleast 1/2 of the way this should bring your temps up. What s our hous temp at night? I can turn y CHE off at night when i cover my enclosure 3/4 of the way, but mine is 2 years old now..let me know if that works...how old is your sulcata?

He is just a couple months old. My house temperature SAYS upper 60's to lower 70's, but whether that's true or not I don't know. I even looked at PetSmart 30 miles away for a CHE and they didn't have one, so four or five days ago I ordered one online. Amazon seems to be a bit busy because all of my textbooks I ordered were to come to my house, but I'll be in school by the time they actually get here because it's taking them so long to process everything.