Soft bottom shell and sleeps all the time

AdamK

New Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2020
Messages
17
Location (City and/or State)
Dallas, Texas
Please help! My little Hermann's tortoise baby was doing well for months (got him on May 1, 2020). This week he's been sleeping a lot, doesn't want to wake up and eat/drink/soak. Today I forced him to be soaked and go to his outside enclosure to get some natural UV rays. Later I noticed that his bottom shell is super soft (sponge soft almost). That really shocked me when I picked him up :( I don't know what went wrong! I've been watching the humidity/temperature of his inside enclosure, feeding all recommended food, giving him calcium supplements and all of the sudden he went downhill like this?! Any suggestions/help please? I am very worried about this little guy and I just don't understand that after months of doing so well, he started acting like this! THANK you in advance for all your help!
 

Hamiltondood

Active Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2019
Messages
248
Location (City and/or State)
Richmond, Texas
Please help! My little Hermann's tortoise baby was doing well for months (got him on May 1, 2020). This week he's been sleeping a lot, doesn't want to wake up and eat/drink/soak. Today I forced him to be soaked and go to his outside enclosure to get some natural UV rays. Later I noticed that his bottom shell is super soft (sponge soft almost). That really shocked me when I picked him up :( I don't know what went wrong! I've been watching the humidity/temperature of his inside enclosure, feeding all recommended food, giving him calcium supplements and all of the sudden he went downhill like this?! Any suggestions/help please? I am very worried about this little guy and I just don't understand that after months of doing so well, he started acting like this! THANK you in advance for all your help!
what does his enclosure look like (pictures, please) and what are you feeding him, exactly? did you happen to get him from tortoisetown? @Tom or @Yvonne G may be able to help you.
 

AdamK

New Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2020
Messages
17
Location (City and/or State)
Dallas, Texas
what does his enclosure look like (pictures, please) and what are you feeding him, exactly? did you happen to get him from tortoisetown? @Tom or @Yvonne G may be able to help you.
I got him from ATC a very good breeder. I will post pictures tomorrow. I feed him everything that is available in the backyard - dandelion, hibiscus, different greens, some dry tortoise food. Adding calcium supplements. Also, he gets soaked almost on daily basis.
 

Hamiltondood

Active Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2019
Messages
248
Location (City and/or State)
Richmond, Texas
I got him from ATC a very good breeder. I will post pictures tomorrow. I feed him everything that is available in the backyard - dandelion, hibiscus, different greens, some dry tortoise food. Adding calcium supplements. Also, he gets soaked almost on daily basis.
diet sounds okay. got my sulcata from ATC too. hope he's okay..
 

turtlesteve

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Sep 23, 2012
Messages
711
This does sound like “hatchling failure syndrome” as folks here on the forum have taken to calling it. Unfortunately when it progresses to the point of an extremely soft plastron, it may be too late to save it. If you can provide details on your enclosure, temperature/humidity levels, etc. we can try to figure out what has caused it and what actions might be helpful.

Steve
 

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